Henry George Ivatt
From GracesGuide
Henry George Ivatt (4 May 1886 – 4 October 1976) known as George Ivatt, was the Chief Mechanical Engineer of the London Midland and Scottish Railway. He was the son of the Great Northern Railway locomotive engineer Henry Alfred Ivatt.
Ivatt was born in 1886, the son of Henry A. Ivatt.
He was educated at Uppingham School.
In 1904, he started an apprenticeship at the Crewe Works of the London and North Western Railway (LNWR). After working in the drawing office, he became head of experimental locomotive work, and later became Assistant Outdoor Machinery Superintendent.
During WWI Ivatt served on the staff of the Director of Transport in France. After the war, he became Assistant Locomotive Superintendent of the North Staffordshire Railway (NSR) at Stoke-on-Trent in 1919.
Under the Railways Act 1921, the NSR was absorbed (in 1923) into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS).
In 1932 Ivatt moved to Glasgow, becoming Divisional Mechanical Engineer, Scotland. He returned to England in 1937 as Principal Assistant for Locomotives to the Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME), William Stanier.
On his retirement in 1944, Stanier was succeeded as CME by Charles Fairburn. When Fairburn died suddenly in October 1945, a new shortlist was prepared and George Ivatt, the senior candidate, with significant LMS locomotive experience, was appointed CME on 1 February 1946. Robert Riddles, the other notable candidate for the post, was promoted to the board as Vice-President of the LMS.
On nationalisation in 1948, Ivatt remained as CME of the London Midland Region until his retirement in 1951.
[edit] Sources of Information
- [1] Wikipedia
