William Henry Maw (1838-1924), engineer and technical journalist of Engineering.
1838 December 6th. Born in Scarborough, the only child of William Mintoft Maw, a merchant clipper captain, and his wife, Minna Josephine Teresa, née Maxey.
In March 1855 Maw was apprenticed to John Gooch, engineer to the Eastern Counties Railway, at Stratford in east London.
In 1859 Maw and other young engineers founded the Civil and Mechanical Engineers' Society; he was president from 1863 to 1866.
Zerah Colburn sought Maw as co-editor of his new journal, Engineering. He took the job in January 1866 but with Colburn's suicide in April 1870, he and James Dredge were left as co-editors and, with Alexander Hollingsworth, as co-directors.
Maw married Emily Chappell (d. 11 Sept 1924) in August 1867.
1901-2 Maw was president of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and a council member for thirty-four years; he was president of the Institution of Civil Engineers from 1922–3 and a council member for thirteen years.
He died at his home, 18 Addison Road, Kensington, on 19 March 1924
1924 Obituary [1]
WILLIAM HENRY MAW, LL.D., was born at Scarborough on 6th December 1838, and was privately educated.
Soon after his sixteenth birthday he began his apprenticeship at the Eastern Counties Railway Works at Stratford, under the late Mr. John Gooch and the late Mr. Robert Sinclair.
In December 1859 he became head draughtsman in the locomotive and engineering department of the Stratford Works, and during the following year was also attached to Mr. Sinclair's private staff, being engaged in this capacity on the design of rolling stock for the Great Luxembourg Railway and of locomotives for the East Indian Railway, to both of which lines Mr. Sinclair acted as consulting engineer.
In December 1865 Mr. Maw left the Great Eastern Railway to join the late Mr. Zerah Colburn in the establishment of Engineering, a connexion which continued until 1870, when Mr. Colburn retired, and Mr. Maw was joined in the editorship by the late Mr. James Dredge.
On the death of the latter in 1906, Mr. Maw became senior joint editor, and held this position until his death.
Dr. Maw's activities were not confined to Engineering, in spite of the enormous work he has done as editor. From 1870 until a few years ago he had an independent practice as a consulting engineer, chiefly in connexion with engine and boiler construction and the design and arrangement of workshops and similar buildings, among which were the design and laying out of printing works for several of the great daily and weekly newspapers of England, notably The Daily Telegraph, The Standard, The Field and the Queen, and others.
The first scientific institution with which Dr. Maw was connected was the Civil and Mechanical Engineers' Society, of which he was President in 1863-65, and it is noteworthy that fifty-nine years elapsed between his first Presidential Address in 1863, and his last, that to the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1922.
The Institution of Mechanical Engineers is the one which has benefited most from his work. He was elected a Member in 1873, and served as a Member of Council from 1890-95, a Vice-President from 1896-1900, and was President in 1901-02. Continuing as a Past-President, he worked continuously on the Council for over thirty years. His Presidential Address dealt with engineering problems and the development of engineering science, showing the necessity for the careful study of constructive details, particularly in the training of engineers.
He served for many years on various Committees, particularly the Finance, and Publications and Library Committees, being Chairman of the latter, and gave valuable advice in connexion with the purchase of books. His great experience and practical knowledge of engineering, especially of experimental work, was of assistance on the various research committees formed by the Institution, notably the Marine Engine Trials, Gas-Engine, Steam Jacket, and other Committees. As President of this Institution he was also Chairman of the Mechanical Section of the International Engineering Congress at Glasgow in 1901. It is hardly possible to trace all the work he did for this Institution. This was appropriately recognized in 1915 by the Council inviting him to sit for his portrait by Mr. G. Hall Neale, which is hung in the Meeting Hall, and a replica was presented to Mrs. Maw.
Dr. Maw joined the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1896, and was elected a Member of Council in 1911, a Vice-President in 1918, and occupied the Presidential Chair in 1922.
In 1923 the Iron and Steel Institute conferred upon him the honour of presenting to him the Bessemer Medal. He served continuously on the General Board of the National Physical Laboratory from its establishment in 1901 until 1915, and he represented this Institution from 1905 to 1909 on its Executive Committee.
He was a member of the Committee responsible for the foundation of the British Engineering Standards Association in 1901, and continued until his death to be a member of the Main Committee, as well as chairman of the Committee dealing with Publications and Calculations and of the Committee on the Standardization of Pipe Flanges.
During the War, Dr. Maw served on several committees appointed by the Government. He was well known for his work in astronomy.
