Reginald Laurence Quertier
Reginald Laurence Quertier (c1883-1958) of Reavell and Co
1958 Obituary [1]
WE have learned with much regret of the death of Mr. Reginald Laurence Quertier, which occurred at Putney Heath on Monday last, April 21. Mr. Quertier, who was seventy-four, was joint managing director of Reavell and Co., Ltd., and had spent over fifty years in the service of that company.
R. L. Quertier was born at Fordingbridge, Hants, and was educated at Morland School, Bournemouth, and at Sidcot School. As a youth he spent three years as a pupil in the engineering works of Wallis and Steevens, Ltd., at Basingstoke, and then worked for a year in the drawing-office of the Dowson Economic Gas and Power Company.
Between 1903 and 1906, Mr. Quertier studied at the City and Guilds Engineering College, where he obtained an honours degree, becoming subsequently an Associate of the City and Guilds Institute.
He joined Reavell and Co., Ltd., in 1906, his long career with the firm beginning with five years in the drawing-office at Ranelagh Works, Ipswich.
In 1911, the late Sir William Reavell asked Mr. Quertier to move to London to take charge of the office which the firm opened that year in Westminster. There he continued for many years, being appointed a director of the company in 1928.
In July, 1948, Mr. Quertier became joint managing director with Lieut.-Colonel Kingsley Reavell, in which office he continued up till the time of his death. Thus, for nearly fifty-two years he had taken an active and responsible part in the development of his company's business.
Mr. Quertier was a member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, an associate member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, and a past-president of the British Compressed Air Society. For many years, he had taken a keen interest in the work of the Institution of Engineers-in-Charge, serving as its president from 1954 to 1956.
He was the author of a number of papers on compressed air subjects, all of which emphasise the ability that he showed during his long career as an engineer. But that ability was combined with a gracious and genial personality. R. L. Quertier leaves a host of friends at home and overseas who will miss him greatly.
1958 Obituary [2]
Reginald Laurence Quertier, who served on the Committee of Management of the Institution's Benevolent Fund for some years, and acted as Hon. Auditor of the Fund, died on 21st April 1958 in his seventy-fifth year. He was elected a Member of the Institution in 1926, and was also an Associate Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers.
He attended Sidcot School, Somerset, from 1894 to 1899 and from 1900 to 1903 he was apprenticed with Wallis and Stevens, Ltd., North Hants Ironworks, Basingstoke, and attended evening classes in Basingstoke. He was then employed by Dowson Economic Gas and Power Co., Basingstoke, and from 1903 to 1906 attended the City and Guilds Engineering College, South Kensington, where he became an Associate of the City and Guilds Institute and was awarded a B.Sc.(Eng.) degree with honours.
From 1906 to 1911 he was employed in the Drawing Office of Reavell and Co., Ltd., Ipswich, engaged on standardization and new designs of air compressors; he transferred in 1912 to the Estimating Department of the same company.
In that same year Mr. Quertier was appointed Engineer and London Manager, and in 1925 he became Director and Manager.