Page 21 - WHO'S WHO OF DUDLEY ROTARY

allowed to open on Sundays, and against ‘The Reds’, a local group of communists who held
weekly meetings in a city square.

50 Percy Fitzgerald JENKINS, MBE (1883-1966) (Associate Member elected 21.8.1922; submitted
resignation 3.9.1923 but asked to reconsider.) Wholesale woollen merchant. Following in his
father’s footsteps he was Company Secretary of Grainger & Smith Ltd, woollen merchants and
clothing manufacturers of High Street, King Street and Town Mills, Dudley, with branches in
Birmingham, Hanley, Preston, Nottingham and Belfast. He joined the firm as an apprentice on
leaving Dudley Grammar School aged 14, appears to have trained and qualified as an
accountant, and in his mid-20s was already in a senior position in the company. From 1914 he
was Secretary to the Prince of Wales Fund, which raised money by public subscription for the
relief of distress among the families of regular and volunteer servicemen. He also became
Secretary of the Dudley War Pensions Committee for which he was awarded the MBE in 1920,
and continued on the local Old Age Pensions Committee. He lived in St James’s Road, Dudley
but moved to Harborne, then Bournville, and retired to Worthing.

51 Vivian Gray MAITLAND, MRCS LRCP DPH (Dublin) (1878-1936) (Elected 21.8.1922; membership
terminated 8.4.1929.) Medical Practitioner and Medical Officer to the Post
Office, practising from his home and surgery in Wolverhampton Street but
in partnership with Dr Alfred Davoren of Grange Road. His father was Canon
Adam Gray Maitland, Vicar of Dudley from 1892 to 1918, so he was born in
London, moved with the family to Perthshire, and then to Dudley. He
studied medicine at Mason College, forerunner of the University of
Birmingham, and gained experience as a junior house surgeon at the Guest
Hospital before fully qualifying in medicine in 1904. During this period he
was a Lieutenant in the 1st Volunteer Battalion Worcestershire Regiment
(Dudley Rifle Volunteers). Then, after a spell as Acting Deputy Medical Officer he served as
Medical Officer of Health for Nuneaton from 1911 to 1919, but interrupted by war service.
During the First World War he served in the Royal Army Medical Corps at advanced dressing
stations just behind the front line in Belgium and France. He rose to the rank of Captain and was
awarded the Medaille de I'Assistance Publique (en Argent) by the President of the French
Republic. He returned to Dudley in 1919 when he started in private practice, but maintained his
military connections as Medical Officer to the 268 Field Battery Royal Artillery (Territorials),
member of the Warrior’s Club, and President of the Dudley Branch of the British Legion and the
Ex-Servicemen’s Club. He was also closely associated with the Dudley Dispensary and the St
John Ambulance Brigade. He was keen on sport, particularly horse riding and fishing.

52 Frank SOMERS, JP OBE (1882-1965) (Elected 21.8.1922; resigned
28.4.1924.) Forge Master. Managing Director of the major forgings and
engineering company Walter Somers Limited of Mucklow Hill, Halesowen
founded by his father. He started as a clerk in the works at age 16,
becoming Assistant Manager by 1911 then Chief Engineer. Following his
father’s death in 1917 Frank and his brother Seth took over the firm.
Frank was MD until 1954 by which time he had moved to live near
Barmouth. From 1954 until retiring from active management in 1958 he
was Chairman of the company in succession to Seth. During the First
World War Frank was an officer - soon becoming Captain - with the Halesowen Company of the
Worcestershire Regiment, 7th Battalion Territorials but was released from active service to
supervise his firm’s manufacture of munitions. He was awarded the OBE in 1918, presumably
for his contribution to the war effort, and appointed a Worcestershire magistrate the same year.
He rose to be Chairman of the Halesowen Bench from 1947. In the 1930s he was Corps
Superintendent of the North Worcestershire St John Ambulance Brigade. He was instrumental