At his town residence in Kensington and at his country house at Outwood, Surrey, he had observatories which were built to his own design. He was elected a Member of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1888, and held the office of President during 1905-07. He was also one of the founders, in 1890, of the British Astronomical Association, which has for its special object the encouragement of amateurs to carry out work of astronomical value, and was President of this Association from 1890 to 1900.
He was also connected with many other Scientific Societies, and was a member of the Board of Studies of the University of London; in this connexion it may be noted that in 1909 the University of Glasgow conferred upon him the honour of the degree of LL.D.
Personally he was a most approachable and genial man, and distinguished engineers from overseas almost invariably called upon him when visiting this country and to thank him for what he had done for the profession.
His death took place at his residence in Kensington on 19th March 1924, in his eighty-sixth year.
A Memorial Service, arranged by this Institution, in conjunction with the Institution of Civil Engineers, was held at St. Margaret's, Westminster.
1924 Obituary [2]
WILLIAM HENRY MAW, LLB., Past-President, was born at Scarborough on the 6th December, 1838. He was educated privately, and in March, 1855, began his apprenticeship in the Stratford works of what was then the Eastern Counties Railway, where he served under the late Mr. J. V. Gooch, M. Inst. C.E., and afterwards under the late Mr. Robert Sinclair, M. Inst. C.E.
In 1859 he became head draughtsman in the locomotive and engineering department of the works, where he remained until 1865. During 1860 he was attached to Mr. Sinclair’s private staff, and designed rolling stock for the Great Luxemburg Railway and locomotives for the East Indian Railway, for which lines Mr. Sinclair was consulting engineer. The locomotives were probably the first outside-cylinder engines to be used on an Indian railway.
While engaged at Stratford, Dr. Maw had made the acquaintance of the late Zerah Colburn, M. Inst. C.E., for whose book, describing the locomotives in the 1862 exhibition, he wrote a chapter on valve-gears; and on leaving Stratford he joined Mr. Colburn in the establishment of 'Engineering.' When Mr. Colburn severed his connection with that journal in 1870, Dr. Maw became joint Editor with the late James Dredge, M.Inst.C.E., until the latter’s death in 1906. From that date until his death, Dr. Maw held the position of Senior Joint Editor, his colleagues being first the late B. A. Roworth, and subsequently Mr. (now Sir) Alexander Richardson.
In addition to his editorial work, Dr. Maw carried on a consulting practice from 1870 until within a few years of his death. He dealt mainly with questions relating to steam plant, but he also advised on the laying-out of workshops; and several of the leading daily and weekly newspapers availed themselves of his experience in the planning of their printing works.
'Engineering' was the main interest of Dr. Maw’s life. From the outset he established a high standard as regards both the contents and the production of the journal. The vast mass of information on engineering matters and on applied science which passed through his hands during more than half a century’s editorship of one of the leading technical journals of the world, assimilated as it was by a man of untiring industry, gifted with a remarkable memory, was always at the disposal of fellow engineers and of his colleagues on administrative and advisory bodies; and his practical acquaintance with every technical detail of publication work rendered his advice particularly valuable to the societies of which he was a member, in connection with that important branch of their activities.
To these qualities were added a kindly and happy nature, rendering him always approachable to those who sought his counsel or help. Dr. Maw was deeply interested in the work of scientific and technical societies. He was a member of many; he gave them devoted and conscientious service, sparing himself no effort in his zeal for their welfare and advancement; and they conferred upon him their highest honours.
His first presidency (1863-65) was that of the Civil and Mechanical Engineers Society - of which he had been one of the founders in 1859. He joined the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in 1873, and became President of that society in 1901. In 1922 he was elected President of the Institution of Civil Engineers, having become a Member in 1896 and a Member of Council in 1911.
Although he came to the Presidential Chair of The Institution at the advanced age of 83, Dr. Maw discharged the duties of his office with an energy which many younger men might envy, and with that zest with which he undertook every task that presented itself to him. His wide experience and keen interest in publication matters were of especial assistance to his colleagues on the Council of The Institution in the difficult conditions created by thc war. His Presidential Address1 described the progress made in 20 years in research of such diverse subjects as bridge engineering, special alloys, X-ray work, and steam power. It was virtually a sequel to the James Forrest Lecture” on 'Some Unsolved Problems in Engineering,' which he delivered at the Institution in 1903.
His main interest outside enginecring work was in astronomy, and, although an amateur in that science, he carried out work of real value, devoting himself principally for many years to doublestar observations. He had observatories at his town residence, in Kensington, and at Outwood, in Surrey. The results of his work were contributed to the Royal Astronomical Society-of which he was President from 1905 to 1907. He was one of the founders of the British Astronomical Association, of which he was President 1890-1900, and was also a Fellow of the Royal Geographical and Royal Microscopical Societies.
