Robert Traill
Robert Traill (1869-1928), director of the Wallsend Slipway and Engineering Co and later a director of the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Co
1928 Obituary [1]
ROBERT TRAILL, who was very well known in marine engineering and shipbuilding circles, not only on the Clyde and on Tyneside but much farther afield, died at his residence in Glasgow on October 16, 1928.
Although he was born in Aberdeen, being the second son of the late Mr. Adam Traill, he lived most of his life on Tyneside, as his father for a long period was the respected headmaster of the Howard Street School, North Shields.
In 1884, when not quite fifteen years of age, Mr. Robert Traill became an apprentice to the Wallsend Slipway and Engineering Company, Ltd., Wallsend-on-Tyne. During his apprenticeship he attended classes in technical subjects both at Rutherford College and at Armstrong College, Newcastle-on-Tyne.
In 1892 he went to sea as a third engineer, being in the service of a shipping company trading with China.
After a short time he returned to the Wallsend Slipway Company's Works as assistant to Mr. L. Rusden, who was then the manager. His great technical skill and diligence duly won promotion, and he became the chief assistant to Mr. Andrew Laing, the managing director of the company. Mr. Traill was intimately concerned with all marine engines turned out by the Wallsend Slipway Company during this period. Perhaps the work best known to the general public was the construction of the propelling machinery for the world-famous Cunard R.M.S. Mauretania, built by Messrs. Swan, Hunter, and Wigham Richardson, Ltd., Wallsend.
In 1915 further appreciation of his capabilities and diligence was shown by his appointment as a director of the company.
In 1920 the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company of Glasgow, realizing Mr. Traill's talents, persuaded him to leave Wallsend and become their managing director, which important post he held until the end of last year. He was at the same time associated with Workman, Clark & Co., shipbuilders and engineers at Glasgow. While he was on the Clyde he was responsible for the construction of several high-powered sets of marine oil-engines, and also some large steam-turbine installations.
Old associations and ties, however, often have a strong attraction, and Mr. Traill, in January 1928, left the Fairfield Company and became a director of Swan, Hunter, and Wigham Richardson, Ltd., Wallsend-on-Tyne.
The strenuous work of previous years had, however, impaired his health, and in the early summer of last year he was confined to bed at his home at Kelvinside, Glasgow. It was hoped that a thorough rest would enable him to resume the new work that he had so energetically taken in hand. His strength was not great enough to overcome his malady, and his death at the age of fifty-nine years caused great sorrow among all those who knew him and who esteemed him for his fine qualities, his technical skill, and his commercial ability. Mr. Train was a Member of Council of the Institution of Naval Architects, and represented it on Lloyd's Technical Committee, and was also a Member of Council of the North-East Coast Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders.
He was elected a member of the Institute of Metals on March 9, 1925.