George Ethelbert Wolstenholme

George Ethelbert Wolstenholme (c1874 -1940)

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1940 Obituary

GEORGE ETHELBERT WOLSTENHOLME, whose death occurred in his sixty-sixth year on 3rd July 1940, was especially concerned with the development of stainless steel. He served his apprenticeship with Messrs. Hawksley Wild and Company, of Sheffield, from 1890 to 1896, and on several occasions during the latter part of that time he took charge of contracts, including the installation of a steam plant at the Wardsend steelworks. After accepting the appointment of chief engineer to Messrs. John Holding and Company, engineers and forgemen, he was, in 1897, appointed by Messrs. W. Parkin and Company, Ltd., Crown Steel Works, as their representative for Lancashire and Yorkshire.

In 1906, he became representative for the North Midlands for Messrs. Thomas Firth and Sons. Commencing in 1914, he made a special study of the properties of stainless steel, carrying out many experiments; in 1917, after closely studying its manufacture, he went to the United States to demonstrate its possibilities. He also superintended the production, forging, and rolling of the material at the works of the Washington Steel and Ordnance Company, and other firms.

On his return to England he became a director of the Firth-Brearley Stainless Steel Syndicate, Ltd., and manager of the stainless steel department of Messrs. T. Firth and Sons, Ltd. After the amalgamation of Messrs. Thomas Firth and John Brown, Ltd., he became a local director.

Mr. Wolstenholme was an active supporter of the Institution of which he was elected a Member in 1922. He served continuously on the Committee of the Yorkshire Branch from 1932 to 1934. During 1934 and 1935 he was chairman, and in that capacity a Member of Council of the Institution. He also delivered two addresses as chairman of the Yorkshire Branch, "Survey of Engineering and Metallurgical Progress", and "Choice of Steels for Particular Purposes".

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1940 Obituary.

GEORGE ETHELBERT WOLSTENHOLME died on July 3, 1940, at Sandsend, near Whitby. Born in Sheffield in 1875, he received his education in that city, at AU Saints School and afterwards at the Sheffield Technical School. In 1890, on leaving school, he was apprenticed to the engineering and boilermaking firm of Messrs. Hawksley, Wild & Co., Ltd., with whom he remained for a short time after the completion of his apprenticeship. He was then appointed works engineer to Messrs. John Holding & Co., Ltd., engineers and forge-masters, Sheffield, whose plant he reorganised extensively.

In 1897 he left this employment to become representative in Lancashire and Yorkshire of Messrs. William Parkin & Co., Ltd., of the Crown Steel Works, Sheffield, and from that time onwards he was engaged on the commercial side of the steel industry. In 1906 he was appointed to represent Messrs. Thos. Firth & Sons, Ltd., in the North Midlands, and thus he began his long association with stainless steel, of which he made a special study from 1914 onwards.

In 1917 he visited the United States to demonstrate the possibilities of stainless steel and to superintend the introduction of its manufacture at the works of the Firth Sterling Company, the Bethlehem Steel Corporation, the Carpenter Steel Company, and the Washington Steel and Ordnance Company. On his return to Sheffield he was appointed director of the Firth-Brearley Stainless Steel Syndicate, Ltd., and manager of the stainless-steel department of Messrs. Thos. Firth & Sons, Ltd. In 1922 Mr. Wolstenholme was elected a member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.

He had been a Member of The Iron and Steel Institute since 1910.

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