This Is Your Life: James Slater

James Alexander SLATER (1925-1984)

THIS IS YOUR LIFE - James Slater, engineer, was surprised by Eamonn Andrews at the BBC Television Theatre, having been led to believe he was there as a guest on someone else's This Is Your Life.

James was born near Chester and educated at The Leys School in Cambridge. At the age of 16, he was diagnosed with muscular atrophy, a progressive disease with no known treatment or cure, which causes muscles to waste. Undaunted and determined not to let the illness get the better of him, James enrolled at the Wireless College in Colwyn Bay in 1942, where he gained a City and Guilds qualification in Radio Engineering.

His love of music led him to establish the Chester Sound Recording Studio. He also learned to fly and later worked on inventing a new car radio. But as his strength weakened due to his condition, he utilised his engineering skills to develop an electric wheelchair for his own use. Demand for the chair grew, and with a small team of employees at his home workshop, he set up a production line to build more chairs. The enterprise became so successful it eventually required mass manufacturing to meet worldwide demand.

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