Robert Stewart Hampson
Robert Stewart Hampson (1860-1898)
1899 Obituary [1]
ROBERT STEWART HAMPSON was born on the 8th of August, i860, and died on the 22nd of May, 1898.
Mr. Hampson first became associated with the electrical world under the late Mr. Moxon, then Electrical Engineer and Superintendent of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, and later as assistant to the late Mr. E. C. Warburton, Mr. Moxon's successor. In the capacity of Mr. Warburton's assistant he was largely responsible for the installation of the electric light at the Fleetwood Docks.
In 1887 Mr. Hampson was appointed telegraph engineer to the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire (now the Great Central) Railway, under the engineer of the line. Recently the appointment was created an independent one, with Mr. Hampson as its chief. The extension of the Great Central to London; its numerous ramifications ; the adoption of electric lighting at the Company's Manchester, London, and other important stations on the route, afforded him a wide experience in all the modern appliances of electricity to railway working.
He was an indefatigable officer, greatly respected by his colleagues', and beloved by all who knew him.
In his early youth he was known as a good debater. In the discussion of political topics he was especially happy and effective, and was much sought after for platform work. Mr. Hampson's wife, daughter of the late Mr. Victor Shakery, a Liverpool merchant, and Vice-Consul for the Republic of Costa Rica, predeceased him by some eighteen months. The loss of his wife left a marked impression upon him. At Eastertide he joined his corps, the 4th Volunteer Battalion Manchester Regiment, in a three days' march. A serious illness supervened, terminating in death on the 22nd of May, 1898, at the early age of thirty-seven.
Mr. Hampson was elected a Member of this Institution on the 27th of February, 1896.