Augustine Robert Everest
Augustine Robert Everest (1866-1933), consulting engineer to BTH.
1933 Obituary.[1]
AUGUSTINE ROBERT EVEREST died at Rugby on the 15th July, 1933. He was born at Lymington in Hampshire in 1866. His early education was received from his father, but by his father's untimely death he was left an orphan at the age of 15, and had to make his own way in the world. He managed to secure a position with Messrs. Siemens Brothers at Woolwich, where he worked on telegraph instruments, and while there he attended evening lectures at Finsbury Technical College under the late Prof. Silvanus Thompson. By the time he left Messrs. Siemens in 1887 he had by his energy and ability acquired a sound fundamental knowledge of electrical engineering. At this date he joined the P. and O. Company and made several voyages to India and China. In 1889 he went to America, where he obtained a position with the Thomson Welding Co. The financial crisis of 1893 found him out of employment, but he assisted Dr. Elihu Thomson in some of his early research work on gas engines. In 1895 he joined the Thomson-Houston Co. at Lynn, U.S.A., and did much original work in the design of early transformers and electrical motors. When the Thomson-Houston Co. was merged into the General Electric Co. he became chief of the alternating-current design department. In 1905 he returned to England and took up the position of chief alternating-current designer to the British Thomson-Houston Co. at Rugby, subsequently being appointed in 1914 consulting engineer for the engineering and manufacturing departments. In this position, which he held until his death, he took a very active interest in the various committees of the British Electrical and Allied Manufacturers' Association, the Institution of Electrical Engineers, the British Standards Institution, the Electrical Research Association, and the International Electrotechnical Commission.
He had a most delightful personality, an extraordinarily honest and unbiased point of view, a wonderful fund of information, and a great capacity for detailed and patient work. In consequence of these qualities he was widely consulted on all sorts of subjects. When so consulted he spared no pains to ensure that the information he gave was accurate, unbiased, complete, and relevant to the problem under consideration. He was much interested in education and was largely responsible for the formation of the Rugby Technical College, but otherwise he did not take much part in public life. His chief hobby was music, of which he was very fond, and he was an accomplished pianist and organist; he was also keenly interested in wireless, and collaborated with the late R. C. Clinker in some of his earlier research work. He was elected a Member of the Institution in 1907.
1933 Obituary[2]
"THE LATE MR. A. R. EVEREST.
We regret to record the death of Mr. Augustine Robert Everest, which occurred at Rugby on Saturday, July 15, at the age of 67. He had been connected with the engineering activities of the British Thomson-Houston Company, Limited, for many years, and had carried out a great deal of useful research work on electrical machinery and insulating oils.
Mr. Everest was born at Lymington, Hampshire, in 1866, and received his early technical training at King’s College, London. He was then apprenticed to Messrs. Siemens Brothers and Company, Limited, Woolwich, after which he joined the engineering staff of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co, and served with them for two years. His next position was in the United States, where he worked with the Thomson Electric Welding Co, Lynn, until 1896. In that year, he joined the Thomson-Houston Company of America, which later became the General Electric Co, of Schenectady. In 1905, he returned to England to join the engineering staff of the British-Thomson Houston Company, with which firm he was still serving at the time of his death. He acted for some nine years as the chief designer of alternating-current apparatus as well as chief adviser on special tests and on the investigations made into the properties of insulating materials. In 1914, he was appointed consulting engineer to the engineering and manufacturing departments.
Mr. Everest was elected a member of the Institution of Electrical Engineers in 1907, and was also a member of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, the Faraday Society, the Institute of Radio Engineers and the American Society for Testing Materials. He served on the Main Research and Education Committees of the British Electrical and Allied Manufacturers’ Association and on the Electrical Industry Committee of the British Standards Institution. He was also a member of the Council of the British Electrical and Allied Industries Research Association and of the International Relations Committee of the Institution of Electrical Engineers."
- Also see obituary in The Engineer 1933/07/28 p.77