Alec Stewart Horsley (1 September 1902 – 11 June 1993) was a British businessman,

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

, and supporter of the

peace movement A peace movement is a social movement which seeks to achieve ideals, such as the ending of a particular war (or wars) or minimizing inter-human violence in a particular place or situation. They are often linked to the goal of achieving world peac ...

. He was also the founder of

Northern Foods Northern Foods is a British food manufacturer headquartered in Wakefield, England. It was formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the original FTSE 100 Index. The company is credited, together with Marks & Spencer, ...

Personal life and family

Born in

Ripley, Derbyshire Ripley is a town in the Amber Valley borough of Derbyshire, England. History Little information remains as to when Ripley was founded, but it appears in the 1086 Domesday Book, when it was held by a man called Levenot. In 1251 Henry III grante ...

and educated at

Worcester College, Oxford Worcester College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in 1714 by the benefaction of Sir Thomas Cookes, 2nd Baronet (1648–1701) of Norgrove, Worcestershire, whose coat of arms w ...

, where he read PPE, Alec Horsley entered and later abandoned the

Colonial Service The Colonial Service, also known as His/Her Majesty's Colonial Service and replaced in 1954 by Her Majesty's Overseas Civil Service (HMOCS), was the British government service that administered most of Britain's overseas possessions, under the aut ...

. In 1932 he married Susan Howitt. They had two daughters and three sons, one of whom was

Nicholas Horsley George Nicholas Seward Horsley (21 April 1934 – 18 January 2004) was a British businessman, and chairman of Northern Foods. He was born in North Ferriby, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Personal life & family Nicholas Horsley was born to ...

; grandfather to

Sebastian Horsley Sebastian Horsley (born Marcus A. Horsley; 8 August 1962 – 17 June 2010) was an English artist and writer. Horsley's writing often revolved around his dysfunctional family, his flamboyant and eccentric behavior, his drug addictions, sex, and ...

, author Jason Horsley and Ashley Horsley. At the time of his death he had 15 grandchildren and 9 great-grandchildren. He was keen on sport and when he was in

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

he played

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

for the country, and when he ceased to play tennis he took up

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

. He was a great friend of the biologist,

John Boyd Orr John Boyd Orr, 1st Baron Boyd-Orr, (23 September 1880 – 25 June 1971), styled Sir John Boyd Orr from 1935 to 1949, was a Scottish teacher, medical doctor, biologist, nutritional physiologist, politician, businessman and farmer who was awarde ...

.Obituary: Alec Horsley
The Independent, 21 June 1993

Career

In 1932 he joined his father's condensed milk business, Pape and Co., Ltd., a small Hull-based concern importing Dutch condensed milk for wholesale. He established a small condensed-milk factory at

Holme-on-Spalding-Moor Holme-on-Spalding-Moor (also known as Holme-upon-Spalding-Moor) is a large 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. It lies on the ...

in 1937 and expanding it so creating Northern Dairy (later renamed

), one of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

's largest food manufacturers. He joined Sir

Richard Acland Sir Richard Thomas Dyke Acland, 15th Baronet (26 November 1906 – 24 November 1990) was one of the founding members of the British Common Wealth Party in 1942, having previously been a Liberal Member of Parliament (MP). He joined the Labour Pa ...

Common Wealth Party The Common Wealth Party (CW) was a socialist political party in the United Kingdom with parliamentary representation from the middle of the Second World War until the year after its end. Thereafter it continued in being, essentially as a pres ...

during the 1940s, participated in the Committee of 100 and was a lifelong member of the

Society of Friends Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...

. In 1943 he founded the Hull branch of the

Fabian Society The Fabian Society is a British socialist organisation whose purpose is to advance the principles of social democracy and democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist effort in democracies, rather than by revolutionary overthrow. The Fa ...

, was a city councillor on Hull Council from 1945 to 1949, and Sheriff of

Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a port city and unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Estuary, inland from the North Sea and south-east ...

in 1953. He was a

prison reform Prison reform is the attempt to improve conditions inside prisons, improve the effectiveness of a penal system, or implement alternatives to incarceration. It also focuses on ensuring the reinstatement of those whose lives are impacted by crimes. ...

er and founder membership of

CND The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) is an organisation that advocates unilateral nuclear disarmament by the United Kingdom, international nuclear disarmament and tighter international arms regulation through agreements such as the Nucle ...

which led him to support the Department of Peace Studies at

Bradford University The University of Bradford is a public research university located in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. A plate glass university, it received its royal charter in 1966, making it the 40th university to be created in Britain, but ...

, and was made an Honorary Fellow of

under the Provostship of

Asa Briggs Asa Briggs, Baron Briggs (7 May 1921 – 15 March 2016) was an English historian. He was a leading specialist on the Victorian era, and the foremost historian of broadcasting in Britain. Briggs achieved international recognition during his lon ...

, who also wrote his obituary.

Later life and death

In 1982 he was given an honorary

Doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

Science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

from the

University of Hull The University of Hull is a public research university in Kingston upon Hull, a city in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1927 as University College Hull. The main university campus is located in Hull and is home to the Hull ...

. He retired as Chairman at

in 1987, but remained Life President until he died in

Hessle Hessle () is a town, civil parish and electoral ward in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, west of Kingston upon Hull city centre. Geographically it is part of a larger urban area consisting of the city of Kingston upon Hull, the town of ...

in 1993. He was the subject of the first part of ''The Vice of Kings: How Fabianism, Occultism, and the Sexual Revolution Engineered a Culture of Abuse'', by his grandson Jasun Horsley, published by Aeon Books in 2018.

References

1902 births 1993 deaths Alumni of Worcester College, Oxford British chief executives English Quakers People from Ripley, Derbyshire People from Holme-on-Spalding-Moor 20th-century British businesspeople 20th-century Quakers {{UK-business-bio-stub

Personal life and family

Career

Later life and death

See also

References