James K. Shanks
James K. Shanks (c1870-1957), chairman and managing director of Cruikshank and Co
1957 Obituary [1]
WE record with regret the death of Mr. James K. Shanks, which occurred on November 3 at Denny, Scotland. Mr. Shanks, who was eighty-seven, had been associated for sixty years with Cruikshank and Co., Ltd., having been managing director for thirty years and chairman of the company for the last eight years.
Mr. Shanks received his engineering training on Clydeside, and spent some years at sea before beginning the long period of service which he spent with Denny and Co., Ltd. In his early days with the company he took an active part in the development of several marine and other engineering projects and, when he joined the Institute of Patentees in 1925, claimed to have made application for over forty patents, many of which had been completed.
Another activity in which Mr. Shanks engaged was the development, during the first world war, of a number of high-duty iron and steel alloys for Admiralty and military use. In the 1920s, he began to build up the agricultural engineering side of his firm's business.
Mr. Shanks had been a member of the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland and of the West of Scotland Association of Fore men Engineers and Draughtsmen for over fifty years. He also took a leading part in the civic life of Denny, serving as Provost of the Burgh from 1926 to 1932.