Page 90 - WHO'S WHO OF DUDLEY ROTARY

Industry) from 1939, and in 1941 was appointed Deputy Lieutenant of Worcestershire. He lived
at West Hagley and then Cutnall Green before retiring to West Malvern in about 1960.

280 Reginald (‘Reg’) George William LITTLE (1897-1980) (Inducted 1.4.1946; died late 1980 whilst
still a member.) Boot & shoe manufacturer. Managing director of W Little & Sons of Hill Street,
Netherton in succession to his father (William) and grandfather ( also William) who started the
business about 1850. Reg joined the firm on leaving the Sir Gilbert Claughton School at the age
of 15. Although he handed over the day-to-day management to his son John (Rotary club
member #488) in 1961 he continued as company Chairman. During the last War he was a
Captain in the 3rd Worcestershire (Dudley) Battalion of the Home Guard. He lived in Church
Road, Netherton until 1965 and then in Priory Close, Dudley. He was a prominent member of
the Netherton United Methodist Church, even as a schoolboy.

281 John DANDO (1894-1976) (Elected ~3.1946; left before 1952.) General Manager of Baggeridge
Colliery from 1935 until nationalisation of the coal industry in 1947, then Deputy Director of
Production for the West Midland Division of the National Coal Board. He was brought up in
Dudley, the son of a ‘Chartermaster’ (tenant colliery operator) of several of the Earl of Dudley’s
Old Park and Pensnett mines. It appears that he went into the local mines directly after leaving
Dudley Grammar School because at the age of 21 he qualified as a certificated mine surveyor.
Soon afterwards he was working as a Mining Engineer at Hamstead Colliery, Great Barr. In his
30s he rose to become Assistant Manager and ‘Agent’ at Hamstead before succeeding Ben Price
(Club member #326) as Manager of Baggeridge Colliery. In 1945 he was made President of the
South Staffordshire and Warwickshire Institute of Mining Engineers. For many years he lived in
the Wombourne area.

282 William Herbert HAMPTON (1903-1967) (Inducted 30.9.46; resigned 26.9.1955 owing to
pressure of business.) Drapery, Wholesale. He was proprietor of W Hampton & Co, wholesale
drapers of 10 Halesowen Road, Netherton, following in the footsteps of his father. The firm
continued after his death into the 1980s, dealing in carpets and textiles. He lived at Hunnington
near Halesowen. During the last War he served as a full time special constable with the
Worcestershire County Constabulary.

283 Thomas William MOULE (1901-1972) (Previously a member 1931 to c.1936 - see #156 for details;
re-elected 23.9.46; resigned 11.10.1948 because transferred business away from the club’s
territory.) His Rotary Classification has not been identified but at the time of his rejoining he
had become a dietician and naturopathic ‘doctor’ although Kelly's Directory of Staffordshire,
1940, listed him as a ‘nerve specialist’.

284 Henry Percy MEAD (1911-1982) (Elected 10.3.1947; resigned 14.2.1949.)
Head Brewer of Julia Hanson & Sons Ltd, Dudley and later also a Director.
The business was taken over by Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries in
1943 and Percy was appointed Production Director for the whole group
in 1968. He came from a brewing family: his grandfather established the
Oak Brewery at Westbury, Wiltshire and later ran the Wickwar Brewery
in Gloucestershire; his father started at Wickwar but then became a
brewer in Cheltenham. Percy was raised at Wickwar and probably started
work with his father at Cheltenham, then came to Dudley about 1937
when he was 26. He was father-in-law of Simon Henn (club member #420), was closely
associated with St James’ church, Eve Hill, and was a member of Dudley Book Society. His home
was in The Broadway until about 1950 when he moved to Enville (to a cottage called The
Beehive. He hit the news when a swarm of bees arrived at his home, but buzzed off the following
day!). 15 or so years later he moved to Trysull.