James Grimston, 5th Earl of Verulam
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James Brabazon Grimston, 5th Earl of Verulam (11 October 1910 – 13 October 1960) was a British peer and businessman.[1]
Verulam was the eldest son of James Grimston, 4th Earl of Verulam, and Lady Violet Brabazon, younger daughter of the 12th Earl of Meath.[2] He was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford. He succeeded to the earldom upon the death of his father in 1949.
Brynmawr
At the age of 19, whilst studying at Oxford, Verulam first went to Brynmawr, Wales on an international work camp.[3] Brynmawr had suffered from high unemployment due to the closure of local coal mines in the 1920s and a Quaker initiative known as the Brynmawr Experiment had been set up to help find unemployed local people a livelihood.
In 1934, Peter Scott, previously the instigator of the Quaker work in Brynmawr, decided to set up a Subsistence Production Society (SPS) in the area, and Verulam was appointed as the Area Organiser, where he was known as Jim Forrester, the surname being derived from his family courtesy title Lord Forrester.[3]
The SPS consisted of farms, a bakery and other facilities where members could obtain food and products they wanted in return for work.[3] In 1939, due to preparations for war providing work for local unemployed people, the SPS collapsed.
After the end of the Second World War, Verulam continued to try to work in Brynmawr by establishing a model rubber factory.[4]
