Robert Eustace Gerald Horley
Robert Eustace Gerald Horley (c1893-1948)
1948 Obituary.[1]
ROBERT EUSTACE GERALD HORLEY, who died on the 23rd March, 1948, at the age of 55, received his engineering education at Battersea Polytechnic. From 1911 to 1914 he was employed as an electrical laboratory assistant with the British Insulated Cable Co. at Helsby. He then joined the staff of Pirelli General Cable Works at Southampton as Assistant Chief Electrician, and in 1916 was appointed Chief Electrical Engineer, responsible for the work of the electrical laboratory, where he developed tests for high-voltage cables and was in close touch with the development by Emannuelli (at Milan) of the high-voltage oil-filled cable system. In 1927, when the new works were built at Eastleigh for the manufacture of paper-insulated and oil-filled cables, he was appointed Works Manager. It was under his direction that investigations were carried out to improve lead sheathing to meet the requirements of oil filled and large drycore paper-insulated cables, which resulted in the development of the continuous lead-extrusion machine. He served the Company to within three days of his death.
He was genial and unassuming, and was able to lead others by virtue of his general character as well as his technical ability. He was active and energetic and a keen golfer. He will be greatly missed by his colleagues and his many friends; indeed, the cable industry as a whole has suffered a real loss.
He joined The Institution as an Associate Member in 1920 and was elected a Member in 1931. He served on the Committee of the Hampshire Sub-Centre as an ordinary member, 1930-33, as Vice-Chairman, 1935-36, and as Chairman, 1936-37. He also served on the Committee of the Transmission Section, 1939-42.