Henry Hartley West
Henry Hartley West (1837-1906)
1906 August 13th. Died
1906 Obituary [1]
HENRY HARTLEY WEST was born at Salford on 17th September 1837, and received his education at Woodhouse Grove.
He commenced his professional career as an apprentice to the late Mr. John Jones, Engineer, Liverpool, whose firm subsequently became known as John Jones and Son.
In 1860 he was appointed resident engineer on the Gunpowder Works of Messrs. John Hall and Son, of London and Faversham, and two years later he became manager to Messrs. Pearson, Dannatt and Kruger, Engineers and Shipbuilders, of Hull, occupying this position until the closing of their works in 1863, brought about by the purchase of their premises for dock extension.
In December 1863 he received an appointment as a surveyor on the administrative and technical Staff of the Underwriters' Registry for Iron Vessels, Liverpool, in which district he remained until 1867, when he was promoted to be Chief Surveyor in Scotland, with his headquarters at Glasgow.
In March 1875 he left Glasgow for Liverpool to assume the post of Chief Surveyor for the West and South of England, London included, being further promoted in the following year to be Chief Surveyor for the United Kingdom, an office specially created at this time. This office he filled with continued credit until the amalgamation of the Underwriters' Registry for Iron Vessels with Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping in 1885. When this event occurred, his long and well-established reputation as a professional adviser and expert in engineering and shipbuilding questions, as well as his intimate acquaintance with shipowners all over the country, induced him to start business in Liverpool as a consulting engineer and naval architect, and in this connection He was eminently successful also.
He was consulted upon and was responsible for the distribution of material and the scantling arrangements to provide the requisite strength in some of the largest steamers afloat. His technical skill was frequently requisitioned in connection with important engineering matters, and as an arbitrator his judgments were invariably accepted.
In the question of mechanical road-traction he took a more than ordinary interest, and at the request of the Self-Propelled Traffic Association he consented to act as one of the judges of the road trials. He was also one of the delegates appointed to investigate and report upon the advancement made in the construction and development of motor traction in France.
For many years he was a member of the principal technical institutions in Great Britain, and was a prominent figure at their Meetings, being also a frequent contributor of important Papers to their Proceedings. On the occasion of the Liverpool Summer Meeting of this Institution in 1891, his services as Honorary Local Secretary contributed in no small degree to the success of that Meeting.
He was elected a Member of this Institution in 1876, and became a Member of Council in 1902. He was also a Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, and a Member of Council of the Institution of Naval Architects.
His death took place at his residence in Birkenhead on 13th August 1906, in his sixty-ninth year.
1907 Obituary [2]
1906 Obituary [3]