Sir Alexander Maguire was a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 industrialist who made his fortune from match

Match

A match is a tool for starting a fire under controlled conditions. A typical modern match is made of a small wooden stick or stiff paper. One end is coated with a material that can be ignited by frictional heat generated by striking the match against a suitable surface...

 manufacturing, producing the Maguire & Patterson brand amongst others.

Life

In 1898 J. T. Maguire and his four sons – Alexander, David, Richard and Robert - left the Diamond Match Company of America to form Maguire, Miller & Co. In the 1900s Maguire worked on the White Phosphorus Prohibition Act of 1908, for which he was knighted in 1918. In 1919, with the death of two of his brothers and the retirement of another, he took over the directorship of the company and formed Maguire, Paterson and Palmer.. His niece Isobel Maguire married Brigadier George Taylor (soldier)

George Taylor (soldier)

Brigadier George Taylor CBE, DSO & Bar was a British born soldier who served in the British Army. According to The Independent "he won an almost unrivalled reputation as a battle commanding officer in North-West Europe in 1944-45 before commanding brigades in the Korean war and in Kenya during the...

 CBE, Distinguished Service Order & Bar.

Maguire once owned Castle Tioram

Castle Tioram

Castle Tioram is a ruined castle that sits on the tidal island Eilean Tioram in Loch Moidart, Lochaber, Highland, Scotland. It is located west of Acharacle, approximately 80 kilometres from Fort William...

, on the island of Eilean Tioram, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

.

Alcoholism

In 1945 Maguire stayed in Upper Carlisle Road, Eastbourne

Eastbourne

Eastbourne is a large town and borough in East Sussex, on the south coast of England between Brighton and Hastings. The town is situated at the eastern end of the chalk South Downs alongside the high cliff at Beachy Head...

. There he was treated by society doctor John Bodkin Adams

John Bodkin Adams

John Bodkin Adams was an Irish-born British general practitioner, convicted fraudster and suspected serial killer. Between the years 1946 and 1956, more than 160 of his patients died in suspicious circumstances. Of these, 132 left him money or items in their will. He was tried and acquitted for...

, the suspected serial killer

Serial killer

A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...

. According to Olwen Williams, Maguire's nurse, Adams plied the patient with whisky

Whisky

Whisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Different grains are used for different varieties, including barley, malted barley, rye, malted rye, wheat, and corn...

 despite him being "an inebriate". Maguire soon moved back to London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 where he died 18 months later from "chronic alcoholism

Alcoholism

Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...

".

Horse racing

In 1939 his horse Workman

Workman

Workman or WORKman may refer to:* Workman , an English surname* Workman, a Linux cd player programmed in OpenLook* WORKman, a windows-based job control and task management application published by Veracity Systems...

 won the Grand National

Grand National

The Grand National is a world-famous National Hunt horse race which is held annually at Aintree Racecourse, near Liverpool, England. It is a handicap chase run over a distance of four miles and 856 yards , with horses jumping thirty fences over two circuits of Aintree's National Course...

, coming in at 100/8. It was ridden by Timmy Hyde and trained by Jack Ruttle.

External links

• Timeline of the Maguires' involvement in the Liverpool match industry