Henry William Brock
Henry William Brock (1869-1906)
1869 Born in Glasgow, Son of Walter Brock
Educated at the Academy, Dumbarton and Fettes College, Edinburgh
1886 Apprenticed at Denny and Co
1889-91 Continued his training at Forges et Chantiers, Havre
1891-2 Draughtsman at Central Marine Engine Works, Hartlepool
1893 Partner in the firm of Denny and Co, engineers, Dumbarton
1896 Also partner in William Denny and Brothers, shipbuilders, Dumbarton
1906 Joined I Mech E
1906 Died
1906 Obituary [1]
We have to record the death, at his father's house, Levenford, Dumbarton, on the 10th inst., of Mr. Henry William Brock, elder son of Mr. Walter Brock, senior partner of the well-known engineering firm of Denny and Co, and of the associated shipbuilding firm of William Denny and Brothers, Dumbarton. Mr. Brock, who was in his thirty-seventh year . . . [More]
1906 Obituary [2]
HENRY WILLIAM BROCK, elder son of Mr. Walter Brock, the present head of the shipbuilding and engineering firms of Messrs. Denny and Brothers and Messrs. Denny and Company, Dumbarton, was born in Glasgow on the 15th March, 1869, and received his education at Dumbarton Academy and Fettes College, Edinburgh.
On leaving college he served an apprenticeship with Messrs. Denny and Company, and with the Societe Anonyme Forges et Chantiers de la Mediterranee, of Havre. After gaining further experience as a draughtsman in the Central Marine Engine Works, West Hartlepool, he became a partner in the engineering firm of Denny and Company in 1892, and in the shipbuilding firm of Denny and Brothers in 1896.
From the outset of his career at Dumbarton, he threw himself with characteristic zeal and conspicuous ability into the responsible work which fell to his share. This comprised the design and erection of all the marine work turned out, including screw, paddle-, and stern-wheel machinery for ocean-, channel-, and river steamers, averaging about 40,000 I.H.P. annually, and the conduct of trial trips and scientific tests to determine the efficiency of various types of machinery. Mr. Brock was among the first to recognize the importance of the marine steam-turbine, and his firm were the first to be associated with the Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company in the construction of turbine-vessels for the Clyde and for the English and Irish Channels, as well as for ocean service. The British India Company’s steamship 'Lunka' was built and fitted with turbine machinery, constructed at Dumbarton under Mr. Brock’s direction, these turbines being probably the first to be built outside the Parsons establishment.
Mr. Brock served on the committee appointed by the Cunard Company to investigate the suitability of turbine machinery for Atlantic liners, and took an active part in the work of the committee.
By his untimely death on the 10th February, 1906, at the early age of 36, the profession lost an engineer of marked ability who had already attained a prominent rank, and whose career was full of promise for the future. Mr. Brock was a Member of the Institution of Naval Architects and of other technical societies.
He was elected a Member of this Institution on the 19th April, 1904.
See Also
Sources of Information
- UK, Mechanical Engineer Records, 1847-1930