Arthur Henry Gledhill
Arthur Henry Gledhill (1874-1951) of G. H. Gledhill and Sons, Ltd and Gledhill—Brook Time Recorders, Ltd.
1952 Obituary [1]
"ARTHUR HENRY GLEDHILL who died at his home in Halifax on 20th October 1951, was the chairman and managing director of G. H. Gledhill and Sons, Ltd., Trinity Works, Halifax, cash-register, till, and time recorder manufacturers, and also chairman and managing director of Gledhill—Brook Time Recorders, Ltd., Huddersfield. He had been associated with the former firm during the whole of his professional career including his apprenticeship, which he served from 1889 to 1894; he had been chairman since 1917.
He was born in 1874 and received his education at Halifax and Bradford technical colleges. He was appointed assistant manager at the early age of twenty and became a director and works superintendent in 1896. This was followed in 1902 by his appointment as managing director. Mr. Gledhill's inventive powers were considerable. He started at the age of seventeen with a patent device for detecting a leakage of coal gas, and his patents followed in a continuous stream for many years until he had almost two hundred to his credit. Nearly all were concerned with the mechanism of cash registers, tills, and time recording instruments. He also gave his attention to the question of production costs and took out a patent for a recording machine.
During the 1914-18 war he rendered notable service by his invention of a bomb-releasing clutch, for which he received an award from the Royal Commission for Awards to Inventors. Mr. Gledhill was elected an Associate Member of the Institution in 1902 and transferred to Membership in 1928. He was well known to members, as he frequently attended discussions, to which he contributed valuable comments. He will, moreover, be remembered for his services on the Yorkshire Branch Committee, of which he was elected a Member in 1930, and was the Chairman in 1932 and 1933, being also a Member of Council during those years. He acted as vice-chairman from 1934 to 1936, and continued as a member of the Committee for a further two years. He presented a paper in 1933 on "Problems of Today" and another in 1934 on "Development of Inventions". Although his engineering and business activities claimed much of his attention, Mr. Gledhill found time to take a prominent part in municipal affairs. He was elected Mayor in 1926 and became a Justice of the Peace for the County Borough of Halifax in 1928. He assumed control of the passenger transport when the tramways were accumulating a huge deficit, and eventually his efforts were rewarded by the undertaking being placed on a sound financial basis.