Herbert Barringer
Herbert Barringer (1856-1932) of Jacobs and Barringer
1932 Obituary [1]
HERBERT BARRINGER entered into partnership with the late Mr. C. M. Jacobs, M.I.Mech.E., in 1887 and in conjunction with him was responsible for a number of noteworthy engineering works. Amongst these were the construction of the tunnels under the Hudson River at New York and under the Seine in Paris, and the firm was responsible for the construction of a great many vessels designed for the transport of oil fuel. They designed and superintended the laying of pipe-lines and pumps for the Burmah Oil Company to carry oil to Rangoon and were responsible for the provision of water power for the Mexican Light and Power Company.
Mr. Barringer represented the American Bridge Company for the Sudan Expedition and was later appointed consultant to the Admiralty Oil Fuel Committee and designed and supervised the construction of the oil fuel installations at Portland, Gosport, the Medway and Felixstowe.
He was also engineer for the construction of the Tredegar Dry Dock at Newport, Mon. The title of the firm later became Jacobs, Barringer and Garratt, and Mr. Barringer was chairman on his retirement in July 1931.
He was born in London in 1856 and served his apprenticeship first with Messrs. Ravenhill, Hodgson and Company, and upon the closing down of that firm, with Messrs. Maudslay, Sons and Field.
After some experience at sea he entered his father's office in 1878 in order to acquire commercial knowledge, and he also studied ship and engine design. This was followed by further experience at sea, from which he gained a second-class Board of Trade certificate, and in 1881 he went to Bombay to join the staff of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company.
After a further period at sea he was able to gain his first-class certificate, and in 1885 he was appointed superintending engineer to Messrs. Scrutton, Sons and Company, shipowners.
Mr. Barringer wrote several important papers on marine engineering, the most recent of which dealt with modern tanker practice. He had been a Member of the Institution since 1887 and was also a Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers and of the Institution of Naval Architects. In 1923-25 he was President of the Institution of Petroleum Technologists.
His death occurred on 15th August 1932, in his seventy-seventh year.
1932 Obituary[2]
"THE LATE MR. H. BARRINGER.
The news of the death, on August 15, of Mr. Herbert Barringer at a nursing home in Uxbridge, after a long illness, will be received with regret by a wide circle in the engineering profession. Mr. Barringer, who was for many years a partner and subsequently chairman of the firm of Messrs. Jacobs and Barringer, later Messrs. Jacobs, Barringer and Garratt, Limited, consulting and superintendent marine engineers, 78,. Gracechureh-street, London, E.C.3, was born on January 15, 1856. From 1872 to 1877 he served a pupilage partly under Messrs. Ravenhill, Hodgson and Company, and partly under Messrs. Maudslay, Son and Field. From 1880 to 1884 he served an apprenticeship at sea. A further period of three years from 1884 to 1887 was spent as assistant to Mr. D. Nicolson, M.I.Mech.E. Mr. Barringer’s long association with Mr. C. M. Jacobs began in 1887 when he heoame the latter’s chief assistant, a post he continued to occupy until 1893, when he entered into partnership with Mr. Jacobs. During the years which followed Mr. Barringer became engaged, in a consulting -capacity, in the design and construction of a number of important works, including the Tredegar dry dock, Newport. He was also mainly concerned with the erection of petroleum storage and distribution installations, which included wharves, pipe-lines and machinery, at Battersea, Deptford, Lisbon, Southampton, Bow, Avonmouth, Thameshaven and other places.
In 1894, he was appointed consulting engineer to the Admiralty on the question of the storage and distribution of liquid fuel. He designed installations and equipment for the supply of oil simultaneously to several battleships, at Portland, and later at Gibraltar, Portsmouth and Felixstowe. As consulting engineer to the Burmah Oil Company he designed plant for the conveyance of oil from the oil fields to Rangoon, a distance of 280 miles and embodying four pumping stations. His opinion was later sought in connection with similar works in Mexico, Peru, Chile and in Assam. For many years he acted as consulting and superintendent engineer to a number of shipowning companies, and was responsible for the specifications, and superintendence during construction, of numerous vessels, an appreciable proportion of which were designed for the carriage of ou in hulk.
Mr. Barringer was for many years a member of the Institute of Marine Engineers and became a member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in 1887 and of the Institution of Naval Architects in 1899. He was elected an associate member of the Institution of Civil Engineers on January 14, 1896, and was made a member on April 26, 1910. He became a member of the Institution of Petroleum Technologists in 1914, and after serving as vice-president for some time, was elected president for the period 1923-1925."