W. J. Reader

William Joseph Reader (20 November 1920 – 5 June 1990)^[1] was an English historian who specialised in British company history. Theo Barker described him as "the foremost British company historian of his day".^[2]

Life

Born in Weston-super-Mare, Reader attended Taunton School before going up to Jesus College, Cambridge to read history.^[3] During the Second World War he served in the Royal Signals Corps.^[4] From 1949 to 1964 Reader worked at Unilever.^[5] He left the company to become a freelance historian, and went on to write well received histories of Imperial Chemical Industries and Weir Group, among others.^[6]

References

1. In Memoriam: Dr W. J. Reader, 1920–1990 T. C. Barker Business History Vol. 33, Iss. 1, 1991
2. In Memoriam: Dr W. J. Reader, 1920–1990 T. C. Barker Business History Vol. 33, Iss. 1, 1991
3. In Memoriam: Dr W. J. Reader, 1920–1990 T. C. Barker Business History Vol. 33, Iss. 1, 1991
4. In Memoriam: Dr W. J. Reader, 1920–1990 T. C. Barker Business History Vol. 33, Iss. 1, 1991
5. Judy Slinn, ‘Reader, William Joseph (1920–1990)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 30 Sept 2014
6. Judy Slinn, ‘Reader, William Joseph (1920–1990)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 30 Sept 2014