Apart from the Presidential Addresses and Lectures already referred to, Dr. Maw’s literary work was principally Contributed to the columns of Engineering. He was the author of 'Recent Practice in Marine Engineering' and joint author with Mr. Zerah Colburn of 'The Waterworks of London' and with Mr. J. Dredge of 'Modern Road and Railway Bridges.'
Dr. Maw took a very active part in the work of numerous committees charged with scientific research. He served on the Joint Board of the National Physical Laboratory continuously from 1901 to 1915, and was a member of the Executive Committee from 1905 to 1909. He was also a member of the Committee responsible for the formation of the British Engineering Standards Association in 1901, and was connected with that body until his death.
During the war he served on various committees appointed by the Government and the Ministry of Munitions. He was a member of the following Committees of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers:- Marine-Engine Trials, Gas-Engine, Steam-Jacket, and Friction of Gears; and was Chairman of the Committee on Steam-Engines.
He served on the Council of the Royal Society of Arts from 1911 to 1914, and at the time of his death held the post of Honorary Treasurer of that Society. He presided over the Mechanical Section of the International Engineering Congress at Glasgow in 1901. In 1909 the University of Glasgow conferred upon him the honorary degree of LL.D.
Dr. Maw died at his London residence in Addison Road, Kensington, on the 19th March, 1924, and was buried at Kensington Cemetery, Hanwell, on the 22nd March.
He married, in 1867, Emily, daughter of Thomas Chappell, and left a widow, three sons, and five daughters.
1924 Obituary [3]
WILLIAM HENRY MAW, LL.D., died at his residence at Kensington on March 19, 1924, at the age of eighty-five years.
Dr. Maw was born at Scarborough on December 6, 1838, and was privately educated. In 1855, at the age of sixteen, he commenced his apprenticeship at the then Eastern Counties Railway Works, now the Great Eastern Works, at Stratford.
In 1859 he became head draughtsman in the locomotive and engineering department, and during the following year was occupied on the design of rolling stock for the Great Luxembourg Railway and of locomotives for the East Indian Railway.
In 1865 Dr. Maw joined the late Mr. Zerah Colburn in the establishment of the periodical Engineering. Early in 1870 Mr. Colburn retired, and Dr. Maw was joined in the editorship by the late Mr. James Dredge.
On the death of Mr. Dredge in 1906 Dr. Maw continued as senior joint editor with Sir Alexander Richardson. Dr. Maw's activities were not confined to Engineering, notwithstanding the enormous work he performed continuously as editor. From 1870 until within a few years ago he had an independent practice as consulting engineer. One particular side of his work was the arrangement and laying out of the printing works of several of the great daily and weekly newspapers, notably The Daily Telegraph, The (morning) Standard, The Field and Queen, and others.
Apart from presidential addresses and papers before various Institutions, he was joint author of "The Water Works of London " and of "Road and River Bridges," while his work "Recent Practice in Marine Engineering " long remained a standard record of developments in this department of science. Dr. Maw was a member of numerous societies, and was a Past-President of the Civil and Mechanical Engineers' Society - now amalgamated with the Society of Engineers - (1863-5); the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (1901-2), the Royal Astronomical Society (1905), and the Institution of Civil Engineers (1922).
In 1909 the University of Glasgow conferred upon him the honour of the degree of LL.D., and in 1923 he received the Bessemer Medal of the Iron and Steel Institute. During the war he served on many committees appointed by the Government, and particularly by the Ministry of Munitions. Dr. Maw was not only the doyen of editors, but of engineers. He had seen pass in succession three generations of engineers, associating with the first with characteristic vitality and energy, leading the second with wide knowledge of every branch of mechanical science, and stimulating the third with experience, judgment and philosophical advice. They were for the profession years of intense ingenuity, of courageous enterprise, of great scientific advancement; and contrary to the usual psychological attributes of advancing years, Dr. Maw was as progressive in temperament towards new ideas as he was intolerant towards proposals based on long-exploded theories. Moreover, for his many bright personal traits of character he was as highly respected as he was greatly honoured. Dr. Maw was elected a member of the Institute of Metals on December 7, 1910.
1924 Obituary [4]
Dr. WILLIAM HENRY MAW died on March 19, 1924, in his eighty-sixth year.
He was born at Scarborough on December 6, 1838, and was educated privately. In 1855 he became a pupil of the Eastern Counties Railway Works, now the Great Eastern Works, at Stratford, under the late Mr. John Gooch. In 1859 he became head draughtsman in the locomotive and engineering department at the Stratford Works, and in the following year he was attached to the private staff of Mr. Robert Sinclair (successor to Mr. John Gooch). In this capacity it fell to him to design locomotives for the Great Luxemburg Railway and for the East Indian Railway, those for the E.I.R. being the first outside cylinder engines placed on the Indian Railway.
