Frank Johnston
Frank Johnston (1875-1958)
1958 Obituary.[1]
Frank Johnston, who died in March 1958, was born in London on the 7th June 1875. He was educated at Whitgift School and at Finsbury Technical College, London, under Professor Silvanus P. Thompson, where he took the Diploma in Electrical Engineering. He was apprenticed to Latimer Clark, Muirhead and Co., Westminster, and in 1897 joined W. H. Allen of Bedford, being sent to Belfast in 1899 to be manager of their branch there. He joined Harland and Wolff in 1906 and retired as Chief of the Electrical Department in November 1948.
Johnston had a family of two boys and five girls. Both his sons predeceased him, his eldest boy dying at the age of 21 just after completing his apprenticeship as an engineer, and his second son who was an Army Officer, being killed in France shortly after the Normandy landings.
Johnston's chief hobby was rifle shooting; he was a crack shot and competed at Bisley until a very few years ago. He was champion shot of Ireland for many years, and soon after the end of the Second World War, during which he continued to hold his championship, he shot again for Ireland at the age of 75 and won.
His retirement was spent in a delightful spot in the Mountains of Mourne, on the side of Slieve Donard, the highest mountain, overlooking the Irish Sea.
Mr. Johnston joined The Institution as a Student in 1895 and was elected an Associate in 1897, an Associate Member in 1902, and a Member in 1911. He was Chairman of the Northern Ireland Sub-Centre in 1938, serving on the Committee from 1936 to 1944. He was awarded a Student Premium in 1897 and was an early member of the Committee on Regulations for the Electrical Equipment of Ships. His progress review entitled 'Electricity Applied to Ships' was published in the Journal in 1933.