Charles Revill Bellamy
Charles Revill Bellemy (1856-1905)
1907 Obituary [1]
CHARLES REVILL BELLAMY, born on the 1st April, 1856, was educated at Peckham College and obtained his engineering training under Mr. (now Sir George) Livesey, then Chief Engineer to the South Metropolitan Gas Company.
Subsequently he acted for several years as Assistant Engineer at the Norwich station of the British Gas Light Company.
Mr. Bellamy entered the service of the Liverpool Corporation in 1882, as assistant in charge of public lighting, including mechanical workshops and street works.
In 1895 he was appointed Engineer in charge of the independent Department of Public Lighting, and in 1899 he joined to that appointment the office of General Manager of the Corporation tramways. During Mr. Bellamy’s management of the lighting department the length of lighted streets was increased by nearly 170 miles and the illuminating power was almost quadrupled, but notwithstanding this development the charges mere only 16 per cent. greater in 1906 than in 1893. The new system of lighting introduced by Mr. Bellamy resulted in a substantial saving to the city.
Upon all matters relating to gas and electric street lighting Mr. Bellamy was a recognized authority, and he acted as consulting engineer for public lighting to several municipal bodies in this country.
After Mr. Bellamy’s appointment to the management of the tramway system, electric traction was rapidly introduced, and within less than 3 years had entirely superseded horse haulage. The rolling stock had to be continually augmented to keep pace with the remarkable growth of the traffic, and the increased revenue resulting from economical and successful management enabled considerable sums to be set aside in relief of rates and for other purposes.
Mr. Bellamy was naturally a strong advocate of municipal control of tramways, and before the New York National Convention on Municipal Ownership in 1903 he read a valuable Paper on the subject from this point of view.
Mr. Bellamy always took a keen interest in the welfare of his staff and the improvement of the conditions under which they worked, his exertions leading to the establishment of a successful benefit society, and a social, athletic and thrift society.
As the result of an accident in which he injured his leg, he died on the 23rd December, 1905, aged 49. He was a Past-President of the Municipal Tramways Association, President-elect at the time of his death of the Tramways and Light Railways Association, and a member of the Liverpool Engineering Society.
Mr. Bellamy was elected an Associate Member of The Institution on the 11th January, 1898.
Obituary 1905 [2]
. . . general manager of the Liverpool Corporation tramways and city lighting engineer . . .