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May 31

The Liberal Yellow Book - Britain's Industrial Future

I am trying to identify the members of the executive committee of the Liberal Industrial Inquiry of 1928, which produced Britain's Industrial Future, often called the Liberal Yellow Book. Most are easy enough, and we have articles on them, but some have so far escaped me. They are the Vice-Chairman, E. D. Simon, and E. H. Gilpin. I would also like to identify the Secretary, W. McG. Eagar, the Assistant Secretary, J. Menken, and the statistician, A. R. Burnett-Hurst. Thank you, DuncanHill (talk) 14:01, 31 May 2019 (UTC)[reply]

I'm pretty certain that E.D. Simon is Ernest Simon, 1st Baron Simon of Wythenshawe and E. H. Gilpin is Harry Gilpin. ---Sluzzelin talk 14:16, 31 May 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Brilliant, thank you. The ODNB article on Simon confirms he was on the Inquiry, and our article on Gilpin says he was too. DuncanHill (talk) 14:21, 31 May 2019 (UTC)[reply]

W. McG. Eagar appears to be Waldo Mcgillicuddy Eagar. Bits and pieces I found suggest J. Menken is "Jules Menken" (though I haven't found much about him yet) and, judging from his publications, I think A. R. Burnett-Hurst is Alexander Robert Burnett-Hurst. ---Sluzzelin talk 14:27, 31 May 2019 (UTC)[reply]

I've found an article on LibDem Voice mentioning Jules Menken as a member of the Inquiry, and another elsewhere saying he was a professor at the LSE, and wrote articles for The Economist under Walter Layton, who chaired the Inquiry. DuncanHill (talk) 14:33, 31 May 2019 (UTC)[reply]

And I can confirm your identification of Eagar, he's mentioned in John Campbell's Lloyd George - The Goat in the Wilderness in this connexion. DuncanHill (talk) 14:38, 31 May 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks, Duncan! I found Waldo's bookplate (illustrated by Victor Coverley-Price, who also illustrated for The Sphere and who, in 1932, survived the capsized canoe accident that killed John Walter Gregory who, in turn ... ok, I'll stop). What about Burnett-Hurst? ---Sluzzelin talk 16:20, 31 May 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Burnett-Hurst is elusive - his books can be found, and references to them, but the man himself seems to have left no trace on Google, or in the indices of my collection of Lloyd George and Liberal related books. I do like Eagar's bookplate - my copy of the Yellow Book has the bookplate of Brian Harrison, attractive but not as decorative. DuncanHill (talk) 21:06, 31 May 2019 (UTC)[reply]

I've turned up a little more about him - former research assistant at the LSE, on the LSE cricket team in 1909, MSc (Econ) at LSE in 1923, and Professor at Allahabad. DuncanHill (talk) 00:05, 2 June 2019 (UTC)[reply]

And Head of the Commercial Dept at the North-Western Polytechnic in 1929. DuncanHill (talk) 00:27, 2 June 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Excellent work, you gave him a face! (and luckily not as blurred a face as Mr. Hummel's, sitting next to Burnett-Hurst). ---Sluzzelin talk 21:09, 2 June 2019 (UTC)[reply]