Haldane Gwilt Cotsworth
Haldane Gwilt Cotsworth (1871-1950)
Life Member, British Association Mechanical and Electrical Engineers.
Career:
- Indentured to late William Dean, M.Inst.C.E., M.I.Mech.E., Chief Mechanical Engineer, Great Western Railway.
- Subsequently Assistant Engineering Chemist, G.W.R., Swindon.
- 1900-05 Superintendent in Engineering Department, Battersea Polytechnic.
- 1905-34 Head of Electrical Engineering Department, Wigan Mining and Technical College.
1951 Obituary [1]
"HALDANE GWILT COTSWORTH was identified with technical education for the greater part of his career. He was educated at Teignmouth Grammar School, at the North Wilts Technical School, Swindon, and at the Merchant Venturers' College, Bristol. In 1886 he began to serve an apprenticeship at Swindon under Mr. William Dean, at that time chief mechanical engineer of the Great Western Railway. On the completion of his articles five years later he joined the staff of the laboratory as an analyst, and subsequently was engaged in the drawing office. During this period he acted as lecturer in chemistry and electrical engineering at the North Wilts Technical School, and was largely instrumental in forming the Great Western Railway Engineering Society, which he served as chairman for three years in succession. In 1896 he went into business on his own account as a mechanical engineer in Westminster and carried out several electrical installations in London and the provinces. He also designed and patented a system of arc lighting. On the conclusion of a short engagement as chief draughtsman to Messrs. Prestwich and Burt, of Kingston-on-Thames, in 1900, he was appointed superintendent of workshops and assistant lecturer in mechanical engineering at the Battersea Polytechnic. Five years later he became head of the electrical engineering department of the Wigan Mining and Technical College and held this position until his retirement. Mr. Cotsworth, whose death, in his eightieth year, occurred on 5th March 1950, was elected an Associate Member of the Institution in 1902. He was also a Member of the Institution of Electrical Engineers and a life member of the British Association."