Charles Edmund Abell
Charles Edmund Abell (1884-1943)
1943 Obituary [1]
CHARLES EDMUND ABELL, whose death occurred on 24th February 1943, was chairman and joint managing director of Messrs. Abell and Smith's Electrical Company, Ltd., Worcester, and was associated with electrical engineering throughout his career.
He was born in 1884 and served his apprenticeship first with Messrs. Morris Jones and Company and later with Messrs. Heenan and Froude, Ltd., of Worcester. After attending the Victoria Institute and Worcester Science School he completed his technical education at Finsbury Technical College in 1907, and then for a brief period acted as private assistant to the college lecturer in electricity.
In 1908 he went into business on his own account as an electrical engineer and contractor. Mr. Abell, who had at an earlier period served for five years in the Territorial Force, in 1915 rejoined H.M. Forces with the rank of captain and later served as a lieutenant in the London Electrical Engineers, being chiefly engaged on the installation of searchlight plant. He continued to be interested in that branch of engineering after rejoining his own firm in 1919.
In 1936 he retired; he then took an interest in the supply of coal-consuming apparatus, forming a company known as Hop Stokers, Ltd. On the outbreak of the present war, he took up a position with a Government Research Department, and was concerned with similar work to that on which he had been engaged during the war of 1914-18. Mr. Abell was elected a Graduate of the Institution in 1907, and was transferred to Associate Membership in 1912. He was also an Associate Member of the Institution of Electrical Engineers.