Henry Francis Gaynor
Captain Henry Francis Gaynor (1864-1898)
1899 Obituary [1]
Captain Henry Francis Gaynor was born in 1864. He received his education from 1878 to 1882 at the Royal Naval School, New Cross; from 1882 to 1884 at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich; and from 1884 to 1886 at the School of Military Engineering, Chatham. His studies were specially directed to mechanical engineering, and in 1884 he received his commission in the Royal Engineers.
During four months in 1886 he was engaged in superintending screw-pile driving at the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich; and then spent one year 1886-87 in the Elswick Works of Sir W. G. Armstrong, Mitchell, and Co., where his time was divided between the foundry, fitting shop, smiths' shop, and ordnance drawing office.
From 1887 to 1890 he was posted to the 8th (Railway) Company of Royal Engineers, Chatham.
In 1890 he was sent to Singapore, where he remained till 1893 in charge of the erection of gun emplacements and pivots for 10-inch breech-loading guns ; and was also appointed inspecting officer of machinery.
From 1898 to 1898 he was on the instructional staff of the School of Military Engineering, Chatham, to instruct in steam engineering ; and was appointed also to take charge of the Royal Engineer workshops at Chatham, including foundry, fitting, smiths', machine, pattern-makers', and wheelers' shops. On leaving this position he passed for the Staff College, Camberley, in August 1898.
His death took place on 27th June 1899 at the age of thirty-five, from an accident on the previous day, when his horse bolted and threw him against a tree. For some years past he had devoted much time to the invention of an automatic sight, in which the means of correcting for rise and fall of tide were both ingenious and practical.
He became a Member of this Institution in 1895.
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ 1899 Institution of Mechanical Engineers: Obituaries Minutes of the Proceedings