William Joseph Reader (20 November 1920 – 5 June 1990)In Memoriam: Dr W. J. Reader, 1920–1990 T. C. Barker Business History Vol. 33, Iss. 1, 1991 was an English historian who specialised in British company history.

Theo Barker Theodore Cardwell Barker (19 July 1923 – 22 November 2001), usually known as Theo Barker, was a British social and economic historian. Life Barker was born in St Helens, Lancashire, England on 19 July 1923. After schooling in the area, he st ...

described him as "the foremost British company historian of his day".

Life

Born in

Weston-super-Mare Weston-super-Mare ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the North Somerset unitary district, in the county of Somerset, England. It lies by the Bristol Channel south-west of Bristol between Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill. Its population ...

, Reader attended

Taunton School Taunton School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school, now co-educational, in the county town of Taunton in Somerset in South West England. It serves boarding and day-school pupils from the ages of 13 to 18. The current headmaster i ...

before going up to

Jesus College, Cambridge Jesus College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Jesus College was established in 1496 on the site of the twelfth-century Benedictine nunnery of St Radegund's Priory, Cambridge, St ...

to read history. During the Second World War he served in the Royal Signals Corps. Reader worked at

Unilever Unilever PLC () is a British multinational consumer packaged goods company headquartered in London, England. It was founded on 2 September 1929 following the merger of Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie with British soap maker Lever B ...

in advertising, market research and public relations roles from 1950 to 1964.Judy Slinn, ‘Reader, William Joseph (1920–1990)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 200
accessed 30 Sept 2014
/ref> He left the company to become a freelance historian, and went on to write well-received histories of

Imperial Chemical Industries Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) was a British Chemical industry, chemical company. It was, for much of its history, the largest manufacturer in Britain. Its headquarters were at Millbank in London. ICI was listed on the London Stock Exchange ...

Grand Metropolitan Grand Metropolitan plc was a leisure, manufacturing and property conglomerate headquartered in England. The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index until it merged with Guinness plc to form ...

and

Weir Group The Weir Group plc is a Scottish multinational engineering company headquartered in Glasgow, Scotland. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. History The company was established in 1871 as an eng ...

, among others.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reader, W. J. 1920 births 1990 deaths Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge British Army personnel of World War II People educated at Taunton School People from Weston-super-Mare Royal Corps of Signals soldiers Unilever people 20th-century English historians Military personnel from Somerset