John Lockhead Adam
John Lockhead Adam (1884-1954)
1954 Obituary [1]
ALL those engaged in shipbuilding will have learned with regret of the death of Mr. John Lockhead Adam, which occurred on July 22nd, at his home, "Reay Cottage," on Seil Island, by Oban.
Mr. Adam, who was born in 1884, was educated at the Glasgow Academy and George Watson's College, Edinburgh, and served his apprenticeship as ship draughtsman with W. Henderson and Co., Ltd., Glasgow, from 1889 to 1905. During these years he received his technical education at the Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College.
In the following five years he gained experience with John Cran and Co. at Leith, and then spent a further two years with John I. Thornycroft and Co., Ltd., at Southampton.
Towards the end of 1911 Mr. Adam was appointed a ship surveyor to the British Corporation, a post which he continued to hold, apart from a short period in the Army during the first world war, until 1918, when he was made Principal Surveyor at Glasgow.
Nine years later he became assistant chief surveyor to the British Corporation and was appointed chief surveyor In 1940, upon the retirement of the late Dr. J. Foster King, C. B. E., a position which he continued to occupy until he retired in 1949, when the British Corporation amalgamated with Lloyd's Register of Shipping.
Mr. Adam served on a number of Government committees, and his services to the Admiralty and the Ministry of War Transport during the second world war were recognised when he was made a C.B.E. He was always seeking to develop improved methods of ship construction and was one of the pioneers in the application of welding to ships and during his term as president of the Institute of Welding he was largely instrumental in establishing the International Institute of Welding. The Transactions of many technical societies contain many papers, read by Mr. Adam, upon subjects which were concerned mainly with the practical aspects of shipbuilding.
John Lockhead Adam was elected a member of the Institution of Naval Architects in 1918, served on the council of that body, and after ten years as a vice-president became an honorary vice-president in 1952. He was also an honorary fellow of the North East Coast Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders.
His active life was concerned with ships and shipping, and he continued to serve these interests after his retirement, during which he interested himself in yachting and became the owner of an auxiliary yacht which he had designed and built.