Allan Haigh Hopkinson
Allan Haigh Hopkinson (1875-1935), director of J. Hopkinson and Co
1935 Obituary [1]
ALLAN HAIGH HOPKINSON, M.B.E., was for thirty years a director of Messrs. J. Hopkinson and Company, Ltd., and took out several patents in connexion with the firm's products.
He was born at Huddersfield in 1875 and received his education at Huddersfield College and Rossall, and subsequently at Owens College, Manchester. He was then employed for eighteen months in the turning and brass-finishing shops of Messrs. J. Hopkinson.
In 1893 he became an apprentice to Messrs. T. Broadbent and Sons, of Huddersfield, and eighteen months later joined Messrs. James Carmichael and Company, Ltd., of Dundee, and spent one year in their workshops and one year in the drawing office.
He was appointed joint works manager to Messrs. Hopkinson in 1896, and in the same year he became a director of the firm.
In 1901 the firm commenced to build a new valve factory, the present Britannia Works. The shops, which occupied 13.5 acres of ground, of which 4 acres were covered, were designed, built, and organized under Mr. Hopkinson's supervision. He was closely allied with many improvements in valves and boiler mountings brought out by the firm, and patented in 1907 an adjustable automatic compensating steam trap, and, in the following year, improved double-beat valves and check valves. He brought out a baffle plate for blow-off valves in 1910, and an improved reducing valve in 1911. He took a keen interest in research on materials and design with the object of utilizing high-pressure superheated steam.
During the War he took part in organizing the works for the production of munitions. He was awarded the M.B.E. for his services as recruiting officer in the Southern Command.
In 1919 the Societe des Etablissements Hopkinson was formed and Mr. Hopkinson was appointed president and held office until 1926, when he also retired from the board of the parent company.
He then lived at Wimbledon, where his death occurred on 29th September 1934.
He was elected a Graduate of the Institution in 1900, and was transferred to Associate Membership in 1901, and to Membership in 1905. From 1926 to 1931 he served on the Committee of Management of the Benevolent Fund, to which he was re-elected in 1933, and continued as a member of the Committee until his death.