William Alfred Ismay

William Alfred Ismay[1] MBE (10 April 1910 – 13 January 2001) was a librarian, writer and collector in Wakefield, West Yorkshire known for his significant collection of post-war studio pottery.

[3] It includes work by Bernard Leach, Hans Coper, Shoji Hamada, Takeshi Yasuda, David Leach Dan Arbeid and Lucie Rie.

[4] Born in Wakefield, an only child, his father was a trouser presser and his mother a school teacher.

He attended Wakefield Grammar School and studied classics at Leeds University.

[6] By the time of his retirement in 1975 he was head librarian at Hemsworth Library.