Historical records matching George Saul Mottershead, OBE
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About George Saul Mottershead, OBE
George Saul Mottershead OBE (12 June 1894 – 5 May 1978) was the founder of Chester Zoo.
George disliked seeing animals at Belle Vue Zoological Gardens in Manchester confined in cages, and was determined to create a zoo without bars. As a youth, he experimented with aviaries, and tanks and runs for pet lizards and snakes.
After the outbreak of the First World War, George Mottershead joined the South Lancashire Regiment. While on leave, Mottershead married Elizabeth Atkinson at St Mary Magdalen Church, Ashton-on-Mersey in 1916. They had two daughters, Muriel (born 1917) and June (born 1926).
In October 1916, at the Battle of the Somme, Mottershead suffered a bullet wound to his neck, injuring his spine. He was initially paralysed, and recuperated at Highfield Military Hospital in Knotty Ash. Contrary to the expected medical prognosis he eventually recovered the ability to walk (with a limp) after 3 years in a wheelchair.
With his parents and young family, Mottershead moved to Shavington in the 1920s, and operated a successful market garden and florist, later selling pet birds. He started to show his stock of birds and his private collection of animals to the paying public.
The Mottershead family moved to the Oakfield Estate in Upton by Chester in December 1930, paying £3,500 for a 9 acres (3.6 ha) site including Oakfield Manor, built around 1885 for Benjamin Chafers Roberts and now a Grade II listed building. They acquired two Himalayan black bears from a wildlife park in Matlock, and added monkeys, chimpanzees, birds, and reptiles. The local residents were concerned about the potential dangers of escaped animals, but, after a public inquiry, the Ministry of Health granted permission to open the zoo in April 1931, and Chester Zoo opened to the public on 10 June 1931.
Mottershead founded the North of England Zoological Society in 1934. The zoo continued through the Second World War, accepting its first pair of elephants from a circus in 1941.
WWI Service Medal and Award Rolls
- Name: George Saul Mottershead
- Military Year: 1914-1920
- Rank: Private
- Medal Awarded: British War Medal and Victory Medal
- Regiment or Corps: Prince of Wales's Volunteers (South Lancashire) Regiment
- Regimental Number: 31706
- Previous Units: 8th S Lan R 31706 Pte
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George Saul Mottershead, OBE's Timeline
| 1895 |
1895
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Sale, Cheshire, England UK
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| 1916 |
1916
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Bucklow RD, Cheshire, England (United Kingdom)
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| 1924 |
1924
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Nantwich RD, Cheshire, England UK
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| 1926 |
June 21, 1926
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| 1978 |
May 5, 1978
Age 83
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