James Hastings Bonnyman
James Hastings Bonnyman (1881-1951)
1952 Obituary [1]
"JAMES HASTINGS BONNYMAN, who died at his home in Cheam, Surrey, on 12th November 1951 at the age of seventy, was elected a Member of the Institution in 1943. He served an apprenticeship between 1897 and 1902 with the Mercantile Pontoon Co, Cardiff, and Richardson, Westgarth and Company, Ltd., West Hartlepool. During this period he attended classes at technical schools in Cardiff and West Hartlepool. After holding a temporary position as junior draughtsman to the North Eastern Marine Engineering Company, Ltd., Sunderland, he went to sea as marine engineer and obtained a Board of Trade certificate. In 1906 Mr. Bonnyman was appointed engineer representative in South Wales for the Vacuum Oil Company, Ltd., and later took over the duties of assistant manager and engineer for that 25 district and the West of England. He left the firm in 1919 and took up an appointment as London manager for the Sentinel Waggon Works, Ltd., subsequently becoming general manager in charge of the entire business. He relinquished this position in 1922 and renewed his association with the Vacuum Oil Co with the appointment of manager and engineer in the Manchester, Liverpool, and Bradford districts. Four years later he began to practise as a consultant and naval architect and in 1937 became general manager of George Waller and Son, Ltd., Phoenix Iron Works, Stroud. During his tenure of this post he completely reorganized the works and was responsible for the design and development of new machinery. In the latter part of the 1939-45 war Mr. Bonnyman served in the Admiralty in London and Belfast and on the conclusion of hostilities was engaged on the conversion of vessels to peacetime uses."