Leonard Hanmer Pritchard
Leonard Hanmer Pritchard (?-1950)
1950 Obituary [1]
"LEONARD HANMER PRITCHARD had a varied engineering career, much of which was spent on work connected with floating docks. He received his early education at Epsom College, and later studied at the Cantonal Engineering College at Zurich, where he obtained the mechanical engineering diploma. After serving an apprenticeship with Messrs. Yates and Thom, Blackburn, engine builders, he gained experience as junior draughtsman with Messrs. Heenan and Froude, Ltd., Manchester and Worcester, general engineers. This was followed by short engagements with engineering firms in Germany, after which he was representative and resident engineer for Messrs. Clark and Standfield, Westminster, consulting engineers, on the construction of a floating dock at Pola in Austria. He then went to Bangkok, Siam, to take charge of the Royal Mint, but returned some two years later to undertake work on another dock at Pola.
Mr. Pritchard was next at Wallsend-on-Tyne, where, acting under instructions from Messrs. Clark and Standfield, he was employed at the shipyards of Messrs. Swan, Hunter and Wigham Richardson, Ltd., on the construction of docks for the Royal Navy and Crown Colonies. At the conclusion of this task he became representative and resident engineer for the latter firm in South Russia and was engaged for four years on the construction of a 40,000-ton dock for the Imperial Russian Navy. He was then appointed an Admiralty inspector, his duties in this respect being those of production and technical officer for sea-planes and flying-boats. Subsequently he held the position of expert, and district officer, to the Reparations Commission at Breslau, Germany. More recently he had been chief engineer to Messrs. Silica Gel, Ltd., London. Mr. Pritchard, whose death occurred on 2nd March 1950, was elected an Associate Member of the Institution in 1904 and transferred to Membership four years later. He was also a Member of the Institution of Naval Architects."