William Winstanley Strode
William Winstanley Strode ( -1909), head of Strode and Co
1909 Obituary [1]
WILLIAM WINSTANLEY STRODE died on January 30, 1909, after only a few hours' illness.
He was head of the firm of Strode & Co., which was founded a hundred years ago by his grandfather, and was foremost in the lighting and heating industry in all its different stages.
Mr. Strode, after being educated at Brighton College and on the Continent, was left in charge of the business at the age of 18 by the death of his father, and began active duties three years later. At that time the firm were specialists in gas-lighting plant both in England and abroad.
In 1881, however, on a visit to the Paris Electrical Exhibition, Mr. Strode was greatly impressed by the new illuminant, and from that date he gradually abandoned the gas-lighting work and took up electrical engineering instead. Numerous public and private engineering installations in this country and on the Continent testify to his practical abilities. He was one of the pioneers of the Electrical Contractors' Association, which had for its object the raising of the general standard of work. He was also an enthusiastic supporter of the Volunteer movement, and served twenty-seven years in the London Scottish Volunteers.
He was elected an Associate of the Institution in 1888, and was in 1899 transferred to the class of Associate Members