Bert Massie
{{Short description|British disability rights campaigner}}
{{EngvarB|date=November 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2017}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix =
| name = Sir Bert Massie
| honorific_suffix = {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|CBE|DL|FRSA}}
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| office = Chairman of the Disability Rights Commission
| term_start = 2000
| term_end = 2007
| birth_name = Herbert William Massie
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1949|3|31}}
| birth_place = Liverpool, England
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2017|10|15|1949|3|31}}
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| nationality = British
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| education = Sandfield Park Special School
Hereward College
| alma_mater = Liverpool Polytechnic
Manchester Polytechnic
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Sir Herbert William Massie, {{post-nominals|country=GBR|sep=,|size=100%|CBE|DL|FRSA}} (31 March 1949 – 15 October 2017), known as Bert Massie, was a British disability rights campaigner.{{cite web|title=MASSIE, Sir Herbert William|url=http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whoswho/U26928|work=Who's Who 2013|publisher=A & C Black|accessdate=29 June 2013|date=November 2012}} He served as Chairman of the Disability Rights Commission from 2000 to 2007, and was a founding Commissioner of its successor the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
Early life
Massie was born in Liverpool,{{cite web|last=Ward|first=Linda|title=Herbert William Massie CBE – Doctor of Laws|url=http://www.bristol.ac.uk/pace/graduation/honorary-degrees/hondeg05/massie.html|accessdate=29 June 2013|date=14 July 2005}} on 31 March 1949 to Herbert Douglas Massie and Lucy Joan Massie.
He contracted polio in 1949 and spent his first five years receiving care at Liverpool's Alder Hey Children's Hospital. He moved to the Children's School of Rest and Recovery at the age of five and to Sandfield Park Special School at the age of eleven. As disabled students were not expected to study for O-levels, he left school with no qualifications.
After leaving school, he began working for the Liverpool Association for the Disabled. While there he decided to study O-levels and as no evening classes were accessible to a wheelchair user, he received tuition from nuns at a local convent. He then left his job to study for A-levels at Hereward College, a special needs college in Coventry, West Midlands.
He graduated from Liverpool Polytechnic in 1977 with a Bachelor of Arts (BA).{{cite web|title=Our Patron: Sir Bert Massie|url=http://heswallcamp.org.uk/index.php/friends/sir-bert-massie-cbe|publisher=Heswall Disabled Children's Holiday Fund|accessdate=29 June 2013|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130807121250/http://heswallcamp.org.uk/index.php/friends/sir-bert-massie-cbe|archivedate=7 August 2013}} He then attended Manchester Polytechnic completing a Certificate of Qualification in Social Work (CQSW).
Career
In 1978, Massie joined the Royal Association for Disability and Rehabilitation. He was its Director from 1990 to 1999.{{cite web|title=Bert Massey CBE – Winner 2001|url=http://www.wheelwrights.org/the-company/the-master-wheelwrights-award/50|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130702172848/http://www.wheelwrights.org/the-company/the-master-wheelwrights-award/50|url-status=dead|archive-date=2 July 2013|publisher=The Worshipful Company of Wheelwrights|accessdate=2 July 2013}} He served as Chairman of the Disability Rights Commission from 2000 to 2007. He was a founding Commissioner of its successor the Equality and Human Rights Commission.{{cite web|title=Chairman – Sir Bert Massie CBE|url=http://www.cecops.org.uk/about-us/chairman/|publisher=CECOPS|accessdate=29 June 2013}} He was a governor of Motability, a British car scheme for disabled people.{{cite web|title=Sir Bert Massie CBE|url=http://www.iars.org.uk/iarsusers/sir-bert-massie-cbe|publisher=Independent Academic Research Studies|accessdate=24 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140301081002/http://www.iars.org.uk/iarsusers/sir-bert-massie-cbe|archive-date=1 March 2014|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|title=Patrons and Governors|url=http://www.motability.co.uk/about-us/patrons-and-governors/|publisher=Motability|accessdate=24 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140302004228/http://www.motability.co.uk/about-us/patrons-and-governors/|archive-date=2 March 2014|url-status=dead}}
Personal life
In 2007, Massie married Maureen Lilian Shaw.'MASSIE, Sir Herbert William, (Sir Bert)', Who's Who 2017, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2017; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2016; online edn, Nov 2016 [http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whoswho/U26928 accessed 16 Oct 2017]
Massie died on 15 October 2017, aged 68.{{cite web|last1=Ricketts|first1=Andy|title=Disability campaigner Sir Bert Massie dies aged 68|url=https://www.thirdsector.co.uk/disability-campaigner-sir-bert-massie-dies-aged-68/management/article/1447460|website=Third Sector|accessdate=16 October 2017|date=16 October 2017}} He had had cancer.{{cite news|last1=Brindle|first1=David|title=Sir Bert Massie obituary|url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/oct/25/sir-bert-massie-obituary|accessdate=2 November 2017|work=The Guardian|date=25 October 2017}}
Honours
Massie was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1984 Queen's Birthday Honours.{{London Gazette |issue=49768 |date=16 June 1984 |pages=9–11 |supp=y }} He was promoted to Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2000 New Year Honours "for services to The National Disability Council and the Royal Association for Disability and Rehabilitation".{{London Gazette |issue=55710 |date=31 December 1999 |pages=9–10 |supp=y }} It was announced in the 2007 New Year Honours that he was to be made a Knight Bachelor "for services to Disabled People".{{London Gazette |issue=58196 |date=30 December 2006 |page=1 |supp=y }} On 4 May 2007, he was knighted at Buckingham Palace by Charles, Prince of Wales.{{London Gazette |issue=58424 |date=17 August 2007 |page=12004 }} In April 2014, he was commissioned a Deputy Lieutenant to the Lord Lieutenant of Merseyside.{{London Gazette |issue=60855 |date=1 May 2014 |page=8722 }}
He was made an honorary Doctor of Laws (LL.D) by the University of Bristol on 14 July 2005. In 2008, he was made a Freeman of the City of London and became a member of the Worshipful Company of Wheelwrights.{{cite web|title=Sir Bert Massie, CBE|url=http://www.debretts.com/people/biographies/browse/m/6759/Herbert%20William%20%28Bert%29+MASSIE.aspx|work=People of Today Online|publisher=Debrett's|accessdate=2 July 2013}}
References
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Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
Category:Alumni of Liverpool John Moores University
Category:Deputy lieutenants of Merseyside
Category:British disability rights activists
Category:Alumni of Manchester Metropolitan University