John Joseph Willcox
John Joseph Willcox (1857-1941)
1941 Obituary [1]
JOSEPH EDWARD WILLCOX was born at Radstock, Somerset, on the 16th January, 1857, and died at Edgbaston, Birmingham, on the 2nd February, 1941.
He was educated at Wells Grammar School, privately, and at Bristol University College. He served his pupilage with Messrs. G. C. Ashmead and Sons, of Bristol, and in 1879 was appointed assistant to the late Mr. E. Pritchard, M.Inst.C.E., being engaged on water-supply and sewerage works.
From 1881 to 1887 he acted as resident engineer on various water and sewerage schemes in the Midlands, and in 1887 was appointed Surveyor and Engineer to the Erdington Urban District Council.
At the same time he started a private practice as a consultant, and in 1902, owing to the growth of this work, he relinquished his post and was appointed Consulting Engineer to the Council. His firm specialized in the design and construction of waterworks, sewerage, and sewage-disposal, and he was retained by the Birmingham Corporation to advise and report upon the provision of a third pipe-line from the Elan valley. He also had a wide experience as an expert witness before Parliamentary committees in connexion with numerous boundary and extension schemes, and advised many local authorities on problems of sewerage and sewage-disposal, including the treatment of tannery and milk wastes....[more]