Samuel Cutler (1844-1923) of Samuel Cutler and Sons
son of Samuel Cutler, Senior
1924 Obituary [1]
SAMUEL CUTLER was born in 1841, being the son of Mr. Samuel Cutler, of the Wenlock Iron Works, City Road, London.
On leaving school he entered the shops and drawing office of the family business, and in 1850 the firm - Messrs. Samuel Cutler and Sons - moved to the Providence Iron Works, Millwall.
On his father's death in 1870, the subject of this memoir took his place in the management of the business, and the high reputation gained by the firm in gas engineering matters was a tribute to his genius for successful control.
The Kennington Lane gas-holder of the Phoenix Gas Co. (subsequently merged into the South Metropolitan Gas Co.) was in the early "Seventies" an interesting example of the firm's boldness and pioneering skill in the construction of large holders, and some years later, in 1883, Mr. Cutler's firm carried out the construction and erection of still larger holders for the Birmingham Corporation Gas Works.
As the years went on, still larger dimensions were reached. The works at Millwall were well placed for Continental business, and a 4 million cubic foot holder erected at Vienna, and subsequently removed to Berlin, afforded samples of the Firm's activities.
Mr. Samuel Cutler was the inventor of the triangular system of gas-holder guide-frame which bears his name, and this was adopted for important gas-holders in Denmark, Italy, in the East, and in South America. His name was also associated with a number of successful inventions in other lines, including water-tube gas condensers, hydraulic valves for purifiers, anti-freezers f or gas- holders, inter-locking safety gears for water-gas plants, and many others. He was, too, on the boards of various Gas Companies.
During late years failing health compelled him to relinquish any very active part in the business of his firm - it had been converted into a private company under the style of "Samuel Cutler and Sons, Ltd." and this decline culminated in his death, in his eightieth year, on 5th August 1923, at his residence in Lewisham.
He became a Member of this Institution in 1876. He was also a Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers and of the old Gas Institute (since merged into the Institution of Gas Engineers), and had long connexion with the Society of Engineers, being a Member of Council so far back as 1882.