Australian Dictionary of Biography

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Sir Joseph Clifton Love (1867–1951)

by G. P. Walsh

This article was published:

Sir Joseph Clifton Love (1867-1951), manufacturer and businessman, was born on 18 January 1867 in Brisbane, second son of Harry Clifford Love, Dublin-born storekeeper, and his English wife Ann Paton, née Bell. Educated at Brisbane and Sydney Grammar schools, he followed his father, founder of Clifford Love & Co., tea merchants, in mercantile and manufacturing pursuits. Clifton was manager of the Imperial Manufacturing Co. Ltd which joined with his father's firm in 1911 when he became manager of the new firm Clifford Love & Co. Ltd; in 1919 he became general manager. The firm, manufacturers of cereal and kindred foodstuffs (notably 'Uncle Toby's Oats', 'Wade's Cornflour' and 'Laundrena Starch'), operated throughout Australia and their establishments included oatmeal mills at Kent Street, Sydney, and large cornflour and starch mills on the Lane Cove River.

A confirmed protectionist, Love was prominent in organizations promoting manufacturing and safeguarding employers' rights. He was a founder of the New South Wales Chamber of Manufactures in 1895 (vice-president 1915-20, president 1920-22) and president of the Associated Chambers of Manufactures of Australia. In 1922 he was president of the All-Australian Exhibition of Manufactures held in Sydney. For some years he was the employers' representative in the Industrial Court in connexion with applications from milling, starch and condiment workers. He strongly opposed the 44-hour week. He was appointed government representative on the Soldiers' State Industrial Council in 1920 and on the Repatriation Arbitration Committee in 1925. Knighted that year, he was known as Sir Clifton.

Among his other activities, Love was president of the Australian division of the Chartered Institute of Secretaries in 1930, commissioner of the Government Savings Bank of New South Wales, 1931-33, and chairman of Manufacturers' Mutual Insurance Co. and Carpet Manufacturers' Ltd. In 1946 he joined the board of Joyce Biscuits Ltd.

Politically conservative, Love was prominent in the National Association of New South Wales as a vice-president and treasurer. He was a keen supporter of W. M. Hughes, even when he stood as an Independent Nationalist in 1929. In 1933 Love supported J. A. Lyons's moves to strengthen Australian defence and was appointed a vice-president of the Defence of Australia League. His consuming interest was business but he also found time for art and community service. He was president of the North Sydney district Boy Scouts' Association and of the Sydney City Mission, and chairman of the Scottish Hospital.

Love died at his home at Wollstonecraft, Sydney, on 26 August 1951, survived by his wife Maggie Drummond, née Banks, whom he had married at Balmain with Congregational rites on 3 November 1897, and by their son. His estate was valued at £99,613.

Select Bibliography

  • A. Pratt (ed) The National Handbook of Australia's Industries (Melb, 1934)
  • Australasian Insurance and Banking Record, 75, Sept 1951, p 483
  • Australian National Review, 19 June 1925
  • Sydney Morning Herald, 17 Feb, 11 Mar, 14 Apr, 27 Oct 1921, 25 Oct 1922, 3 June 1925, 3 Feb, 5 Oct 1927, 25 Sept 1930, 27 Aug 1951.

Citation details

G. P. Walsh, 'Love, Sir Joseph Clifton (1867–1951)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/love-sir-joseph-clifton-7243/text12545, published first in hardcopy 1986, accessed online 29 March 2024.

This article was published in hardcopy in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 10, (Melbourne University Press), 1986

View the front pages for Volume 10

© Copyright Australian Dictionary of Biography, 2006-2024

Life Summary [details]

Birth

18 January, 1867
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Death

26 August, 1951 (aged 84)
Wollstonecraft, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Cultural Heritage

Includes subject's nationality; their parents' nationality; the countries in which they spent a significant part of their childhood, and their self-identity.

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