John Henry Thomas (1888-1938)
John Henry Thomas (1888-1938)
1938 Obituary [1]
JOHN HENRY THOMAS was manager of the Paterson Engineering Company (India), Ltd., for whom he carried out several remarkable contracts in connection with the design and erection of mechanical filtration and sterilization plants for various Indian municipalities. The most important of these plants was installed at Delhi and had a capacity of 11,750,000 gallons per day. Other large plants were constructed to his designs at Bombay, Lucknow, and Simla.
Mr. Thomas was born at Wolverhampton in 1888, and served a six years' apprenticeship, terminating in 1910, in the local workshops and drawing office of the Great Western Railway. After a further three years' experience as a draughtsman with the company he became assistant engineer to the Ransome ver Mehi Machinery Company, London, for whom he went to Brazil to take charge of the erection of water filtration plants.
During the War he went to Mesopotamia as superintending engineer of water purification, in connection with the Mesopotamia Expeditionary Force. In 1918 he returned to England and joined Messrs. Ransome's (Tipton), Ltd., structural and general engineers, as works superintendent. He joined the Paterson Engineering Company a year later, as chief assistant to the general manager in India. In 1920 he was made assistant engineer at the London office, but two years later he was promoted to be branch manager at Bombay. His appointment as manager at the head office in Calcutta dated from 1923.
Mr. Thomas resigned in 1930 and returned to England; he acquired the business of the Levedale Farm Dairy, Wolverhampton, and relinquished active engineering work. His death occurred as the result of an accident on 30th January 1938. He was elected to Associate Membership of the Institution in 1920 and was transferred to Membership in 1925.