Charles Percy Bysshe Shelley
Charles Percy Bysshe Shelley (1827-1891)
1856 of Fox, Henderson and Co
1891 Obituary [1]
CHARLES PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY was born at Epsom in 1827, his father being a physician and surgeon.
After receiving his early education at Clapham and at King's College School, London, he received an engineering training in the applied sciences department of the same college under Professor Cowper.
He was then engaged by Messrs. Fox Henderson and Co., Birmingham, upon many different works, but chiefly upon the designs for the ironwork of the Great Exhibition building of 1851; he also load the supervision of the firm's numerous pupils, whom he instructed in the theoretical part of their work.
He next went to Mr. Thomas Cubitt's brickworks at Burham near Rochester, where he erected a pair of 60 H.P. engines removed from the Croydon atmospheric railway.
He was afterwards engaged at the Victoria Works of the Ebbw Vale Co., where he gave evening lectures to the men employed at the works, and made an extensive set of diagrams illustrating mechanical subjects.
He next became chief assistant to Sir William Siemens, and then principal draughtsman to Mr. Edward Woods. For about five years he was in the drawing office of Mr. E. A. Cowper.
He next fulfilled an engagement in Spain upon the Tudela and Bilbao Railway.
He then established himself as an engineer in Westminster, and carried out the plans for the Thames Valley Railway, which subsequently became a branch of the London and South Western.
In 1860 he became Professor of Manufacturing Art and Machinery in King's College, London, which position he held for thirty years, vacating it only about a year before his decease.
He was for some time employed by Sir Joseph Whitworth, Bart.; and in conjunction with Mr. T. M. Goodeve he wrote a work descriptive of the Whitworth measuring machine.
He was also engaged with Mr. J. S. Stokes upon the designs for an ironworks erected at Shrewsbury.
For many years he was one of the assistant examiners in steam and mechanics at the Science and Art Department, South Kensington; and was also examiner in these subjects at the Royal Military College, Woolwich. He was the author of a useful book on workshop appliances, which was translated into Spanish.
His death took place at Bromley, Kent, on 16th June 1891, at the age of sixty-four, after a short illness.
He became a Member of this Institution in 1856, and in 1862 contributed a paper on the manufacture of hemp and wire rope.
1891 Obituary [2]
. . . . Upon leaving King’s College he joined the firm of Messrs. Fox, Henderson and Co, at Birmingham, where he was engaged upon many different works, but chiefly upon the designs for the ironwork of the Great Exhibition Building of 1851. Upon its erection he prepared a very interesting 'bird’s-eye' view of the structure as it stood in Hyde Park, which he dedicated by special permission to H.R.H. the date Prince Consort.
He also had the supervision of the firm’s numerous pupils, to whom he regularly lectured, and generally instructed in the theoretical part of their work.
Upon the completion of his engagement with Fox, Henderson and Co, Mr. Shelley went to Mr. Thomas Cubitt’s brickworks at Burham, where he erected a pair of 60-HP. engines, which were removed from the Croydon Atmospheric Railway.
He was next engaged by the Ebbw Vale Coal and Iron Co at their Victoria Works, South Wales, and whilst here he made a very complete set of diagrams upon mechanical subjects, and gave a course of evening lectures to the workmen employed at the works during the day; and, judging from the large attendance of the men and lads, they evidently appreciated Mr. Shelley’s efforts on their behalf.
Afterwards he became Chief Assistant to the late Sir William (then Mr.) Siemens, and subsequently he was appointed Principal Draughtsman in the drawing office of Edward Woods
Later, for a period of about five years, he was engaged in the drawing office of E. A. Cowper. He next went to Spain, where he fulfilled an important engagement upon the Tudela and Bilbao Railway.
In the year 1860 he was appointed Professor of Manufacturing Art and Machinery in King’s College, London, in the same department to which he had formerly belonged as a student, and filling the 'Chair' previously occupied by Professor Cowper, under whom he had pursued his studies whilst at the College, and for whom he had the very highest regard. This post he held for a period of thirty years, only vacating it about a year before his death. . . . [more]
1891 Obituary The Engineer 1891/07/03.