Frederick William Topping (1851-1922)
1887 Direct United States Cable Co, Ballinskelligs.
1922 Obituary [1]
FREDERICK WILLIAM TOPPING was born in London in 1851.
As a young man he joined the Eastern Telegraph Cable Company at Porthcurnow, Cornwall, where he remained six months.
He was then appointed a member of the expedition staff to India under Lord Kelvin (then Sir William Thomson). After three years spent at this work both in Madras and Singapore he returned to England. It was his intention to return to India, but on his arrival he was offered the position of clerk in charge at the Direct United States Cable Co.'s station at Ballinskellings, where Messrs. Siemens Brothers were bringing the cable into the bay, which is the most southerly point in Ireland.
A few years later, before he was 30 years of age, he was offered the position of superintendent of that station; this he accepted and held for nearly 40 years, until he retired with a pension in 1910 and went to live at Paignton, Devonshire.
His death occurred at Penzance on the 24th February, 1922. The numerous letters of sympathy and wreaths from both public bodies and private friends showed the high esteem in which he was held by all who knew him.
He was elected an Associate of the Institution in 1877, and a Member in 1903.