Page 57 - WHO'S WHO OF DUDLEY ROTARY

of Bachelor of Divinity (1924) and Doctor of Divinity (1931). He was ordained as a priest in 1911,
served as Curate of All Saints, Northampton until 1915, then Secretary of the Church Missionary
Society 1915-1917, and Vicar of St James, Northampton until 1924. Before coming to Dudley he
was Vicar of St James, Leicester 1924-1932.

173 William Frank COX (1884-1955?) (Inducted 5.2.1934; presumed left 1936.) Postmaster. Head
Postmaster of Dudley and Stourbridge from January 1934 to July 1936,
when he was appointed Head Postmaster of Stoke-on-Trent. A native of
Kingsdown near Sevenoaks, Kent he joined the post office there at the age
of 17. He held various clerical, postman and sorting office positions in
Kent and Middlesex - at St Mary Cray, Sandgate, Feltham, and
Twickenham - before being appointed Superintendent of the combined
Richmond and Twickenham postal districts. From there he moved to be
Head Postmaster of Barnsley in June 1928, Dudley and Stourbridge from
January 1934, Stoke-on-Trent from July 1936 where he was a prominent
member of the War Savings Committee, and Head Postmaster of Cardiff from July 1941 and also
officer of the Glamorgan Territorial Army and Air Force Association. He retired in March 1945.
He was a prominent freemason in each of the towns and cities where he was postmaster,
including Provincial Deacon of Middlesex. In his younger days he was well known as a good
cricket and football player.

174 Harry Clifford (‘Cliff’) WHITEHOUSE, JP OBE (1888-1975) (Inducted
5.2.1934; resigned 16.5.1938.) Coal merchant. Until 1926 he was in
partnership with Percy Fullwood (Rotary member #54) trading as Fullwood
& Whitehouse, Coal, Coke and Breeze Merchants of Wolverhampton
Street, Dudley. From 1926 he continued as H C Whitehouse & Co. However
his new firm also acted as agent for local metal manufacturers - ‘castings of
all descriptions’ - and this gradually became the principal area of business.
He was a Conservative member of Dudley council from 1920-27 and
again from 1933 to at least 1963 when he was honoured with Freedom of
the Borough. He was Mayor 1941-42 and 1942-43, made an Alderman in 1942, and was awarded
the OBE in 1954 for political and public services in the borough. He was Chairman of the Dudley
Conservative and Unionist Association from 1939 to 1950 and of the Dudley and Stourbridge
Association through the 1950s and 60s. As a politician he was noted for being fearlessly
independent, putting the best interests of the townspeople ahead of his party. He was
appointed a borough magistrate in 1938 and was chairman of the Licensing Justices for many
years. He also held office on many local bodies including the Guest Hospital management
committee, Dudley Health Executive Council, Dudley Girls’ High School, Dudley Savings
Committee, and Dudley & District Chamber of Commerce.

175 John (‘Jack’) Gilbert FIELD (1883-1948) (Elected c.12.3.1934; President 1940-41; made Senior
Active Member 1.7.1948 but died 2 months later.) Haulage machinery
manufacturer. He was managing director of the Yorkshire Patent Haulage
Clip Co. Ltd, which mostly manufactured colliery equipment, and also head
of Bradley Bros., iron merchants and manufacturers of nuts and bolts, both
of Constitution Hill, Dudley. He was a prominent Freemason, and for many
years secretary and a deacon at King Street Congregational Church. He left
school at the age of 15 and joined the London & North Western Railway Co.
as an apprentice clerk at Stourbridge Goods Department, soon transferring
to Brierley Hill goods depot and remaining in the railway service until he
was about 30. He lived in Himley Road until 1936 and then at Pedmore, Stourbridge.