Norman Clare THE COLLECTION

A brief outline of Norman Clare the man who set up

the Billiard & Snooker Heritage Collection

Norman Clare

Norman Clare, J.P. 1914-1990

Born 29th November 1914 in Wavertree, a suburb of Liverpool. He attended Rice Lane School in Walton, Liverpool to the age of 10 and then went to Alsops High School gaining very good school certificates. Despite being encouraged by his father to further his education, Norman opted to join his father's business as an apprentice.

In 1935, at the age of 21, he became a partner in his father's business which then became E. A. Clare & Son. Norman remained ' hands on' in the workshop until volunteering for Army service in April 1940.

On his first weekend leave he married Elizabeth (better known as Betty) on 13th July 1940 at Emmanuell Church, Longmoor Lane, Fazakerley, Liverpool.

The happy couple

The Happy Couple

Although joining up as a 'Driver Mechanic' he quickly took a 'trade test' as a 'Carpenter Joiner' which he past and was promoted to a full Corporal and appointed as Carpenter Instructor in the R.A.O.C. (Royal Army Ordanance Corps) depot at Chilwell, Notts.

Norman Clare 1941

Corporal Clare

He was then posted to the 'new' Technical Training Unit and gained promotion to Company Sargeant Major. In 1942 Norman was posted to the R.E.M.E. HQ. (Royal Electrical & Mechanical Engineers) remaining there for two years. After several other postings he finally went to the Middle East becoming Regimental Sergeant Major of No.3 Base Workshops R.E.M.E. at Haifa (then Palestine now Israel), returning home for demobilisation in May 1946. He then returned to the family business in St. Anne Street, Liverpool.

Following the death of his father in 1963, Norman with the help of his brother-in-law Ken McCormick, and then with his son-in-law Peter Eggington and later his son Peter Clare, continued to expand the business with the acquisition of Thurston (Late of Leicester Square) and Padmore & Sons of Birmingham to form the Clare - Padmore - Thurston Group which was later renamed Thurston (still under the ownership of E.A. Clare & Son Ltd.) of which he was Chairman. It was the acquisition of Thurston that sparked his interest in collecting the Billiards and Snooker memorabilia. Norman was particularly pleased when his business was able to acquire the stock in trade of Aschcroft's of Liverpool, as this was the firm where his father had first started in the Billiards trade. Norman was also Chairman of Peradon & Fletcher, later to change its name to Peradon, which again became part of E.A. Clare & Son Ltd.

In the later part of his 59 years in the Snooker / Billiards Trade, he became known throughout the World as the leading historian of the games, writing numerous articles and booklets on the subject and giving many talks and lectures. He also acted as a consultant to the B & SCC (Billiard & Snooker Control Council) and the IBSF (International Billiards & Snooker Federation) on technical matters.

Billiards & Snooker museum

Norman standing by the Thurston Octagonal Billiard Table

He served as a Justice of the Peace for 27 years, retiring from the Bench at the age of 70 in 1984. He was a member of Liverpool Rotary from 1953 and was their Presindent in 1984/5. He also served on the North West and London Councils of CBI (Confederation of British Industry).

He was President of the Lyceum, one of the oldest Liverpool Institutions (now sadly no longer surviving) for a two year period,an unusual honour. Also he was in his fifth year as President of the Crosby Royal British Legion Branch.

His wife, Betty, died in 1979 and a couple of years later he suffered a major heart attack and despite making a good recovery it had left him with a damaged heart, which resulted in his hospitalisation in 1990. After another heart attack he died on 27th February 1990.

His legacy is the Billiards & Snooker Heritage Collection and the museum named in his honour.

Norman Clare