Charles James Hobbs
Charles James Hobbs (1866-1936)
1936 Obituary [1]
CHARLES JAMES HOBBS was a former director of the Hydraulic Engineering Company, Ltd., of Chester.
He was born in 1866 and was educated at Charterhouse. In 1885 he became a pupil in Messrs. James Simpson's works at Grosvenor Road, Pimlico, and in 1888 he entered the drawing office. In the following year he was made superintendent of the outdoor work of the water works engine department, under Mr. J. G. Mair Rumley, M.I.Mech.E., with responsibility for the erection and testing of engines for the firm's various contracts. He later took charge of the management of the outside department.
In 1897 he was appointed general outdoor manager of the Hydraulic Engineering Company, and worked at the firm's London office. He supervised a large amount of the work carried out by the firm for the pumping stations of the London Hydraulic Power Company, in addition to engine trials at the Milbank station.
In 1906 he became general manager of the company, with headquarters at Chester, and was responsible for the firm's contracts for machinery at Garston Docks, Hull Joint Dock, and the Gladstone Dock, Liverpool.
He retired in 1932 and lived at Colchester, where his death occurred on 27th May 1936.
Mr. Hobbs was elected a Member of the Institution in 1898, and in 1902 presented a paper on pumping engines, describing the Milbank trials.
He was also a Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers.