Personal Life
Fender worked for his father up until the outbreak of war in 1914, but when he returned from active service found the business frustrating. With his father's approval, he left the firm to start his own wine business with his brother Robert. The business thrived, in part owing to Fender's wide range of connections, and he remained chairman and managing director until 1976. For a time, Fender produced his own whiskey brand, which he tried to sell when touring South Africa with the MCC in 1922–23, but competition from the larger distilling companies meant that it was a short-lived success. After the Second World War, he had to rebuild his wine firm, which had suffered from wartime restrictions and hardships, this time assisted by his son. He and Robert also established a paper merchants called Fender Brothers, although he later relinquished his shares in the company. Meanwhile, he maintained his connections with Crescens Robinson and followed his father as chairman of the company from 1943 to 1968.
The press closely followed Fender's activities in his personal life, reporting his activities at dances, races and shooting. As such, he had a high profile, and was easily recognisable to the general public. In September 1924, he married Ruth Clapham, a well-known figure in society and the daughter of a Manchester jeweller, whom he met in Monte Carlo in 1923. The couple had two children; Ruth died suddenly in 1937 from Bright's disease. Fender remarried in 1962, but his second wife, Susan Gordon, died in 1968.
Read more about this topic: Percy Fender
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