Frank Arthur Davenport
Frank Arthur Davenport (1902-1995), Chief Engineer of the Dunlop Rubber Co
1902 May 11th. Born in Rock Ferry, Birkenhead, Lancashire, the son of Thomas and Julia Davenport. Thomas Davenport obtained employment with Lever Brothers and the family moved to Port Sunlight.
1907 Started School at Church Drive School, Port Sunlight followed transfer to Park Road Senior School also in Port Sunlight. The headmaster encouraged Frank Davenport to enter an open examination for a Lever Scholarship.
1915 Awarded a Leaver Scholarship and he attended a two year course at the Liverpool Technical College in Toxteth.
1917 Commenced a five year engineering apprenticeship at Lever Brothers
1926 Appointed assistant to the Works Engineer at Port Sunlight.
1927 August. Joined Dunlop Rubber Company as a design engineer at their main factory at Fort Dunlop, Birmingham and continued his external studies in engineering and industrial administration at the Midland Institute in Birmingham.
In February 1928 he was elected a Graduate of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.
1936 February. Went to Calcutta, as the Equipment Engineer on site responsible for establishing the factory through to full production.
1936 Patent. Apparatus for severing bias cut fabric
1948 Elected Member of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers.
1954 Appointed Chief Engineer at the Dunlop Speke factory
1956 Transferred to Dunlop Head Office London and in 1957 and 1959 respectively was appointed Deputy Chief Engineer, and then Chief Engineer, Dunlop Group with offices in London.
1967 Retired from Dunlop
1968 Institution of Mechanical Engineers conferred a Fellowship of the Institution with the title of Chartered Engineer.
1995 13th November Frank Arthur Davenport died and is buried with his wife Alice in St Bartholomew’s Churchyard, Burwash, East Sussex.