John Christie (1868-1946)
John Christie (1868-1946)
1916 The engineer of the scheme for Southwick Power Station; manager of Brighton Corporation's Electricity Works.
1947 Obituary [1]
JOHN CHRISTIE was born on the 17th July, 1868, and died on the 18th December, 1946. He was educated at the Albany Academy, Glasgow, and commenced his apprenticeship with Robert Napier and Sons in 1883. As junior marine engineer in the British India Company he made several trips to India, and in 1890 became Assistant to Professor Jamieson at the Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College. After that appointment he spent a short time at Crompton's works at Chelmsford, following which he served as Second Engineer to the St. Pancras power station. He then joined Siemens Bros, in their Test Department at Woolwich, before going to the Glasgow Corporation Electricity Works in 1893. In 1894 he became Chief Electrical Engineer at Londonderry, returning in 1897 to Glasgow as Power Station Superintendent. In 1900 he succeeded the late Mr. Arthur Wright as Engineer and Manager of the Brighton Corporation Electricity Undertaking. Whilst in this position he was President of the Incorporated Municipal Electrical Association in 1910, which Association was inaugurated in Brighton by his predecessor. In 1930 he retired from the Brighton undertaking.
He was well known in all branches of the electrical industry. His nautical attributes, which included a very cheerful disposition, were ever with him, and he had many friends. He was a pioneer in several ventures. His early means of transport was a steam-driven motor-car, which he later changed to a storage-battery-driven vehicle. To the development of the utilization of electricity he gave much time, and in the early days he was keenly interested in its use for cooking.
He became a Member of The Institution in 1907, and served on the Council from 1914 to 1917.