Edgar Alcock
Edgar Alcock (1877-1951)
1951 Obituary [1]
"EDGAR ALCOCK, O.B.E., whose death occurred at his home in Leeds on 2nd March 1951, at the age of seventy-four, was the chairman and managing director of the Hunslet Engine Company, Ltd., Leeds, and had been associated with that firm for nearly forty years.
He was educated at Christchurch School, the old Collegiate School, and King Edward VI Grammar School, Macclesfield. After serving a premium apprenticeship in the Horwich locomotive works of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, under the late Sir John Aspinall, from 1892 to 1897, he held various positions, chiefly those of fitter, with general engineers.
He returned twice to the service of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway; on the first occasion he acted as fitter in the running shed at Bolton, and on the second as an outdoor assistant to the chief mechanical engineer, in which position he continued until 1904 when he went to Messrs. Beyer Peacock and Company, Ltd., Gorton, as assistant works manager, where he remained for eight years. This period coincided with the development of the Garratt locomotive. Mr. Alcock began his long connection with the Hunslet Engine Co in 1912 and served the firm with great ability for the remainder of his life. After acting as works manager for five years he joined the board of directors, becoming managing director in 1937 and chairman four years later. He had been a Member of the Institution since 1917, and was elected a member of the Yorkshire Branch Committee at its inception in 1922, remaining on the Committee for eleven years."
1951 Obituary [2]
"WE have learned with regret of the death of Mr. Edgar Alcock, which occurred at 23, Park View Crescent, Roundhay, Leeds, on Friday last, March 2nd. Mr. Alcock was chairman and joint managing director of the Hunslet Engine Company, Ltd., Leeds, with which firm he had been actively associated for nearly forty years.
Edgar Alcock was born at Macclesfield, on February 7, 1877, and received his general education at Christ Church School, the Old Collegiate School, and King Edward VI Modern Grammar School, Macclesfield. In 1892 he began an apprenticeship in the Horwich Works of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company, under the late Sir John Aspinall, and for two or three year after its completion held various position in general engineering works. In 1898 Mr. Alcock rejoined the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway as an outdoor assistant to the Chief Mechanical Engineer, in which position he continued until 1904. He then went to Beyer Peacock and Co., Ltd., Gorton, as assistant works manager, a post he occupied for the next eight years, which covered the early development period of the Garratt locomotive.
In 1912 Mr. Alcock joined the Hunslet Engine Company, Ltd., as works manager and served that company with great ability for the remainder of his life. Soon after the first World War he became general manager and was subsequently appointed to the board of directors. He succeeded the late Mr. Alec Campbell as chairman of the company in 1941 and continued to hold also the office of joint managing director.
Mr. Alcock was a Member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and a Member of the Institution of Locomotive Engineers. He also took a leading part, for many years, in the work of the Locomotive Manufacturers' Association.
See Also
- 1925 Institution of Mechanical Engineers: Council
- 1926 Institution of Mechanical Engineers: Council
- 1927 Institution of Mechanical Engineers: Council
- 1928 Institution of Mechanical Engineers: Council
- 1929 Institution of Mechanical Engineers: Council
- 1930 Institution of Mechanical Engineers: Council
- 1939 Who's Who In Engineering: Name A
- 1951 Institution of Mechanical Engineers: Obituaries
- E. Alcock
- The Engineer 1951 Jan-Jun: Index