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The £ note man

Mr Joseph Austin Glenister, aged 67, of Hemel Hempstead, Herts, who was the first man in Britain to print £ and ten-shilling notes for the Government by photogravure, has died in hospital.

There is no date on the article, although it must have appeared soon after Joe's death on 14 March 1954.

Joe's marriage to Beatrice Louise Brigginshaw was registered in the December quarter of 1911, at Hemel Hempstead. Their first son Albert Joseph Glenister, was born on 3 April 1912, but sadly Beatrice died soon afterwards as a result of the birth.

Five years later, Joe married his second wife, Elizabeth Game, herself a widow, in the last quarter of 1917 at Hemel Hempstead. Elizabeth must have been a more religious person, because on 2 June 1919 she had Albert Joseph, Joe's son from his first marriage, baptised at St John Boxmoor. She probably had a few words with Joe too, because two weeks later, on 16 June 1919, Joe himself was baptised at the age of 26.

Joe and Elizabeth had two children, Donald William and Irene. Donald was born on 9 July 1918 at Redbourn, Hertfordshire. On the birth certificate, Joe's occupation is given as both "Gunner RFA 237108" and "Printer". I expect this indicates that his regular job was as a printer, but that he was in military service in the Royal Field Artillery during the first world war. Their daughter Irene was born on 10 August 1921 and baptised at St John Boxmoor on 2 October 1921.

I am not certain which printer Joe worked at when he was the £ note man, although I expect it would have been Dickinson, the makers of Basildon Bond paper, who had a large paper and printing works at Apsley, just a few miles away from Cornerhall.

Joe died at Cornerhall on 14 March 1954, and Elizabeth survived him by five years, dying on 18 March 1959, also at Cornerhall. I believe that was the last time the property was inhabited by Glenisters.