John Ernest Greaves

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(30 November 1847 – 27 February 1945) was a wealthy Welsh slate mine owner and Lord Lieutenant of Caernarvonshire.

Early life

He was born on 30 November 1847 at Tan-yr-allt,

Tremadog Tremadog (formerly Tremadoc) is a village in the community of Porthmadog, in Gwynedd, north west Wales; about north of Porthmadog town-centre. It was a planned settlement, founded by William Madocks, who bought the land in 1798. The centre of ...

, the son of John Whitehead Greaves, who had been instrumental in the development of the

slate industry The slate industry is the industry related to the extraction and processing of slate. Slate is either quarried from a ''slate quarry'' or reached by tunneling in a ''slate mine''. Common uses for slate include as a roofing material, a flooring m ...

around Blaenau Ffestiniog. He spent much of his childhood at his father's

Llechwedd quarry Llechwedd quarry () is a major slate quarry in the town of Blaenau Ffestiniog, north Wales. At its peak in 1884 it produced 23,788 tons of finished slate per year and had 513 employees. It continues to produce slate on a limited scale and is ...

and was educated at schools in Warwickshire, Edinburgh and Dorset before going to Worcester College, Oxford, where he matriculated in 1867.

Slate industry

On his father's death he inherited a half share in the business and made his brother Richard Methuen Greaves the General Manager. They later turned the business into a limited company with John as Chairman and Richard as Managing Director.

Public life

He was appointed

High Sheriff of Merionethshire This is a list of Sheriffs of Merionethshire (or Sheriffs of Meirionnydd). The historic county of Merioneth was originally created in 1284. The administrative county of Merioneth was created from the historic county under the Local Government Act ...

for 1884 and for Caernarvonshire for 1885. He was also a Deputy Lieutenant for Caernarvonshire. In 1886, he was appointed

Lord Lieutenant of Caernarvonshire This is a list of people who served as Lord Lieutenant of Caernarvonshire. Since 1778, all Lord Lieutenants have also been Custos Rotulorum of Caernarvonshire. The post was abolished on 31 March 1974 and replaced with that of Lord Lieutenant of Gwy ...

, the first commoner to hold the position, serving until 1933. He was very involved in public affairs as President of the North Wales branch of the

NSPCC The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) is a British child protection charity. History Victorian era On a trip to New York in 1881, Liverpudlian businessman Thomas Agnew was inspired by a visit to the New Yor ...

, and Chairman of the Quarter Sessions and Alderman of Caernarvon County Council. He had a particular interest in nursing standards and from 1898 was on the Council of Queen Victoria's Jubilee Institute for Nurses and was Chairman of the North Wales Nursing Association.

Personal life

He inherited the family home at Bron Eifion, near Criccieth, but in 1893 also bought the Glan Gwna estate near Caernarfon, rebuilding the hall there. He married Marianne Rigby (1851-1934), with whom he had a daughter Dorothy (1876-1963). He died on 27 February 1945, leaving Glan Gwna to Dorothy's elder daughter, also Dorothy (1906-1966), who in 1930 in Fiji had married William Stanley Flower (1902-1940), elder son of Stanley Smyth Flower.

Honours

Greaves was appointed a

Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

and in 1931 a Commander of the

Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem The Order of St John, short for Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (french: l'ordre très vénérable de l'Hôpital de Saint-Jean de Jérusalem) and also known as St John International, is a British royal order of ...

.The London Gazette, 2 January 1931 https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/33676/page/53/data.pdf retrieved 7 October 2015

References

1847 births 1945 deaths People from Gwynedd Alumni of Worcester College, Oxford Welsh industrialists High Sheriffs of Merionethshire High Sheriffs of Caernarvonshire Deputy Lieutenants of Merionethshire Lord-Lieutenants of Caernarvonshire Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Commanders of the Order of St John National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children people {{Wales-bio-stub