Alexander Cleghorn
Alexander Cleghorn (1859-1922) of Barclay, Curle and Co
1922 Obituary [1]
Mr. Cleghorn was born in Fifeshire about sixty-three years ago (1859), and after receiving his elementary education at St. Andrews, studied engineering and naval architecture at Edinburgh and Glasgow Universities. He served his apprenticeship with Robert Napier and Sons, of Govan, and with that firm became in succession loading draughtsman, works manager and assistant manager. From 1897 to 1905 he occupied the post of engineering manager to Barclay, Curle and Co.,Limited, of Whiteinch. In the last-named year he entered the service of the Fairfield Company in a similar capacity. Subsequently he was elected a director of the company. He retired from active work in 1920. Mr. Cleghorn was a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, a member of Council of the Institution of Naval Architects, and a member of Council and Past-president of the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland.
1922 Obituary [2]
ALEXANDER CLEGHORN died suddenly at his residence, 14 Hatfield Drive, Glasgow, on Thursday, May 4, 1922.
Born in 1861 - the son of the Rev. Alexander Cleghorn of Leuchars, Fife - he was educated at St. Andrews University, where he won the Tullis gold medal for mathematics and natural philosophy. He then went to Edinburgh University where he obtained honours in mathematics and chemistry, and was a medallist in advanced dynamics and engineering. He also studied for a time at Glasgow University, and there he was first and third prizeman in naval architecture.
On completing his University career he became an apprentice with the firm of Robert Napier & Sons, Govan, a concern which had then attained a world-wide fame, and in their employment he became successively leading draughtsman, works manager, and assistant manager, and he also represented the firm in Russia in connection with naval contracts for that country.
From 1897 to 1905 Mr. Cleghorn was engineering manager for Barclay, Curle &Co., and joined the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company Limited in the latter year as engineering manager, with responsibility for all engineering construction. During that period the firm constructed many notable vessels, the machinery for which was made under Mr. Cleghorn's supervision. In addition to being engineering manager, Mr. Cleghorn was also a director of the company, and was one of the best-known marine engineers, not only on the Clyde, but also in the country.
Though he retired from active professional duties in 1920, he maintained a keen interest in marine engineering affairs, and on the day before his death he completed a valuable contribution on an engineering problem to the Proceedings of the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland. Mr. Cleghorn was a Past-President of the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland, a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Institution of Naval Architects, and Lloyd's Register Technical Committee, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and a Governor of the Royal Technical College, Glasgow.
He was an original member of the Institute of Metals and held office on the Council from 1913 to 1922.