John Gibson Newbigging
John Gibson Newbigging (1863-1916), chief engineer of the gas department of Manchester Corporation
1917 Obituary [1]
JOHN GIBSON NEWBIGGING, born at Bacup on the 24th April, 1863, died at Heaton Moor, near Manchester, on the 28th October, 1916.
He was trained under his father, the late Mr. Thomas Newbigging, M.Inst.C.E., and subsequently became assistant engineer in the Salford Corporation Gas Department.
Between 1888 and 1900 he successively held charge of the gas undertakings at Para, Brazil, and Macclesfield, and in the latter year he was appointed Chief Gas Engineer to the Manchester Corporation. Here he carried out much important work, including the construction of one of the largest gasholders in Europe. He was the first to adopt on a large scale coal carbonization in vertical retorts, and was frequently consulted by gas authorities at home and abroad.
He was elected an Associate Member on the 22nd May, 1894, and was transferred to the class of Members on the 22nd December, 1903.