Difference between revisions of "Edward Hopkinson"
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He was President of the [[Institution of Mechanical Engineers]] in 1919. | He was President of the [[Institution of Mechanical Engineers]] in 1919. | ||
He died on 15 January 1922. Read his obituary in [[The Engineer 1922/01/20]]. | He died on 15 January 1922 age 63. Read his obituary in [[The Engineer 1922/01/20]]. | ||
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'''1922 Obituary <ref> [[1922 Institution of Mechanical Engineers: Obituaries]] </ref> | '''1922 Obituary <ref> [[1922 Institution of Mechanical Engineers: Obituaries]] </ref> | ||
Revision as of 09:39, 28 November 2014
Edward Hopkinson (1859-1922) of Mather and Platt, Salford Ironworks.
1859 May. Born in Manchester the son of John Hopkinson (1824-1902).
Educated at Owens College and Emmanuel College, Cambridge.
1881 Awarded a first-class honours in the mathematical tripos, scoring the tenth highest mark. In the same year he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Science from the University of London. In 1883 he was elected Fellow of his College.
He was personal scientific assistant to Sir William Siemens, and therefore gained early practical experience of the electrification of railways. His first employment in this area was the electrification of the railway from Bessbrook to Newry, which supplied flax from the wharves to the mills. It was opened for traffic in 1885, and was supplied with electricity from a hydroelectric station. The machinery in the power station was manufactured by Mather and Platt, whose electrical department was run by Hopkinson.
He continued to work for Mather and Platt for the rest of his career. He was made a partner, and when the firm became a limited company, he became managing director. He was appointed vice chairman in 1899.
1913 President of Manchester Association of Engineers.[1]
He was President of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in 1919.
He died on 15 January 1922 age 63. Read his obituary in The Engineer 1922/01/20.
1922 Obituary [2]
EDWARD HOPKINSON, D.Sc., M.P., born in May 1859, was a member of a family of engineers, well known in Manchester.
Educated at the Owens College, he later entered Emmanuel College, Cambridge, as a foundation scholar in mathematics, and in 1881 was tenth wrangler in the Mathematical Tripos. In the same year he took the degree of Doctor of Science in the University of London, and in 1883 was elected a Fellow of his College.
As personal scientific assistant to the late Sir William Siemens, he gained early practical acquaintance with the electrification of railways, and his earliest designs in this connexion were for the line from Bessbrook to Newry for the carriage of flax from the wharves to the mills. This line was opened for traffic in 1885 and was supplied with electrical power from a hydro-electric station, the machinery of which was manufactured by Messrs. Mather and Platt, of Manchester, whose electrical department had been placed under the charge of Dr. Hopkinson.
For the Paper describing this work the Institution of Civil Engineers awarded him the Telford Medal and Prize. Previously to this he had contributed, in conjunction with his elder brother, Dr. John Hopkinson, F.R.S., a Paper on "Dynamo-Electric Machinery" to the Royal Society.
For the rest of his life he devoted himself to work with Messrs. Mather and Platt, with whom he became successively a partner and, on the firm being made a limited company, a managing director.
In 1899 he was appointed vice-chairman.
As a pioneer in the application of electricity to traction purposes, mention should be made of the first London tube -T he City and South London — where the innovation of mounting the motor armature direct on to the axles in the motor trucks was made. The electrical equipments of the Douglas to Laxey Tramway and the Snaefell Mountain Railway were also carried out by Messrs. Slather and Platt under his direction.
In 1918 Dr. Hopkinson entered Parliament as Member for the Clayton Division of Manchester and frequently gave a lead in questions of post-war economic difficulty.
At one time President of the Manchester Association of Engineers, he was also Vice-President of the Manchester Steam Users' Association, and a member of the Industrial Research Board of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research.
He became a Member of this Institution in 1894, a Member of Council 1903, and President in 1919, and his Presidential Address will be remembered as having dealt clearly with the necessity of organization in industry to meet after-war conditions, together with a review of the position of engineering and engineers in India. He was also a Member of the Councils of the Institutions of Civil and Electrical Engineers. He was well known as a mountaineer of considerable distinction.
He died on the 15th January 1922, in his sixty-third year.
1922 Obituary [3]
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ The Engineer 1913/12/05
- ↑ 1922 Institution of Mechanical Engineers: Obituaries
- ↑ The Engineer 1922/01/20
- [1] Institution of Mechanical Engineers