Edward Robert Wilkinson
Edward Robert Wilkinson (1847-1937)
1937 Obituary [1]
EDWARD ROBERT WILKINSON was the son of William Wilkinson, who was well known as an inventor in the early nineteenth century and who invented a type of railway coupling that met with considerable success.
On his mother's side, Mr. E. R. Wilkinson's uncle, Mr. E. P. Sheldon, was apprenticed to George Stephenson, and subsequently became one of his most trusted assistants. Mr. E. R. Wilkinson was born at Jarrow on Tyne in 1847 and served his apprenticeship from 1862 to 1868 in the works of Messrs. Palmer's Shipbuilding and Iron Company, after which he entered the drawing office.
In 1870 he was appointed assistant manager to the Darlington Forge Company, a firm which was founded by his uncle, Mr. Sheldon. After occupying this position for fourteen years, Mr. Wilkinson was employed for two years by the Darlington Steel and Iron Company, and in 1888 he entered the machinery export business. In 1890 he was appointed chief engineer to the Exhibition of Mining and Metallurgy, held at the Crystal Palace.
He retired soon after the conclusion of the exhibition, and latterly lived at Worthing, where his death occurred on 29th August 1937, in his ninetieth year.
He had been a Member of the Institution since 1892.