James Stanley Mathias
James Stanley Mathias (1881-1951)
1951 Obituary [1]
"Captain JAMES STANLEY MATHIAS, who was born in 1881, was for many years chief staff engineer to the Guardian Assurance Company, Ltd.
He served his time between 1897 and 1902 in the locomotive department of the Great Western Railway at Paddington and at the Swindon works of that Company, during which latter period he attended classes at technical schools in Swindon.
He continued in the service of the Great Western Railway as a fitter for a further two years and then held a series of short appointments with motor manufacturers and at garages. For some two years he was chief automobile instructor at the Regent Street Polytechnic, London.
In 1914 he began to practise on his own account as a consultant and valuer and acted as engineer to the Welsh Insurance Co and the London and Lancashire Insurance Company, Ltd., but a year later he joined the Royal Navy, being lent subsequently to the R.N.A.S., with the charge of supply of all aero-engines, spares, and inspections.
In 1917 he was commissioned with the rank of lieutenant in the R.N.V.R. The degree of responsibility in this new appointment was greatly increased, as he was in sole charge of the production of working drawings, supply of all material, the manufacture and testing of A.B.C. engines at that time in process of production by Messrs. Vickers, Ltd., Messrs. Beardmore, Ltd., and other prominent engineering firms.
In this work Captain Mathias showed himself to be a highly competent engineer and well versed in the technique of aero-engine design. Finally, he was promoted to the rank of captain and transferred to the R.F.C. On demobilization in 1919 he resumed his former occupation as a consultant, continuing to practise in London until 1927, when he took up his final appointment with the Guardian Assurance Co. In this capacity he was responsible for the assessment of damage to motor vehicles and their valuation. He was elected an Associate Member of the Institution of Automobile Engineers in 1914 and transferred to Membership in 1938. He was also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. His death occurred in January 1951 at the age of sixty-nine."