John Watts (1839-1911)
John Watts (1839-1911) of John Watts and Co
1911 Obituary [1]
JOHN WATTS was born at Cheltenham on 24th September 1839, and was educated at a private school in London.
His apprenticeship was served at the Nine Elms works of the London and South Western Railway Co., under the late Mr. Joseph Beattie, which was followed by a period of five years in the drawing office of the Avonside Engine Works, Bristol. During the latter part of this time he was promoted to the position of chief of the locomotive drawing office.
In 1864 he was appointed to supervise the erection of cotton mill machinery in Egypt, and on returning to England he filled the position of chief assistant to the late Mr. J. E. McConnell at Westminster, after the latter had retired from the position of locomotive superintendent of the London and North Western Railway (Southern Division).
In 1866 he entered the service of Messrs. J. Whitworth and Co., Manchester, where until 1871 he held the position of chief draughtsman and assistant manager of the tool department.
After this he was engaged for a year with Messrs. J. and H. Howard, of Bedford.
He then commenced business on his own account at Bristol as a manufacturing engineer, with which he was connected until 1893, since which date, until his death, he had been practising as a consulting engineer. During his career at Bristol he carried out many important works, and perfected several patents, the most prominent of which being a double-band sawing machine for deep cutting, which was awarded a gold medal at the International Inventions Exhibition held at South Kensington in 1885.
His death took place at Bristol on 7th December 1911, at the age of seventy-two.
He became a Member of this Institution in 1877; he was also a Past-President of the Bristol Association of Engineers.