Page 38 - WHO'S WHO OF DUDLEY ROTARY

104 Dr Percy Stanley BLAKER (1873-1965) (Elected 2.2.1925; made an Honorary
Member c.Sept.1939 when he retired and moved from the district.) Medical
Officer of Health (and School Medical Officer, Medical Officer for Maternity
& Child Welfare, and Surgeon to the Dudley Borough Police) from 1922 until
retiring in September 1939. He left Dudley in 1940 to spend his retirement
at Broadstone near Poole, Dorset. He was born in the Punjab to English
parents who were permanent residents in India. He was educated in
Calcutta and then at University College London. He qualified as a Member
of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1898 and became Resident Medical
Officer at the East London Hospital for Children. In 1903 he married a Canadian girl and set up
his own medical practice at Ealing, West London. Early in the First World War he was called up
to the Indian Medical Service, rising to the rank of Captain, before being transferred to the Royal
Army Medical Corps in 1916. With both medical services he was posted to field hospitals on the
front line in France, but in March 1917 he received a serious gunshot wound to his right thigh
which caused his repatriation. It was 2 years later that he was declared medically fit. He
returned to Ealing (and remarried), then became School Medical Officer at Colchester before
coming to Dudley.

105 Joseph Henry WHORTON (Joseph senior) (1881-1928) (Elected 16.2.1925; died 3.9.1928 under
‘sad circumstances’ aged only 47 whilst still a member.) ‘Sports Outfitter’.
He was originally proposed for membership as ‘Bean car distributor’ but this
was not approved as a valid classification. In fact he was best known as a
garage proprietor, partner in Whorton & Christopher Limited, with a
showroom in the High Street and garage in Wolverhampton Street.
Described as Dudley’s leading motor house the firm was sole dealer for
Bean, Clyno, Rover and Triumph cars.
On leaving school he started as a clerk in his father’s fender
manufacturing business but in his mid 20s became a partner with Albert
Hartill and Morris Christopher in the firm of Whorton and Hartill, Sports Outfitters and Cycle
Dealers of Wolverhampton Street. In 1916 Hartill retired so the firm became Whorton and
Christopher and the emphasis shifted from selling cycles and motor cycles to cars. Oddly
enough, they also sold gramophones and records. During and following the Great War he held
office with the Dudley Patriotic Committee, which raised funds to support the troops. He was
also Corps Secretary of the Dudley & District St John Ambulance Brigade from 1904 until his
death. As a young man he was a fine athlete, winning many prizes as a member of Dudley
Swimming Club and for running and cycling. In 1907 he cycled in the record-breaking Land’s End
to John o’ Groats run and again when he broke the record in 1908. His tragic death came when
he shot himself through the heart one Sunday night at the rear of his High Street premises. He
was father of Joseph junior (Club member #323) and grandfather of David (member #387).

106 Wilfred SHUTTLEWORTH, JP (1884-1961) (Elected 16.3.1925; made Senior Active Member
10.4.1945; resigned in July 1960 because of ill health.) Furniture
manufacturer. Proprietor of his own firm of Cabinet Makers and Furniture
Manufacturers from before 1911. The workshops were at 60 & 61 King
Street, Dudley from 1914 to the 1950s. He appears to have succeeded his
father who had his own wood-turning business. He was a Dudley councillor
from 1929 until at least 1951 and an Alderman from 1943, borough
magistrate from 1942, a Director of the Dudley and District Benefit Building
Society, and Member of the Board of Management of the Guest Hospital.
He lived in Dudley town all his life: in Crown Street, Hellier Street, Tansley
Hill Road, Wellington Road, and finally in Gervase Drive.