OWEN, Sir DAVID JOHN (1874 - 1941), docks manager

Born in Liverpool 8 March 1874 the son of R. Ceinwenydd Owen, minister (Presb.) and Elizabeth Jane (née Jones). He married (1), in 1899, Mary Elizabeth (died 1906) daughter of Captain William Owen, Caernarfon; and (2), in 1908, Marian Maud, widow of J.H. Thomas, Carmarthen, and daughter of Alderman William Williams of Haverfordwest; there were no children. He was educated at the Liverpool Institute and began his career in the service of the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board, Liverpool, and in 1904 became manager and secretary to Paul Brothers, Flour Millers, Liverpool and Birkenhead. In 1908 he was appointed assistant manager of Goole Docks and manager in 1915. Within the year he was made general manager and secretary to the Belfast Harbour Commissioners, a position he held until his appointment as general manager to the Port of London Authority in 1922, which post he held until 1938. During this period he served on many national organisations and became president of the National Confederation of Employers' Organisations. A member of the Royal Commission on Lotteries and Betting between 1932-33 and the Holidays with Pay Committee, 1937, he became chairman of the Merchant Shipping Reserve Advisory Committee of the Board of Trade in 1939. He was also chairman of the Anglesey and Caernarvonshire Agricultural Wages Committee and a member of the Central Advisory Water Committee. He was knighted in 1931. His long association with the major British ports enabled him to contribute to the understanding of their history by means of his publications: A short history of the Port of Belfast (1917), History of Belfast (1921), The Port of London yesterday and today (1927), and The origin and development of the ports of the United Kingdom (1939). He died 17 May 1941.

Author

• David Glanville Rosser, (1915 - 2001)

Sources

• Who was who?

Additional Links

• Wikidata: Q20748863

Published date: 2001

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