Horatio Arthur Yorke
Horatio Arthur Yorke (1848-1930)
1930 Obituary[1]
"THE LATE LIEUT.-COLONEL SIR ARTHUR YORKE.
We regret to record the death of Lieut.-Col. Sir Arthur Yorke, C.B., which occurred in London on Wednesday, December 10, at the age of 81. Sir Arthur was for many years connected with the Railways Department of the Board of Trade, and will be remembered as a painstaking and careful investigator into the causes of the accidents, which occurred during his tenure of office. In paying our tribute to these qualities, which were of the highest value in the performance of his duties, it may also be recalled that he was inclined at times to advance conclusions from which we felt compelled to differ, sometimes owing to the suggestion that the railway companies should embark on expenditure, which could only be considered as quite unrelated to the possible benefits. Nevertheless, his reports are worthy of study owing to the way in which the evidence is marshalled, and to the clarity with which the deductions are stated.
Horatio Arthur Yorke was born on June 3, 1848, and was educated at Cheam and Charterhouse, passing first into Sandhurst in 1865. In the following year he also passed first into the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, and obtained the second commission in the Royal Engineers in 1869. He served with that Corps in the Afghan War of 1879-1880, and in the Nile Expedition of 1884-85, being mentioned in dispatches, and receiving a brevet majority as the result of his work in the latter campaign. In 1891, he was appointed an Inspector of Railways by the Board of Trade, being promoted to Chief Inspector in 1900, a post he held for thirteen years. Sir Arthur was delegate to the International Railway Congresses at Washington in 1905, and at Berne in 1910, and to the International Navigation Congress at Philadelphia in 1912. At the time of his death he was a director of the Great Western Railway Company, and had also served on the Board of the [[Grand Trunk Railway Co of Canada |Grand Trunk Railway of Canada]]. He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1904, and was knighted in 1913."