James Elliman
James Elliman (1846-1924) of Elliman, Sons and Co
1846 Born the son of James Elliman, a Woollen Draper.
1861 Listed in Upton cum Chalvey, Slough, Bucks., with his parents and siblings.[1]
1885 Donated land and money towards the building of the Public Hall in the High Street, a project for which he was also a trustee.
1897 Provided the site for Slough's first fire station in Mackenzie Street, and also the funds to build the station. Two years later he provided the fire service with a steam fire engine.
1902 Donated £9,000 for the building of a drill hall and club room in Wellington Street, for the use of the Oxford & Bucks Light Infantry Battalion, 'C' Company.
1907 Donated the land to create Salt Hill Playing Fields, and also paid for the buildings and the landscaping, as well as putting £10,000 in a fund to provide for the upkeep of the park.
When St Mary's Parish Church was in need of enlarging, Elliman gave £10,000 to the fund.
1912 As a mark of his esteem towards Father Clemente, he gave the Roman Catholic church a baptismal font.
1924 March 22nd. Died in Brighton. 'A great benefactor to Slough where his manufacturing works are situated died at Brighton this morning, His gifts to Slough are worth upwards of £100,000.'[2]
1924 Obituary[3]
We regret to have to record the death of Mr. James Elliman. which occurred at his Hove residence on Saturday at the age of 77. He was the greatest benefactor that Slough ever possessed. He gave the site of the Public Hall and Leopold Institute, the Fire Station, drying tower and fire engine, the Territorial Drill Hall and Club, and the Salt Hill Playing Fields of over 26 acres together with an endowment fund of £10,000. He also completed St. Mary's Parish Church, which for years was in an unfinished state, and built a handsome tower and steeple and erected a fine west window. His various gifts must have cost him nearly £100,000 and they are worth more to-day than when he gave them. He was the principal of the firm of Elliman, Sons, and Co., the embrocation manufacturers. As a business man he was a great believer in advertising and spent large sums on it.