In 1865 he left the G.E.R. to join the late Mr. Zerah Colburn in the establishment of Engineering. The association had begun in 1862 when there was an Exhibition in London, and they collaborated in describing the locomotives exhibited. On the occasion of a visit to the Exhibition Dr. Maw first made the acquaintance of Sir Henry Bessemer, who became closely identified with Engineering. Early in 1870 Mr. Colburn ceased his connection with that paper, and Dr. Maw became conjoint editor with the late Mr. James Dredge.
From 1870 until within a few years of his death Dr. Maw practised as a consulting engineer, his chief work being in connection with engine and boiler construction, the design and arrangement of workshops and similar buildings. He was also consulting engineer for several important firms, and fitted up printing machinery for some of the great daily newspapers.
He was joint author of "The Waterworks of London" and of "Road and River Bridges," while "Recent Practice in Marine Engineering" long remained a standard record of developments in this department of science. The first scientific Institution with which he was connected was the-Civil and Mechanical Engineers' Society, of which he was one of the founders in 1859, and President from 1863 to 1865. He became a Member of Council of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in 1890, Vice-President in 1896, and President in 1901, serving in that office during two successive sessions. He was chairman of the Inter- national Engineering Congress at Glasgow University in 1901, and also a member of the Marine Engine Controls Committee, and of the Gas Engine and Steam Jacket and Friction of Gears Committees. He joined the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1896, and in 1903 delivered the James Forrest Lecture. In 1918 he became a Vice-President, and was President in 1922.
He was elected an honorary member of the Cleveland Institution of Engineers as long ago as 1871, and one of the few papers which he read was contributed to that Institute on the subject of "Furnaces for the Production of High Temperature." Dr. Maw was appointed to serve on the Executive Committee of the National Physical Laboratory in 1905. For the British Engineering Standards Association he did remarkable work. He was a member of the Committee responsible for the foundation of the Association, a member of the Main Committee, and of the Finance Committee of that Board, as well as chairman of the Committee dealing with publications and calculations, and of the Committee on the standardisation of pipe flanges. During the war he was a member of the Advisory Panel of the Munitions Inventions Department, and later chairman of the Committee dealing with machine tools and mechanical transport. He also served on the Committee appointed to consider the simplification of the manufacture of artificial limbs. Dr. Maw was almost as well known for his work in astronomy as he was for that in engineering. Both at his town and country residences he had observatories in which he spent many hours. He was elected a member of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1888, and in 1892 became a Member of the Council. In 1900 he was elected Treasurer, and became President in 1905. During this period he delivered two Presidential Addresses on "The Solar Spectroscope and the Measurement of Motion of Stars in the Line of Sight" and "Researches in the Lunar Theory."
In 1890 he was one of the founders of the British Astronomical Association, which had for its special object the encouragement of amateurs to carry out work of real astronomical value. He became Vice-President, and subsequently held the office of President from 1899 to 1901. His most notable research in astronomy was connected with double-star observations, on which he contributed papers to the Royal Astronomical Society. For many years he was a member of the Board of Visitors of the Greenwich Observatory. Dr. Maw was elected a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society in 1890, and of the Royal Microscopical Society in 1892. He was also a member of the Board of Studies of the University of London. In 1909 the University of Glasgow conferred on him the degree of LL.D. He was elected a member of the Iron and Steel Institute in 1874, and in 1923 was awarded by the Council the Bessemer Gold Medal for his services in the advancement of engineering practice and steel manufacture.
1924 Obituary [5]
1924 Obituary[6]
"THE LATE WILLIAM H. MAW, LL.D.
We are sure that our readers will share our great regret at the announcement of the death, at his residence at Kensington early on Wednesday, the 19th inst., of William Henry Maw, LL.D., who has been closely associated with Engineering from the first day of its publication on January 5,. 1866. He had earned the everlasting rest after eighty-five years of life and strenuous work. He was not only the doyen of editors hut of engineers, having filled the presidential chairs of the leading British engineering institutions. He has seen pass in succession three generations of engineers, associating with the first with characteristic vitality and energy, leading the second with wide knowledge of. every branch of mechanical science,, and stimulating the third with experience, judgment and philosophical advice. They were for the profession years of intense ingenuity, of courageous enterprise, of great scientific advancement; and contrary to thee usual psychological attributes of advancing years, Dr. Maw was as progressive in temperament towards new ideas as he was intolerant towards proposals based upon long exploded theories. More-over, for his many bright personal traits of character he was as highly respected as he was greatly honoured.
Mr. Maw was born at Scarborough on December 6, 1838, and was privately educated. In March, 1855, soon after his sixteenth birthday, he commenced his apprenticeship at the then Eastern Counties Railway Works, now the Great Eastern Works, at Stratford, under the late Mr. John Gooch, continuing subsequently under the late Mr. Robert Sinclair. In December, 1859, a he became head draughtsman in the locomotive and engineering department at the Stratford Works, and during the following year was also attached to Mr. Robert Sinclair’s private staff, being engaged in this capacity on the design of rolling stock for the Great Luxembourg Railway and of locomotives for the East Indian Railway, to both of which lines Mr. Sinclair acted as consulting engineer. These locomotives for the East Indian Railway, designed by Mr. Maw under Mr. Sinclair’s direction, were, we believe, the first outside cylinder engines placed on an Indian railway, and, in view of the discussions from time to time as to British and foreign competition in locomotive building, it may be recorded that while the greater number of these East Indian Railway locomotives were built in this country, by the then firm of Kitson, Thompson and Hewitt, now Kitson and Co., of Leeds, and Messrs. Charles Tayleur and Co., of. Warrington, a substantial number of them were ordered from Messrs. Emil Kessler, Esslingen, Munich.
In December, 1865, Mr. Maw left the Great Eastern Railway to join, the late Mr. Zerah Colburn in the establishment of Engineering. The association of these two began much earlier, because when Mr. Maw was at the Great Eastern Works, Mr. Colburn often visited them, frequently bringing American friends with him. Mr. Maw often showed him round the works, and thus they became well acquainted. During the 1862 exhibition in London, Mr. Colburn decided to write a volume describing the locomotives exhibited, and tracing their development up to that time. It was on one of these numerous visits to the exhibition also that Mr. Maw first made the acquaintance of Mr. (afterwards Sir) Henry Bessemer, who subsequently became keenly interested in the first issue and progress of Engineering. Eventually Mr, Colburn asked Mr. Maw to write the portion of the book on locomotives relating to valve gears, which he did, and this section still remains practically a classic on the subject. Again, when Mr. Maw became President of the Civil and Mechanical Engineers’ Society, Mr. Colburn, who had in the interval become editor of our esteemed contemporary, The Engineer, printed the presidential address in full. Thereafter it was an easy step from the Great Eastern Works to association in the editorial management of Engineering as colleague of Mr. Colburn, a connection which continued until 1870. Early in that year Mr. Colburn retired from his position in Engineering, and Mr. Maw was joined in the editorship by the late Mr. James Dredge, who had also been associated with the paper since its foundation. Until the death of Mr. Dredge in 1906 Engineering was carried on under their joint editorship, and since then Dr. Maw has continued as senior joint editor.
From the first he set a very high standard as regards the quality of the reproductions of drawings and photographs and the precision and completeness of the descriptive matter. He was, at all times, most progressive 'in his ideas in regard to engineering science and practice, and, assisted in every way the development of new processes and appliances. Having a splendid memory, he could, with invariable accuracy, give information as to the novelty or otherwise of most ideas, and from his great practical knowledge of mechanical science he was able to adviser-on the probabilities of any apparatus being a success. He was ever ready, in correspondence, to reply to enquiries. He has helped many to avoid the expenditure of effort and of money in prosecuting experiment and work upon ideas which had been either tried, or rejected according to their mechanical fitness.
No correspondent ever wrote to him without getting the best advice he could give, and many a student was assisted, particularly in the choice of text hooks, from his wide knowledge of engineering literature. To all who approached him he was, to every sense of the, word, a truly helpful and courteous mentor.
Dr. Maw’s activities have not been confined to Engineering, notwithstanding the enormous work he has done continuously as editor. From 1870 until within a few years ago he had an independent-practice as a consulting engineer, his work lying largely in connection with engine and boiler construction and the design and arrangement of workshops and similar buildings. Until recently he was consulting engineer for several important firms. Some of these, notably those who entered, exhibits for trials at the Royal Agricultural Society Shows and other similar competitions, never sent forward their engines or appliances until they had been tested and passed by Dr. Maw. One particular phase of his work which has given him great pleasure was the arrangement and laying out of printing works for several of the great daily and weekly newspapers of England, notably The Daily Telegraph, The (morning) Standard, The Field and the Queen, and others.
As regards literary achievements other than those in the 116 past volumes of Engineering, and apart from the presidential addresses and papers he read at various engineering and national institutions, he was joint author of “The Water Works of London ” and of “ Road and River Bridges,” while his work “ Recent Practice in Marine Engineering ” long remained a standard record of developments in this department of science.
