Person:Arnold Hagerty (1)

Arnold was the next-youngest of six children (not including the baby who died) and grew up in Everton, Liverpool. However, he spent several school summer holidays with his Wilson grandparents on their farm in Westmeath, Ireland where he had a whale of a time riding the farm pony around the fields and into town, making butter, and helping around the farm.

Like his siblings, he sang in the church choir, and this connected with the Liverpool Philharmonic choir so that they all benefited from the wonderful experience of singing with the Philharmonic. Arnold had a great love for classical music, particularly all the output of J.S. Bach -- which he listened to with total and reverent concentration -- and he liked it loud!

Like the rest of his birth family, he was very funny: they were people who had fun and really enjoyed being together.

Arnold began an apprenticeship in pharmacy, but when his father died during his teens, it was impossible to continue with this. Instead, he went to work in the docks and pursued evening classes to gain qualifications. By the mid-1950's, he was a Chief Engineer on ships. He loved engines (and getting covered in oil!) He was a genius with everything practical and could turn his hand to anything, including restoration of antique clocks. For some seventeen years he was ashore, responsible for mechanical maintenance at a power station, then he went back to sea for his remaining working years.

Obviously, he traveled to much of the world.

He was also a nature-lover, and had a very gentle disposition.

Arnold Launched a Ship!

In 1977, Arnold was overseeing the construction of two ships in the [1] Shimoda dockyard in Japan. Shimoda is situated at the tip of the Izu Peninsula on the island of Honshu, and is/was primarily a fishing port and holiday resort. The ships under construction were owned by a Kuwait-based Arab consortium, and Arnold was in the employment of Common Brothers of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, UK. The owners were to send a representative to perform the launching ceremony for 'Sea Emerald', but a major earthquake hit the area, wrecking road and rail links; this is how Chief Engineer Arnold Hagerty came to be asked to do the honours! Speaking the Japanese words given to him to memorize, he cut the ribbon with a specially made little axe and the champagne smashed nicely!

The Ceremony, Shimoda

Axe in its box

Inscribed axe head

Favourite Sayings

• "I like pop music. I like it best from a distance: from such a long distance that I can't hear it at all!"
• "God said 'Let there be light'; and there was light; and you could see for bloomin' miles!"
• "Go and boil your head!"
• In old age: "when I pop my socks" - meaning 'when I die'
• "It's not the cough that carries you off, it's the coffin they carry you off in!"

1. ↑ Cert: birth Hagerty 1921 Arnold.
2. ↑ ^2.0 2.1 Personal Knowledge [User HWMT].
3. ↑ Cert: death Hagerty 2006 Arnold.