Charles Richard Allensby
Charles Reed Allensby (1880-1938)
1938 Obituary [1]
CHARLES REED ALLENSBY was a director of Messrs. Benham and Sons, Ltd., London, heating and ventilating engineers. He was born in 1880 and received his engineering training in the London office of Messrs. A. Handyside and Company, of Derby, from 1895 to 1897, when he joined the staff of Mr. T. R. Sherrington, consulting engineer to the Japanese Government Railways.
In 1899 he became a draughtsman at the works of Messrs. A. Reyrolle and Company, Ltd., electrical engineers. His connection with Messrs. Benham dated from 1901, when he entered the drawing office; he was subsequently made chief draughtsman and later assistant manager and secretary.
During the War he was engaged on contracts for the Admiralty and the Ministry of Munitions, which included the manufacture of depth charges. Mr. Allensby was made a director of the firm in 1919, a position which he held until his death in a railway accident on 21st January 1938.
He was the inventor of the "Electro-vapour" radiator and of the "Panelite" system of heating and was the patentee of several heating and ventilating devices in use by Messrs. Benham; he was responsible for several important installations of boiler house equipment, calorifiers, and heating apparatus for the Air Ministry and the Admiralty. He also designed a flameproof heating apparatus for use in dangerous areas.
He was elected a Graduate of the Institution in 1902 and was transferred to Associate Membership in 1905 and to Membership in 1929. In addition, at the time of his death, he was president of the Institution of Heating and Ventilating Engineers.