William Isaac Last (1857-1911), director of the Science Museum
1911 Obituary [1]
WILLIAM ISAAC LAST, born at Dorchester in 1857, died on the 7th August, 1911.
Apprenticed with Messrs. Haywood, Tyler and Company, he gained the Senior Whitworth Scholarship and entered Messrs. Whitworth’s works in 1878, subsequently serving as assistant on the Hull and Barnsley Railway, and as works manager with various mechanical engineering firms in this country and South Africa.
In 1890 he was appointed Keeper of the Machinery and Inventions Division at South Kensington Museum aqd Senior Keeper in 1900.
In 1904 he became Science Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum, an office which he held until his death.
Mr. Last was elected an Associate Member of The Institution on the 6th April, 1886.