Francis Edward Gobey
Francis Edward Gobey (1873-1924) of the Newton Heath Works
1924 Obituary [1]
FRANCIS EDWARD GOBEY, 0.B.E., was born at Cirencester, Gloucestershire, on 4th November, 1873, and was educated at Sir Thomas Rich's School, Gloucester, where he obtained a foundation scholarship, and was a Queen's Prizeman in Mathematics in 1889. His school education was followed by courses of instruction at the Municipal School of Science and Art, Gloucester, and the Municipal School of Technology, Manchester.
In 1889 he was Honours Silver Medallist in "Railway Carriage and Wagon Building" under the City and Guilds of London Institute, being placed first in Great Britain.
In the same year he was apprenticed with the Gloucester Railway Carriage and Wagon Co., Ltd., Gloucester, and on completion of his time in 1897 he obtained an appointment as draughtsman with the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway at Newton Heath, becoming works-assistant in 1901 and chief draughtsman in the following year.
In June 1909 he became works-manager, and a year later was appointed assistant carriage and wagon superintendent. On the amalgamation of the London and North Western and the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railways, as from 1st January 1922, he became divisional carriage and wagon superintendent (Newton Heath), London and North Western Railway, and in August 1923 he was appointed Divisional Carriage and Wagon Superintendent, London Midland and Scottish Railway (Wolverton).
Mr. Gobey lectured on the subject of railway carriage and wagon building for the Municipal College of Technology, Manchester, from 1900 to 1906 and on "Railway Economics" at the University of Manchester from 1912 to 1918. His death took place on 2nd October 1924, at the age of fifty-one.
He became an Associate Member of this Institution in 1908, and a Member in 1911.
1924 Obituary[2]
"THE LATE MR. F. E. GOBEY.
By the sudden death at the Railway Works, Derby,
of Mr. Francis Edward Gobey on October 2, the London, Midland and Scottish Railway has lost one of its most valued servants. He was born in 1873 in Manchester and received his general education at Sir Thomas Rich’s School, Gloucester. His practical training was obtained in the works of the Gloucester Railway Carriage and Wagon Company, Limited, and during his early years in their service he attended the engineering classes of the Municipal School of Science and Art in Gloucester. He later joined the staff of the Carriage and Wagon Department of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Co at Newton Heath, Manchester, and became a student of the Manchester College of Technology. Mr. Gobey was promoted chief draughtsman in 1903 and became works manager in 1909. He was then made Assistant Superintendent in charge of the Carriage and Wagon Department, and thus had control of the works at Newton Heath and the many repair shops, cleaning depots and oil gas works throughout the two counties.
For his company he visited works in France, Belgium, the United States and Canada for the purpose of studying railway works methods. He was lecturer on Rail-Carriage and Wagon Construction in the College of Technology, Manchester, and also on Railway Economics in the Faculty of Commerce of the Victoria University of Manchester. On the formation of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway he became Divisional Superintendent of Carriages, with Wolverton as his headquarters, and this post he held at the time of his death. He served on the committees for “ British Standard Rolled Sections ” and “ Standardisation of Wagons.” Mr. Gobey was elected M.I.Mech.E. in 1908 and M.Inst.C.E. in 1918. He received the Webb Medal in 1919 for his paper on “ All-Metal Passenger Cars for British Railways.”