Oliver Thornycroft
Oliver Thornycroft (1885-1956)
1919 Became Chief Engineer of Ricardo and Co
1956 Obituary [1]
IT is with regret that we record the death of Mr. Oliver Thornycroft, which occurred on August 24th, at his home in London, after a long illness.
Oliver Thornycroft, who was the son of Sir Hamo Thornycroft, R.A., and a cousin of Sir John E. Thornycroft, K.B.E., the governing director and chairman of John I. Thornycroft and Co., Ltd., was born on April 19, 1885.
After completing his education at Bedales School he went to Clare College, Cambridge, where he took his degree and then began his career as an electrical and mechanical engineer.
In the first world war he served as a lieutenant, R.N.V.R., attached to the Royal Naval Air Service, and afterwards joined the firm of Ricardo and Co., Ltd., where he was appointed chief engineer and works manager. He continued in this post until 1939, when he became attached to the Admiralty department engaged in mine and anti-submarine weapon research.
Shortly after the war, in 1946, he was appointed Director of Aeronautical and Engineering Research at the Admiralty, where he remained for the next four years, and afterwards carried on in business as a consulting engineer.
In 1920 Oliver Thornycroft was awarded the O.B.E. and in 1948 was made a C.B. He was a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society and a member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, and contributed many articles on engineering subjects to technical journals.
1957 Obituary [2]
Oliver Thornycroft, C.B., O.B.E., B.A., was educated at Bedales School, and Clare College, Cambridge, where he graduated B.A.
After an apprenticeship served with J. I. Thornycroft and Co., Ltd., he was engaged with Rendel, Palmer and Tritton.
During the 1914-18 war he served as a Lieutenant, R.N.V.R., attached to R.N.A.S., and later joined the Mechanical Warfare Department (Tanks) as Director of the Experimental Station.
He then became Works Manager and Chief Engineer, Ricardo and Co., Shoreham, and continued in that post until 1939, when he became attached to the Admiralty department engaged in mine and anti-submarine weapon research. In 1946 he was appointed Director, Aeronautical and Engineering Research, Admiralty, where he remained for four years, and subsequently carried on in business as a consulting engineer.
He was awarded the O.B.E. (1920), and appointed C.B. (1948). He was elected a Member of the Institution in 1934, and was also a Member of the Institution of Automobile Engineers and a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society. Many articles were contributed by him to the technical Press.
His death occurred, after a long illness, on 24th August 1956, at the age of seventy-one.