John Percival Forster
John Percival Forster (1887-1934)
1935 Obituary.[1]
JOHN PERCIVAL FORSTER was born in Durham on the 12th October, 1887, and died at Newcastle-upon-Tyne on the 13th October, 1934. He received his early education in Durham and St. Bees, Cumberland, and subsequently matriculated at Armstrong College, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, where he had a distinguished career, graduating in 1907 with the Durham University B.Sc. degree in electrical engineering. After a short term in the works of Messrs. Scott and Mountain of Gateshead-on-Tyne, he entered the engineering offices of the North-Eastern Railway Co. at York. In 1911 he obtained an appointment with Messrs. Bolckow, Vaughan and Co. as electrical inspector for their collieries in the Bishop Auckland area, being subsequently appointed electrical engineer and later chief engineer. During this period he was responsible for the reorganization of the extensive electrical and mechanical plant at this group of collieries. He continued to hold the last-named appointment until June, 1928, when he joined the staff of the Newcastle-upon-Tyne Electric Supply Co. (now the North Eastern Electric Supply Co.). During the last few years of his life he was in charge of the mines department of the company, and in that capacity was responsible for the negotiation of a large number of important power contracts among the colliery companies of Northumberland and Durham. He was a man of quiet disposition, possessing a very alert mind and great powers of concentration. His strong personality was always impressive and he was highly esteemed for his ability and character by all who knew him, and especially by those with whom he had been so long associated in the mining industry. He became an Associate of the Institution in 1911, an Associate Member in 1912, and a Member in 1930.