For nearly all of the technical institutions throughout the country he was a willing, energetic, and valuable worker. The first scientific institution with which he was connected was the Civil and Mechanical Engineers’ Society, of which he was one of the founders in 1859, and President in the sessions 1863—64 and 1864-65. Already reference has been made to his presidential address. This society had the same objects as the present Junior Institution of Engineers and did good work in its time. It passed through considerable vicissitudes and is still in existence, having latterly, been amalgamated with the Society of Engineers. It is a noteworthy fact that of the seven members of the first committee all made good. Three of them ultimately became members of the Council of the Institution of Civil Engineers. One (Dr. Maw) became president, another (the late Mr. Walter Hunter) was senior vice-president, and had he lived a few months longer would also have been president; a third was Sir Alfred Yarrow, with whose great career all are acquainted. Other members were Mr. George Estall, who was Chief Engineer of the District Railway for many years; Mr. J. G. Crosbie Dawson, who became Chief Engineer of the North Staffordshire Railway;' and Mr. Fred. Copper, afterwards Resident Engineer of the Forth Bridge. It is noteworthy that 59 years elapsed between Dr. Maw’s first presidential address, in 1863, and his last, that to the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1922.
Perhaps, however, the institution which profited most by Dr. Maw’s work was the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, to which he was elected a member as long ago as 1873. He became a Member of Council in 1890, was elected a Vice-President in 1896, and President in 1901, serving in that office during two successive sessions. Continuing as Past-President, he served continuously on the Council for over 30 years. His Presidential address to the Mechanical Engineers in 1901 showed not only that fall knowledge of current engineering problems and the sound common sense with which he always envisaged them, hut an equal grasp of the bearing of optical and other lines of investigation upon the development of engineering science. His remarks upon the training of young engineers and the necessity of the careful study of constructive details as fundamental to a sound engineering education are as true to-day as when they were uttered, and they were typical of his outlook of the profession which he loved.
Every member of the Institution knows the conscientious and energetic service he gave as a Member of Council. His great experience and practical knowledge of engineering, and particularly of experimental work, made it natural that he should be on the various research committees formed by the Institution to carry out work which him been invaluable to the whole profession. Thus, he was on the Marine Engine Trials Committee, and was also a member of the Gas Engine, Steam Jacket, and Friction of Gears Committees. He was chairman of the Committee on Steam Engines. He served for many years on the General Purposes and Finance Committees, being a long time chairman of the latter. But it is scarcely possible to trace all the work he has done for the Institution. This was gracefully and appropriately acknowledged in 1915 by the presentation to him of his portrait in oils, excellently executed by Mr. G. Hall Neale, and exhibited the same year at the Royal Academy. As President of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers he was also Chairman of the International Engineering Congress at Glasgow University in 1901.
He did not join the Institution of Civil Engineers until 1896. Seven years later he was invited to deliver the “ James Forrest ” Lecture, and many will recall his close analysis of some of the problems of engineering which still remained to he solved. By request of the Council of the Institution, he laid down in this address the lines upon which successive lecturers should deal with problems in their respective branches of applied science. In November, 1911, he was elected a member of council, became vice-president in November, 1918, and was chosen president in 1922. ,His presidential address will be fresh in the minds of our readers. In a sense it was a sequel to his James Forrest lecture of nineteen years before, and showed what progress had been made towards the- solution of those “unsolved problems in engineering” of which he had then spoken. The remarkable thing about this presidential address was the detailed knowledge it showed of recent engineering developments, whether in connection with special alloys, X-ray investigations, steam-turbine practice, or . reduction gearing. For such an address to have been prepared, unaided as it,was, by a busy man in-his-eighty-fourth year was evidence of an energy and a living interest in a wide variety of subjects which might well he envied by most younger men. At the termination of his presidency he was presented with an admirable portrait painted also by Mr. G. Hall Neale. Dr. Maw continued to take an active part in the institution until his death.
Among other institutions with which he was associated reference may he made to the Cleveland Institute of Engineers, of which he was elected an honorary member as long ago as 1871.. One of the very few papers which he read was contributed to this institution in that year, and was on the subject of “ Furnaces for the Production of High Temperature.” In 1923, the Iron and Steel Institute conferred upon him the high honour of presenting to him the Bessemer Medal.
Naturally, Dr. Maw devoted a large part of his time to the encouragement of research in every department of science, and it was therefore appropriate that he should become a member of the General Board of the National Physical Laboratory in 1901. He served continuously on this committee until 1915. He was also a member of the executive committee from 1905 to 1909 as a representative of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, and when the Fronde experimental tank was established in connection with the laboratory in 1910 he became a member of the executive committee of this department of its valuable work, and continued so until his death.
