William Calder
William Calder (c1877-1935)
1935 Obituary [1]
WILLIAM CALDER was manager and a director of the Dunswart Iron and Steel Works, Ltd., of Benoni, South Africa. He had been engaged on engineering work in the Rand for nearly forty years.
He was a native of Edinburgh, and received his technical education at the Heriot Watt College. In 1891 he commenced a five years' apprenticeship with Messrs. James Bertram and Son, Ltd., after which he went to sea for a short period as third engineer.
He then went to Johannesburg as construction engineer on the Bantjes Consolidated Mines, and a year later he joined the General Mining and Finance Corporation in a similar capacity.
In 1906 he was appointed resident engineer and assistant to the manager of the Village Main Reef Gold Mining Company, and later became associated with several other mines in succession.
During the War he served with the Royal Engineers in Flanders before being sent to England to take charge of the Handley Page Aircraft Factory. He later returned to Flanders and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel.
On his return to South Africa he resumed his duties as engineer on the Nourse Mines and held this position until his appointment with the Dunswart Iron and Steel Works in 1925.
Mr. Calder was elected a Member of the Institution in 1915. He was president of the South African Institution of Engineers for the 1913-14 session.
His death occurred at Dunswart on 14th February 1934, in his fifty-ninth year.