(William) John Poulton Maxwell Garnett (6 August 1921 – 14 August 1997) was a British industrial relations campaigner who led The Industrial Society (now The Work Foundation) from 1962 until 1986.

Career

After university, Garnett joined Imperial Chemical Industries as a graduate trainee, initially in Glasgow. He continued to work at ICI until 1962, becoming personnel manager at their plastics factory in Blackpool. In 1962, Garnett was appointed Director of "The Industrial Welfare Society", which he renamed to simply "The Industrial Society", from where he became a well-known speaker, campaigner and thought-leader in industrial relations for a quarter century, notably writing his thoughts up in ''The Work Challenge'', published in 1973. He was appointed a CBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours in 1970.

Personal life

The son of (James Clerk) Maxwell Garnett, C.B.E., and Margaret Lucy (daughter of Sir

Edward Bagnall Poulton Sir Edward Bagnall Poulton, FRS HFRSE FLS (27 January 1856 – 20 November 1943) was a British evolutionary biologist, a lifelong advocate of natural selection through a period in which many scientists such as Reginald Punnett doubted its ...

), and grandson of physicist and educational adviser William Garnett, Garnett was educated at

Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

and

Kent School Kent School is a private, co-educational, college preparatory boarding school in Kent, Connecticut, United States. Frederick Herbert Sill established the school in 1906. It is affiliated with the Episcopal Church of the United States. Acade ...

in Connecticut, USA, becoming an undergraduate at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

, in 1940. In 1941 he joined the

War War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

effort, volunteering to join the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

, where he served as a first lieutenant ferrying personnel covertly between the UK and occupied France over the English Channel. After the war, Garnett returned to his studies, and was awarded a degree in economics. In 1943, Garnett married Barbara Rutherford-Smith, with whom he had two sons and two daughters, Virginia (now Lady) Bottomley. In 1985 they divorced, and later that year he married his Industrial Society colleague Julia (now Dame) Cleverdon, and with whom he had two daughters.

References

External links

The Work Foundation's website
1921 births 1997 deaths Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Commanders of the Order of the British Empire United Kingdom industrial relations Kent School alumni People educated at Rugby School {{UK-business-bio-stub