James Matthew Cole
James Matthew Cole (c1862-1948)
1949 Obituary [1]
"JAMES MATTHEW COLE, whose death occurred at Hove, Sussex, on 2nd February 1948, at the age of eighty-six, was elected an Associate Member of the Institution in 1906. During the whole of his long professional career (which extended to fully sixty years), he was closely concerned with engineering as applied to the brewing industry and had been associated with the firm of Messrs. G. Hopkins and Sons, Ltd., general and electrical engineers, London, for thirty-four years. He served his apprenticeship from 1876 to 1883 with Messrs. Pontifex and Wood, Ltd., brewers' engineers, London, and after gaining further technical experience with two brewers' engineering firms, proceeded in 1893 to Johannesburg, where he was entrusted with the erection of the entire plant for the South African United Breweries Company, Ltd.
On his return in the same year to England he received the appointment of chief engineer to the Cannon Brewery Company, Ltd. Seven years later he became assistant consulting engineer to Messrs. William Bradford and Sons, brewers' architects, London, to whom he was responsible for the execution of some important contracts for various breweries; including that of Messrs. Cobbold and Company, Ltd., of Ipswich. He continued in this work until 1910 when he began his connection with Messrs. G. Hopkins and Sons. During that long period he was largely instrumental in developing the firm's output of specialized plant and machinery. Al though he retired from active life in 1939 he still kept in touch with his clients and continued to take a keen interest in modern engineering progress until almost the close of his career, during which he had gained for himself a high reputation in the engineering side of the brewing industry."