Leslie Hampton Robinson
Leslie Hampton Robinson (1880-1936)
1880 Born son of Commander Henry Eglinton Clanronald Robinson (1840-1911)
1910 With J. P. Chittenden designed and constructed the Chittenden-Robinson (CR) monoplane and biplane.
1936 Obituary [1]
LESLIE HAMPTON ROBINSON was the inventor of the boat-releasing gear associated with his name, which he designed for the lifeboats of merchant vessels. The gear was so arranged that the hooks could only be freed when the boat was water-borne at both ends. For this invention he was granted a Certificate of Approval by the Board of Trade. In addition, he manufactured the boat- disengaging gear and common hooks used by the Navy, the hooks being also his invention. He devised a gear for the manual propulsion of boats, also a fluid power-transmission apparatus.
Mr. Robinson was born in London in 1880, and was educated at Christ's Hospital. He was apprenticed to Messrs. Dunmuir and Jackson, Ltd., marine engineers, of Glasgow, from 1899 to 1904, after which he was made a draughtsman.
In 1906 he joined the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Ltd., and two years later became a turbine designer at Messrs. Willans and Robinson's Rugby works.
He was appointed in 1911 managing director of Messrs. H. E. C. Robinson and Company, Ltd., general engineers and Admiralty contractors and subsequently turned his attention to boat-releasing gear and hooks. The firm's works were at Chiswick.
Mr. Robinson was elected an Associate Member of the Institution in 1909, and was transferred to Membership in 1915.
His death occurred on 17th May 1936.