Joseph Francis (d.1934)
Joseph Francis (c1846-1934), of the New River Co
1934 Obituary[1]
WATER supply engineers will learn with regret of the death of Mr. Joseph Francis, M. Inst. C.E., the last chief engineer to the New River Company. Mr. Francis, who was in his eighty-ninth year, died at his home in Golders Creon on Friday, September 14th. From the 'sixties up to the beginning of the twentieth century he played an important part in London's water undertaking. He was actively associated with both the Balfour and Llandaff Royal Commissions, and the evidence which was given by him at the Court of Arbitration which dealt with the purchase of the London undertakings at the inception of the Metropolitan Water Board in 1902 was publicly commended by Sir Edward Fry, the President of the Court. Altogether Mr. Francis spent forty-seven years in the service of the New River Company, during which time he travelled extensively and kept in close touch with water supply engineering work on the Continent and in America. For over· twenty years he was directly responsible for the design, construction, and maintenance of works of supply, including the Staines Reservoir communication works with the Kempton P ark and Cricklewood pumping stations, subsidiary reservoirs, filter beds, and water supply mains to the Finch ley service reservoir at Fortis Green . This scheme occupied close upon eight years, during which a million and a quarter pounds was spent. Mr. Francis remained for some time with the Metropolitan Water Board, and then for a. short period he practised as a consulting engineer in Westminster. He was a man with outstanding personal qualities and a great water engineer, whose worth was appreciated by all who were privileged to work with him.