George Hatton
George Hatton (c1851-1933)
1933 Obituary [1]
GEORGE HATTON, C.B.E., died in London on July 2, 1933, in his eighty-third year.
In 1865 he entered business, taking a position in the office of his father, who was the head of a firm of sheet iron and tinplate manufacturers in the Midlands.
In 1891 he became secretary and commercial manager of the newly-formed Earl of Dudley's Round Oak Iron and Steel Works; he retained this position until 1893, when Lord Dudley, having sold the works to the company, appointed him receiver and manager for the debenture holders.
From 1895, Mr. Hatton carried on the works as general manager for Lord Dudley until 1897, when the existing company was registered; he was then appointed managing director, and held that appointment for twenty-eight years; he was a director of the company at the time of his death.
Mr. Hatton had patented many inventions; the most valuable of his recent patents was his method of removing the slag when making high-silicon steel from the basic open-hearth furnace.
Mr. Hatton was a past-president of the Dudley Chamber of Commerce, a chairman of the Midland Wages Board associated with the iron and steel trades, and a member of the Staffordshire Iron and Steel Institute. He was a Justice of the Peace. In 1920, the honour of Commander of the Order of the British Empire was conferred upon him.
Mr. Hatton joined the Iron and Steel Institute in 1875. In 1920 he became a Member of Council, and was elected a Vice- President in 1926. He always manifested the greatest interest in the proceedings of the Institute, and was a constant attendant at the meetings up to the last; he invariably occupied the Chair at the Additional Meetings held in Birmingham. He was held in sincere affection and esteem by all his colleagues on the Council; he had been a member of the Institute for nearly sixty years, and by his death is lost one of the few remaining pioneers of the Industry.
1933 Obituary[2]
"THE LATE MR. GEORGE HATTON, C.B.E.
A wide circle of engineers and metallurgists will learn with regret of the death of Mr. George Hatton, G.B.E., which occurred at an hotel in London on June 2. Mr. Hatton, whose residence was at Hagley House, Stourbridge, Worcestershire, was for many years managing director of the Earl of Dudley’s Round Oak Works Limited, Brierley Hill, Staffordshire. He was the son of the late Mr. William Hatton, managing partner of Messrs. Thompson, Hatton and Company, sheet iron and tinplate manufacturers, of Bradley, Bilston and Kidderminster, and was born in the last-mentioned town in 1850. He entered his father’s business in 1865, and remained there until 1891, when he was appointed commercial manager and secretary of the newly-constituted Earl of Dudley’s Round Oak Works. After serving for some years as general manager, he became managing director in July, 1897, when the present company was registered. He continued to occupy this position until 1925, during which time the works were considerably extended and improved. During the war the Round Oak Works supplied large quantities of basic shell steel to the British, French and Belgian Governments, and it was for his valuable services as a member of the British Shell Steel Committee that Mr. Hatton was made a C.B.E. in 1920. During the latter portion of the war, he was chairman of the Midland Area Control Committee of the Ministry of Munitions, and also served on various other committees and tribunals.
In 1918, on the death of Sir George B. Hingley, Mr. Hatton was elected chairman of Messrs, Lloyd’s British Testing Company, Limited, who own a number of testing establishments in various parts of Great Britain for the proving of cables and anchors. He was still serving in this capacity at the time of his death. He was also chairman of Messrs. Thomas Perry and Son, Limited, bolt makers and iron founders, Highfield Works, Bilston, South Staffordshire. Among other appointments, Mr. Hatton was made Justice of the Peace for Staffordshire in 1912, and was High Sheriff of Worcester in 1922-23. He became a member of the Iron and Steel Institute in 1875, was for long a member of the Council, and was elected a vice-president in 1926. He was made a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers on April 7, 1914."