John Hedley Nicholson
John Hedley Nicholson (1883-1931)
1931 Obituary[1]
"THE LATE MR. J. H. NICHOLSON.
We regret to have to record that Mr. John Hedley Nicholson died in Stockton-on-Tees Hospital on April 9, as the result of a motor-car accident, which occurred at Thorpe Thewles, near Stockton, on April 6. Mr. Nicholson, who was associated with the firm of Messrs. Sir William Arrol and Company, Limited, Glasgow, for many years, had served as resident engineer on a number of important bridges and other civil-engineering works. The son of the late Mr. H. Nicholson, of Consett, he was born on November 7, 1883, and received his general education at Elm Park School, Shotley Bridge, Durham. In 1899, he entered upon a pupilage of four years under Mr. John E. Parker, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and also pursued his engineering studies at Armstrong College, securing the London University external degree of B.Sc. (Eng.) in 1904. In this same year, he was appointed assistant in the office of Mr. J. Mitchell Monerieff, at Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Mr. Nicholson’s long association with Messrs. Sir William Arrol and Company, Limited, began in 1906, when he became assistant in the civil-engineering department of that firm in Glasgow. During the four years from 1908 to 1912, he was employed as resident engineer for Messrs. Sir William Arrol in the construction of the Walney Channel deep-water berth, Barrow-in-Furness, and upon extensions to the Barrow works of Messrs. Vickers Limited. The next four years, from 1912 to 1916, he spent as resident engineer, on behalf of Messrs. Sir William Arrol, on the construction of the road and railway bridge across the River Trent at Keadby, near Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, for the Great Central Railway Company and the Lindsey County Council.
In 1916, Mr. Nicholson became agent for Messrs. Sir William Arrol in the removal of the floor of the Forth Bridge, and in construction works at various engineering establishments in the Glasgow district. In 1919, he was appointed agent for his firm in the North-East Coast district, and in the following years became engaged on work connected with the construction of the foundations for 'the high-level bridge at Newcastle-upon-Tyne ; the construction of a graving dock for Messrs. T. W. Greenwell and Company, Sunderland; extensions to the works of Messrs. Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company, Limited, Jarrow-on-Tyne, and of Messrs. W. Doxford and Sons, Limited, Sunderland; and the reconstruction of the superstructure of New Holland Pier, of the London and North Eastern Railway, on the Humber. He was afterwards engineer for the new Sunderland bridge, and at the time of his death was resident engineer on the bridge over the Tees at Newport, Middlesbrough, which is being constructed by Messrs, Dorman, Long and Company, Limited. A former student member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, he became an associate member on January 11, 1910, and was elected to full membership on July 14, 1925."