John Brooke Molesworth Parnell
John Brooke Molesworth Parnell (1892-1932) aka Baron Congleton aka Lieut.-Commr. Lord Congleton
1932 Obituary [1]
Lieut.-Commr. Lord CONGLETON, R.N., Emergency List, whose death occurred on 21st December 1932 in London, was the second son of the fourth Baron Congleton.
He was born at Clonmel, Tipperary, in 1892, and succeeded to the title when his brother, the fifth Baron, was killed in action in 1914.
He was appointed a director of Messrs. G. D. Peters and Company, Windsor Works, Slough, in 1923, and later, as works director he had the entire control of his firm's productions. He was particularly interested in the development of power signalling apparatus in which one of the subsidiaries of this company, namely the British Power Railway Signal Company, specialized.
Lord Congleton (then the Hon. John Brooke Molesworth Parnell) received his naval training at Osborne and Dartmouth during the years 1905-1909, and passed out as midshipman, R.N. He was promoted to sub-lieutenant in 1912 and lieutenant in 1913. Whilst in China in 1912, he was awarded the Royal Humane Society Medal for saving life. In 1916 he qualified in gunnery and later gained the engine-room watch-keeping certificate, and retired from the Navy in 1919 with the rank of Lieutenant-Commander.
Lord Congleton then took a five-months' course of engineering studies at University College, London, and afterwards proceeded to Canada, where he continued his studies at the McGill University, Montreal, from 1919 to 1921. During the summer vacation in 1920 he worked as a fitter at the works of Messrs. Canadian-Vickers, Montreal. In the following year he gained the B.Sc. degree of the McGill University, with honours in mechanical engineering. He subsequently entered the Lachine Works, P.Q., of The Rapid Tool and Machine Company.
Lord Congleton was elected an Associate Member of the Institution in 1927, and was transferred to Membership in the following year. He served on the Committee of Management of the Benevolent Fund of the Institution, and also upon various other benevolent and educational organizations connected with the engineering profession.