Henry Brazil
Henry Brazil (c1871-1941)
1941 Obituary [1]
HENRY BRAZIL died on the 14th September, 1941, at the age of 70.
He joined the Charing Cross Electric Supply Co. in 1900 to take charge of the construction and operation of substations in the City of London section of the company's undertaking, which was initiated in that year, and he continued to serve in the capacity of Substation Superintendent of the City section until his retirement in March, 1935.
Prior to joining the company he had been employed from 1893 to 1900 in the Test Department of Messrs. Siemens Brothers and Co.
He was principally responsible for the development of the carbon earthing-resistance with which his name is associated. This consisted originally of a bank of fireclay troughs containing carbon powder, a later development being carbon slabs mounted in tiers and insulated from one another by porcelain discs. The advantage of such a resistance compared with the cast-iron grid type is its negative temperature coefficient, which ensures that there is no diminution of fault current through an earthing resistance. These resistances were first used for earthing the neutral point on the generators at Bow generating station.
In 1928 he published a book on Electrical Substations based on his own extensive experience, which forms a contribution of considerable practical value to the literature on this subject. Mr. Brazil had a considerable reputation as a lawn-tennis and squash racquets player.
In later life he took up ice skating and attained considerable proficiency. His principal hobby was the production of turned ivory ornaments, and his work in this respect reached a very high degree of skilled craftsmanship.
He joined The Institution in 1895 as an Associate and was elected a Member in 1910.