Alec Horsley
Encyclopedia
Alec Stewart Horsley was a leading Hull
Quaker
and supporter of the peace movement
. He also founded Northern Foods
.
and educated at Worcester College, Oxford
, where he read PPE, Alec Horsley entered and later abandoned the Colonial Service
.
He established a small condensed-milk factory at Holme-on-Spalding-Moor
in 1937 and expanding it so creating Northern Foods
, one the United Kingdom
's largest food manufacturers.
He joined Sir Richard Acland
's Common Wealth Party
during the 1940s and also became a member of the Society of Friends. He was a city councillor on Hull
Council from 1945 to 1949 and Sheriff of Hull
in 1953.
He was a great friend of the biologist, John Boyd Orr. He made an Honorary Fellow of Worcester College, Oxford
under the Provostship of Asa Briggs who also wrote his obituary.
He was a prison reform
er and founder membership of CND which led him to support the Department of Peace Studies at Bradford University.
He was keen on sport and when he was in Nigeria
he played tennis
for the country, and when he ceased to play tennis he took up golf
.
In 1982 he was given an honorary Doctorate
in Science
from the University of Hull
.
He retired as Chairman at Northern Foods
in 1987 but remained Life President until he died in Hessle
in 1993.
Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull , usually referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea. Hull has a resident population of...
Quaker
Religious Society of Friends
The Religious Society of Friends, or Friends Church, is a Christian movement which stresses the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Members are known as Friends, or popularly as Quakers. It is made of independent organisations, which have split from one another due to doctrinal differences...
and supporter of the peace movement
Peace movement
A peace movement is a social movement that seeks to achieve ideals such as the ending of a particular war , minimize inter-human violence in a particular place or type of situation, often linked to the goal of achieving world peace...
. He also founded Northern Foods
Northern Foods
Northern Foods Ltd is a British food manufacturer headquartered in Leeds, England. It was formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE SmallCap Index. The company was scheduled to merge with Greencore Group in 2011 to form Essenta Foods, the group being...
.
Career
Born in Ripley, DerbyshireRipley, Derbyshire
Ripley is a town in the Amber Valley area of Derbyshire in England.- Earliest history :Not much information is available as to when Ripley was founded, but it existed at the time of the Domesday Book, when it was held by a man called Levenot....
and educated at Worcester College, Oxford
Worcester College, Oxford
Worcester College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in the eighteenth century, but its predecessor on the same site had been an institution of learning since the late thirteenth century...
, where he read PPE, Alec Horsley entered and later abandoned the Colonial Service
Colonial Service
The Colonial Service was the British government service which administered Britain's colonies and protectorates, under the authority of the Secretary of State for the Colonies and the Colonial Office in London....
.
He established a small condensed-milk factory at Holme-on-Spalding-Moor
Holme-on-Spalding-Moor
Holme-on-Spalding-Moor is a small village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated approximately north east of Howden and south west of Market Weighton...
in 1937 and expanding it so creating Northern Foods
Northern Foods
Northern Foods Ltd is a British food manufacturer headquartered in Leeds, England. It was formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE SmallCap Index. The company was scheduled to merge with Greencore Group in 2011 to form Essenta Foods, the group being...
, one the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
's largest food manufacturers.
He joined Sir Richard Acland
Richard Acland
Sir Richard Thomas Dyke Acland, 15th Baronet was one of the founding members of the British Common Wealth Party. He had previously been a Liberal Member of Parliament and joined the Labour Party in 1945...
's Common Wealth Party
Common Wealth Party
The Common Wealth Party was a socialist political party in the United Kingdom in the Second World War. Thereafter, it continued in being, essentially as a pressure group, until 1993.-The war years:...
during the 1940s and also became a member of the Society of Friends. He was a city councillor on Hull
Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull , usually referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea. Hull has a resident population of...
Council from 1945 to 1949 and Sheriff of Hull
Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull , usually referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea. Hull has a resident population of...
in 1953.
He was a great friend of the biologist, John Boyd Orr. He made an Honorary Fellow of Worcester College, Oxford
Worcester College, Oxford
Worcester College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in the eighteenth century, but its predecessor on the same site had been an institution of learning since the late thirteenth century...
under the Provostship of Asa Briggs who also wrote his obituary.
He was a prison reform
Prison reform
Prison reform is the attempt to improve conditions inside prisons, aiming at a more effective penal system.-History:Prisons have only been used as the primary punishment for criminal acts in the last couple of centuries...
er and founder membership of CND which led him to support the Department of Peace Studies at Bradford University.
He was keen on sport and when he was in Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
he played tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
for the country, and when he ceased to play tennis he took up golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
.
In 1982 he was given an honorary Doctorate
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...
in Science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
from the University of Hull
University of Hull
The University of Hull, known informally as Hull University, is an English university, founded in 1927, located in Hull, a city in the East Riding of Yorkshire...
.
He retired as Chairman at Northern Foods
Northern Foods
Northern Foods Ltd is a British food manufacturer headquartered in Leeds, England. It was formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE SmallCap Index. The company was scheduled to merge with Greencore Group in 2011 to form Essenta Foods, the group being...
in 1987 but remained Life President until he died in Hessle
Hessle
Hessle is a town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, situated west of Kingston upon Hull city centre. Geographically it is part of a larger urban area which consists of the city of Kingston upon Hull, the town of Hessle and a number of other villages but is not part of the...
in 1993.