Frank Wesley Dick (1853-1909)
of the Steel Company of Scotland, Blochairn Steel Works, Glasgow.
1909 Obituary [1]
FRANK WESLEY DICK was born in Glasgow on 27th June 1853.
After he had been educated at a private school, ho served his apprenticeship as a mechanical engineer, first with Messrs. William Dixon and Co., and next with Messrs. Gauldie Marshall and Co., both of Glasgow. While an apprentice he attended the evening science classes in the Mechanics' Institution and Anderson's College, which are both now merged into the Glasgow Technical College. He gained a Whitworth Scholarship in 1875, and went to study at the Owens College, Manchester, for two years, the third year's course being taken at Edinburgh University.
He next visited Germany to gain further insight into engineering and iron and steel manufacture.
In October 1879 be was appointed chief of the inspecting and testing department of the Hallside Works of the Steel Co. of Scotland at Newton. Here he showed such ability that in 1881 he was promoted to the position of works manager. This position he held alternately in the Steel Co.'s Works at Newton, Blochairn, and again at Newton during the years 1881 to 1890.
In 1890 he became works manager of the steel works of Messrs. Palmer's Shipbuilding and Iron Co., at Jarrow-on-Tyne, and latterly over both the iron and steel works there.
This position he held until 1900, when he accepted the general managership of the Park Gate Iron and Steel Co., of Rotherham, which he retained until his death. In all the works with which he was connected may be found many evidences of his inventive ability, either for securing greater efficiency in the processes of manufacture or the development of labour-saving devices. At the Park Gate Iron and Steel Works the blast-furnaces of the most improved type were erected under his supervision, and were fitted with his own design of gas-valves, chimney-valves, and dust-catchers, while the reheating furnaces were served by charging machines of his invention.
His death took place at Rotherham, on 7th May 1909, in his fifty-sixth year.
He became a Member of this Institution in 1883; he was also a Member of the Iron and Steel Institute, the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland, the North-East Coast Institution, and the Engineering Standards Committee.
1909 Obituary [2]
FRANK WESLEY DICK, who died on May 7, 1909, was born in Glasgow. He was apprenticed at an ironworks of that city at an early age, and was afterwards employed in several other works of the Clyde district, including those of the Steel Company of Scotland, where he was first works inspector and afterwards manager.
Later, he studied at the University of Manchester, and in 1891 he received the appointment of manager of the steelworks and blast-furnaces at the Jarrow Works of Palmer's Shipbuilding and Iron Company.
In 1901 he left Tyneside to manage the works of the Parkgate Iron and Steel Company, a position which he held up to the time of his death.
In 1884 he presented a paper before the Institute, describing a new form of regenerative furnace, of which he was joint inventor with Mr. James Riley. During the visit of the Institute to Sheffield in 1905, he served on the Reception Committee, and rendered valuable services. He was a Member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, and President of the Rotherham Technical Institute Engineering Society.
He was elected a member of the Iron and Steel Institute in 1884.