Chapter 34 Austin Plant - Plant Family History Group

Plant had a deep commitment to further education and was treasurer of the Workers’
Educational Association from 1969 to 1981. He was a member of the governing body
of Ruskin College, Oxford, and chairman of the governors from 1967 to 1979, helping
to raise funds for one of the new buildings, which was named after him.
Plant’s interest in the Post Office and Civil Service Sanatorium Society began with
his first job, and he was chairman of the committee of management from 1950 to
1975. It was his initiative which led to the queen mother becoming patron of the
society, and under his guidance it developed into a large vocational health service,
with a hospital not only to provide treatment for its members but also to encourage
research. When Plant was made a life peer in 1978 he gave Benenden, the location of
the hospital, as that of his title. This was the greatest of Plant’s non-professional
interests. He was appointed OBE in 1965 in recognition of his work for the society
and CBE in 1975.
Plant was a firm believer in the virtues of the British civil service, with its concepts of
duty and responsibilities combined with a total commitment to the benefits of strong
independent trade unions to protect the rights of public service employees. At the
ILO he spoke in defence of the interests of the ILO employees and in particular
sought to protect their pension rights.
Plant was a large, well-built man, 6 feet 1 inch tall, and broad shouldered. In 1931 he
married Gladys Sampson, daughter of Sampson Mayers, textile manufacturer. They
had two sons and one daughter. Plant died from a burst aorta in hospital in Tours,
France on 9 August 1986, while on holiday with his wife.
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