Early Life
Marples was born at 45 Dorset Road, Levenshulme, Manchester, Lancashire. His father had been a renowned engineering charge-hand and Manchester Labour campaigner, and his mother had worked in a local hat factory. Marples attended Victoria Park Council School and won a scholarship to Stretford Grammar School. By the age of 14 he was already active in the Labour Movement, as well as earning money by selling cigarettes and sweets to Manchester football crowds. He also played football for a YMCA team.
Marples worked as a miner, a postman, a chef and an accountant. He was commissioned into the Royal Artillery in 1941, rose to the rank of Captain and was medically discharged in 1944.
Marples married Ruth Dobson, who on his elevation to the Peerage in 1974 became Lady Marples.
Read more about this topic: Ernest Marples
Famous quotes related to early life:
“... business training in early life should not be regarded solely as insurance against destitution in the case of an emergency. For from business experience women can gain, too, knowledge of the world and of human beings, which should be of immeasurable value to their marriage careers. Self-discipline, co-operation, adaptability, efficiency, economic management,—if she learns these in her business life she is liable for many less heartbreaks and disappointments in her married life.”
—Hortense Odlum (1892–?)