Josiah Eccles
Sir Josiah Eccles (1897-1967)
1967 Obituary [1]
Sir Josiah Eccles, CBE, DSc, who was born on 29 July, 1897, died on 14 October, 1967.
Educated at Cookstown Academy, he studied from 1919-22 at Queen’s University, Belfast, taking a first-class honours degree in electrical engineering. Much later (1956) he received his DSc.
Service in World War I (1914-18) intervened between school and university. In 1917 he received the Military Medal.
Ahead lay a brilliant future in electrical engineering at a period of vast potential, in which his own qualities and education were reinforced by a remarkably thorough grounding with Metropolitan-Vickers Electrical Company in Manchester. Here he remained for six years, serving his post-graduate apprenticeship from 1922-24. The next two years were spent as Engineering Assistant in the Company’s relay and meter department, development laboratory and test section, with finally two years as Erection Engineer - a post in which he commissioned half the Company’s new plant in Scotland and was responsible for maintenance and site erection. He took charge of Motherwell’s switch from local generation to bulk supply of electricity.
In 1928 Josiah Eccles was appointed Senior Technical Assistant to the Electricity Supply Department of Edinburgh Corporation, where with a staff of ten draughtsmen, he himself prepared contract specifications for all works executed and plant purchased by his Department. These included turbo-generators, pumps, pipework, coal handling plant and switchgear for 60 substations.
Eight years later he was also made Construction Engineer to the Department, and in 1937 Deputy Engineer and Manager: finally (1940-44) Engineer and Manager. He then accepted a post in Liverpool as City Electrical and Lighting Engineer, and after four years there became Chairman of Merseyside and North Wales Electricity Board (1948-54). There followed three years as Deputy Chairman (Operations) to the British Electricity Authority and from 1957 he served on the Electricity Council (from 1958 as Deputy Chairman). He retired in 1961.
Honours and appointments snowballed in his later years. A member of the Council of the Institution of Electrical Engineers from 1945, he was later their Vice-President and finally in 1954 President. He was a member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, and from 1947-48 President of the Incorporated Municipal Electrical Association. The following year he was Chairman of the Council of the British Electrical Development Association and in 1957 President of the British Electrical Power Convention. He found time to contribute to a number of technical journals. In 1957 he received a knighthood.
Elected an Associate Member in 1941, he became a Member in 1945. Predeceased by his only son, he is survived by his widow and two daughters.