For the British Engineering Standards Association he did remarkable work. He was a member of the Committee responsible for the foundation of the association in 1901, and continued until his death to be a member of the main committee and of the Finance Committee of that body, as well as chairman of the committee dealing with Publications and Calculations and of the Committee on the Standardisation of Pipe Flanges. As with all the other offices which he held he was rarely absent from a meeting, and he was invaluable in initiatory work.
Dr. Maw joined the Royal Society of Arts in 1890 and served on the Council as an ordinary member from 1911 to 1914, holding the post of Honorary Treasurer till his death.
During the war he served on many committees appointed by the Government, and particularly by the Ministry of Munitions. He was a member of the Advisory Panel of the Munitions and Inventions Department. He was also a member and, later, Chairman of the Committee dealing with Machine Tools and Mechanical Transport. He also served on the Committee appointed to consider the simplification of the manufacture of artificial limbs. This Committee carried out very interesting experimental work at Imher Court, which, however, was cut short by the conclusion of the war. Further, he was a member of the Ophthalmic Hospital Committee for several years, ultimately becoming vice-president of the institution.
Dr. Maw was almost as well known for his work in astronomy as for that in engineering. He was no dilletante in this branch of knowledge. At his town residence in Kensington and at his country residence at Outwood, Surrey, he had observatories in which he himself has spent many enjoyable hours of his life. These observatories were built to his own design, and the one at Outwood, which was built later than that at Kensington, was entirely built by local labour, he himself making the drawings and the templates for every unit of the dome. This latter was, at the time, unique in respect that the shutter had a counterbalance to suit every position, so that it could he raised or lowered from any position entirely without effort. Dr. Maw read a brief paper before one of the astronomical societies on the subject, and upon its publication he was requested by the Government of one of the Australian colonies, who were then contemplating the construction of a national observatory, to give fuller details. It was only characteristic of him that he should gratuitously make the drawing to suit the shutter of the dome of this national observatory, and he was specially thanked for the success of the application of his system. Dr. Maw was elected a member of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1888, and four years later he became a member of council. In 1900 he was elected the treasurer, and served in that capacity until 1905, when he became President, holding that office for two years, and continuing as Vice-President. He retired from the council in 1919. For many years he was a member of the Library Committee and the Photographic Committee, being joint honorary secretary of the latter. He was also for many years a member of the Joint Solar Eclipse Committee, which was composed of equal numbers of members of the Royal Society and the Royal Astronomical Society. Apart altogether from his contributions to the literature of astronomy, he delivered two presidential addresses, one on the presentation of the gold medal of the Royal Astronomical Society to Professor W. W. Campbell, in February, 1906, and another, on the occasion of the medal being presented to Prof. Ernest W. Brown, in February, 1907, the subject of these addresses being respectively ' “ Stellar Spectroscopy and the Measurement of the Motions of Stars in the Line of Sight ” and “ Researches in the Lunar Theory.”
He was one of the founders, in 1890, of the British Astronomical Association, which has for its special object the encouragement of amateurs to carry out work of real astronomical value. This end was achieved by the organisation of a number of observing sections dealing with special branches of astronomy, each section being under the control of a director having special knowledge of the branch of enquiry dealt with. These directors afforded valuable advice and assistance to the members of their respective sections, and discussed and arranged for publication (if suitable) the observations sent in to them by the members. Under this scheme a large amount of valuable work has been earned out. Dr. Maw contributed to the work of the section devoted to the observation of the moon, of Jupiter, of Mars and of Saturn respectively. He acted as a vice-president of the association from its foundation and held the office of President from 1899-1901, and was many years the Treasurer.
Perhaps his most notable original research in astronomy was connected with double-star observations, which he continued for many years. Between 1889 and 1907 he contributed papers to the Royal Astronomical Society regarding the results of his observations. These are to be found in vols. li, liii, liv, and lvii of the Society’s Memoirs. For many years he was a member of the Board of Visitors of the Greenwich Observatory. The following personal tribute regarding Dr. Maw’s work in astronomy (sent personally to the writer of this memoir) may he quoted:—“ Dr. Maw’s work in astronomy may he divided into two great classes. First, he was himself a most indefatigable and skilful observer of double stars. At one time this department of astronomy was much cultivated by English amateur astronomers, and English astronomy had a high reputation from the work done in this direction. But for several years past that reputation had rested almost entirely upon Dr. Maw’s observations, for I believe he was latterly practically the only astronomer not professional, either in England or abroad, who devoted himself to this most important branch of the science with persistency and success. It should be noted that the double-star observations throughout are those oi fairly close or very close doubles: not of wide and easy pairs, where it would be a light matter to gathei a great number of easy arid therefore almost worthless observations. Many of the stars had been almost neglected, and observations had been urgently required.
Second, the success and usefulness of the British Astronomical Association was due to no single individual more than to Dr. Maw. He was Treasurer' to the Association from its commencement, and with its low subscription and heavy expenses nothing. but the most unremitting attention on the part of the treasurer would have availed to keep it in a financially sound condition. As treasurer he has necessarily been brought into' relation with every member, and most freely gave help, direction and advice in practical observation and in the management of instruments to every member who consulted him, and the number doing so has been very large. Although his principal astronomical observations have been in the department of double stars, they were not limited to that department. He has been an active observing member of the three sections of the Association for the observation of the sun, the moon, Jupiter, and Mars. It is difficult to express adequately the value of the help and support which Dr. Maw has given to the Association as a body and to the members individually.”
Dr. Maw was elected a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society in 1890 and of the Royal Microscopical Society in 1892.
He was also a member of the Board of Studies of the University of London, and in this connection it may be said that in 1909 the University of Glasgow conferred upon him the honour of the degree of LL.D. In presenting him to the Vice-Chancellor, Sir Donald Macalister, K.C.B., for this degree, Professor Smart, after briefly reviewing Dr. Maw’s work, said: “It is fitting that our University, situated in what has not inaptly been termed the ‘ Metropolis of Mechanical Engineering should recognise the great services which Mr. Maw has rendered to the advancement both of and applied science by admitting him to its roll of honour,” In his life at his country seat at Outwood Dr Maw found scope for his active and genial qualities. There he had, as already indicated, his observatory and astronomical instruments. In his workshop there were the necessary appliances for engineering handicraft, while in his greenhouse and garden and on his land he found pleasant recreation. He was a characteristic country gentleman and served for many years' as churchwarden, with that regard for the observance of the minutest detail of his office which was one of the strong traits of his character; whatever he did he did with scrupulous care. He had the good fortune to spend his last week-end at his country seat.
Personally Dr. Maw was a most approachable man. Distinguished engineers from the United States and the Dominions and Colonies almost invariably called upon him when they visited this country in order to introduce themselves to him and to thank him for all he had done for the profession. Rarely was it the ease that there was ho bond of union'. For decades there had flowed across the editorial table a great tide of knowledge of engineering affairs throughout the world. With his most retentive mind, and being an admirable conversationalist, he was able to enter into the. professional life of the visitor. Above all his qualities was that of great raconteur. He had travelled much, met so many great and genial men and had stored up such a mass of happy reminiscence that an hour in his company was amusing as well as profitable. He had often been asked to publish his reminiscences. None more worthy has ever had the same suggestion made to him, none could have produced a volume which would have giver more delight; but he could not be persuaded. Many, however, will cherish the pleasure of his companionship and recall his stories, and particularly that, merry ripple of laughter which formed an ever-pleasing accompaniment.
A word on perhaps an even- more personal note may be permitted to us. Only those who have had the 'privilege' of working under Dr. Maw’s direction can fully appreciate that kindliness of nature which made him an ideal employer. In constant contact with his staff throughout the day, his relationship 'with all was one rather of personal friendliness than of authority, while his natural dignity of character ensured that respect which was his due. His courtesy was invariable. His appreciation of good work was generous and ’ his expressions' of thanks were frequent and sincere. Complete master of himself under all conditions, his cheerful equanimity in the face of every difficulty was as wonderful as the promptness and courage with which the difficulties were disposed of. His strong sense of humour and the happiness of his disposition enabled him to derive genuine enjoyment ’from emergencies' which would have disconcerted many a man, and the same characteristics turned every acquaintance into a'personal friend. The natural integrity of his character rendered him incapable of any word or thought of meanness, and' he will be remembered by all who knew him as an English gentleman, in the highest meaning of the words.
He has left a widow, whom he married oh August 25, 1867, and she has reached almost the same advanced age as he did. Of their family three sons and five daughters survive, and to them'all there will be extended by many friends the deepest sympathy in their bereavement. A funeral service will be held at St. Barnabas Church, Addison-road, Kensington, S.W., to-morrow (Saturday) morning at l0.30. The interment will, take place at 11.30 a.m. to-morrow at Kensington Cemetery, Hanwell. A memorial service will be held at St. Margaret’s, Westminster, to-morrow (Saturday) at 12.30 p.m.. Flowers may be sent to 18, Addison-road, Kensington."