Charles Henry Moberly
Charles Henry Moberly (1833-1902) of Easton, Amos and Anderson
1902 Obituary [1]
CHARLES HENRY MOBERLY was born in Odessa on 15th September 1833.
His father was a merchant in that town until the Crimean War, when he moved to London and became a member of Lloyds. When eight years of age he went to school at Dresden, and in 1849 came to King's College, London, to receive his engineering education.
In 1852 he left college, and became a pupil at the works of Messrs. J. and G. Rennie, of London, during which period he acted for a year as fourth engineer on a steamer.
At the end of 1856 he became engineer to the River Steamers Co. of Cork, and held that position for two years, at the close of which he was appointed inspector of the construction of three light-draught steamers for the River Volga. These steamers had the peculiarity that, as they were much longer than the locks through which they had to pass on the way to their destination, they were made capable of being divided up into sections while afloat, each piece being then taken through the locks separately. He made all the arrangements for the transport, and took the steamers out himself in the spring of 1859.
He remained on the Volga as assistant to the chief engineer of the Volga Steam Navigation Co., and as manager of their passenger steamers until the end of 1865, when he returned to London to take up the position of manager of the Erith Works of Messrs. Easton, Amos and Anderson.
In 1878 he became a partner, and on the conversion of the firm into a company, he became one of the directors, until his retirement at the end of 1892. During this period be was closely connected with the varied work of the firm, not only making many of the calculations and designs, but organising the manufacture in the shops, an operation of no small magnitude considering the great variety of work turned out.
The special branch in which his talents came conspicuously to the front was in wrought-iron and steel plate work. He carried out many experiments on riveted joints in the early days of the use of steel for constructive work, and contributed a Paper on the subject to the Institution of Civil Engineers, for which he received a Telford Premium.
On his retirement from the company, he commenced to practice as a consulting engineer, in which capacity his intimate acquaintance with the technicalities of the Russian and German languages was turned to good account.
In 1895 (Proceedings, page 658), he translated and abstracted for this Institution the report on "The Results of Preliminary Tests of the Strength of Copper," by Professor A. Martens, Principal of the Royal Technical Experimental Works, Berlin. He was for many years past a constant attendant at the Meetings.
After an illness of some duration, his death occurred at his residence at Blackheath, London, on 3rd September 1902, in his sixty-ninth year.
He became a Member of this Institution in 1870; and was also a Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers.
1903 Obituary [2]
. . . . He remained on the Volga as Assistant to the Chief Engineer of the Volga Steam Navigation Company, and as manager of their passenger steamers until the end of 1865, when he returned to London to take up the position of manager to the Erith works of Easton, Amos and Anderson.
In 1878 he became a partner in the firm, and a director when it was subsequently converted into a limited company . . . . [more]
1902 Obituary [3]