Sir David Milne-Watson (1869-1945)
1926 Governor of Gas Light and Coke Co at the time of the royal visit opening the new Coal handling plant at Beckton Gasworks[1]
1945 Obituary [2]
BY the death of Sir David Milne-Watson, Bart ., which took place on Wednesday, October 3rd, at his home, Ashley Chase, Abottsbury, Dorset, at the age of seventy-six, the British gas industry has lost an outstanding leader, and the Gas Light and Coke Company a devoted governor. Sir David was born in Edinburgh and received his early education at Merchiston School and the University of Edinburgh . He intended to enter the law and continued his studies at Balliol College, Oxford, Paris, and Marburg University. He was called to the Bar in 1897 , but in the following year he decided to enter industry, and joined the administrative staff of the Gas Light and Coke Company. In 1903 he was appointed general manager of the company and in 1918 he was elected governor, a position he continued to hold with great distinction until his retirement last April. During those years he saw the company prosper and grow. When he joined it in 1897 it had mainly to do with the densely populated areas of Central and North London, but its operations and connections now extend over several counties. From the first, Sir David was keenly interested in technical education and research, and he set up in his own firm several research laboratories which worked not only on the problems connected with gas manufacture, but on those of production and the marketing of residual products. For some years he was a member of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, and he was also a Governor of the Imperial College of Science and Technology.
In the national organisation of the gas industry Sir David played an important part. He was President of the National Gas Council, and a Past-Chairman of the Federation of Gas Employers and the Joint Industrial Council of the Gas Industry, which he served from 1919 when it was inaugurated until 1944. He was also a Past-President of the British Gas Federation. In 1938 he was awarded the Birmingham Medal of the Institution of Gas Engineers. From 1939 until he retired he was Chairman of the Gas Research Board. For some years he was President of the British Employers' Federation and he represented that body at the International Labour Conferences held in Geneva. He also served on the British National Committee of the World Power Conference and attended the Berlin Conference of 1930 and the Stockholm Committee Conference of 1933. He was a member of the Industrial Court and he served on many Government Committees, dealing with such diverse subjects as public education in relation to trade and industrial requirements, industrial reorganisation and industrial relations, the supply of markets, and the distribution of sulphate of ammonia and fertilisers. He was Chairman of the British Sulphate of Ammonia Federation, the National Benzole Association, and a member of the National Fuel and Power Committee. His many services to industry and the nation were recognised by the bestowal of a Knighthood in 1927 and in 1937 he was created a Baronet of Ashley in Dorset. Sir David made many friends in the course of his varied activities, especially among the staff and workpeople he had led for so many years. He had a quick and original mind, and his public speeches were always valuable. His death will be widely regretted.