William James Crocker
William James Crocker (c1876-1949)
1950 Obituary [1]
"WIUJAM JAMES CROCKER was associated for forty years with the production of small arms for Government purposes. On the completion of a five years' apprenticeship with Mr. Joseph Everard, Waltham Cross, general engineer, in 1895, he found employment as a fitter for the next three years.
From 1898 to 1901 he was in the service of Messrs. Vickers, Sons and Maxim, Ltd., of Crayford, Kent, as a gauge maker. He then entered the Royal Ordnance Factory at Woolwich, where he was employed in a similar capacity until 1907 when he transferred to the Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield. Starting as a machine setter he successively became ratefixer, assistant foreman, and foreman, in which capacity he was engaged for ten years.
He was promoted to be shop manager in 1929, with a varied responsibility, including all technical estimates for plant and equipment, in addition to production planning, layout, and rateaing. Towards the end of his career he became attached to the Royal Ordnance Factory at Poole where he was manager until his retirement in 1942. Mr. Crocker, whose death occurred on 8th June 1949, in his seventy-third year, was elected an Associate Member of the Institution in 1937."