Captain Reginald John Wallis-Jones (1863-1927)
1927 Obituary [1]
CAPTAIN REGINALD JOHN WALLIS-JONES, O.B.E., T.D., was born at Liverpool in 1863 and died in London on the 16th April, 1927.
He was educated at Christ College, Brecon, and received his engineering training at the works of the Anglo-American Brush Co., the School of Submarine Engineering, the Finsbury College of the City and Guilds London Institute, and King's College, London.
After completing his training he was appointed superintending engineer for the North of England for Mr. Robert Hammond, afterwards becoming central station engineer for the Metropolitan Brush Co., Ltd., and subsequently engineer and manager of the contract department of Messrs. Woodhouse and Rawson, Ltd.
He left them to become chief electrical assistant to Messrs. Kincaid, Waller and Manville, and in 1898 commenced practising as consulting engineer in partnership with the late Mr. Montagu C. Dent, under the name of Messrs. Wallis-Jones and Dent.
He carried out a large number of installations, including those at the Cardiff Town Hall and Law Courts, the Newport and Monmouthshire County Infirmary, Savoy Hotel W. Block, and Messrs. Selfridges, etc.
He was for many years engineer and manager of the Electric Welding Co., Ltd., and visited the United States on their behalf.
He joined the Institution in 1882 as an Associate, was elected a Member in 1889, and served on the Council from 1914 to 1916. He was a keen soldier and joined what is now the l/4th Welsh Royal Field Artillery Territorial Division in 1898, retiring with the rank of Major.
Upon the outbreak of the Great War in 1914 he rejoined his brigade, then the 53rd Welsh Division of the Royal Field Artillery, as Officer Commanding the ammunition column with the rank of Captain, and served with his unit in Great Britain and France. He was later appointed Officer Commanding 5th West Lancashire Batteries Brigade, R.F.A. (T.), and was subsequently transferred to the Ministry of Munitions as Section Director of the Foreign Iron Ore Department, and from thence went to the Disposals Board.
He was a keen sportsman and had a wide circle of friends in the electrical industry. He underwent a severe operation early in 1925, from which, though he rallied from time to time, he never recovered, and it was only his indomitable will which kept him alive. The brave and cheerful manner in which he carried on for the last 18 months of his life on a sick bed will always be remembered by the many friends who had the privilege of visiting him and helping in some slight measure to brighten the closing hours of his life and alleviate the burden of pain. He faced the situation as a true soldier and passed away peacefully at the last.
1927 Obituary[2]
THE LATE GAPT. R. J. WALLIS-JONES.
We learn, with regret, of the death of Capt, R. J. Wallis-Jones, O.B.E., T.D., which took iplace after a long illness on April 16, at the age of 64. Capt. Wallis-Jones received his technical training at Finsbury Technical College, the Central Technical College'and King’s College, London, at the same time as he was engaged on electric lighting work with the American Brush Corporation and the Brush Electric Light Co. He subsequently joined the well-known firm of Woodhouse and Rawson, and superintended the erection of a number of the early electric light installations for them, including work in connection with the famous station at the Grosvenor Gallery and the plants in Barcelona and Paris. As chief electrical assistant to the firm of Messrs. Kincaid, Waller and Manville, consulting engineers, he was afterwards responsible for the erection of a number of other stations, including those at Salford and Portsmouth, and for laying the original electric tramway system between Birmingham and Boufnbrook in 1893.
In 1900, he entered into practice as a consulting engineer, in partnership with Mr. M. C. Dent, and carried out the electrical equipment of a number of well-known London buildings, including the Savoy Hotel, the offices of the Metropolitan Water Board, the original premises of Messrs. Selfridge, in Oxford-street and several theatres. He was also responsible for the .electrical equipment of the Cardiff Town Hall and Law Courts, and for a great deal of country-house work. He was among the engineers retained by the African Concessions, Limited, to advise them on the utilisation of the Victoria Falls for power purposes, in the early days of that project, and in connection with the proposed scheme for transmitting energy therefrom to Johannesburg. For a short time he was engineer and manager to the Eleotric Welding Company, and during this period was responsible for introducing the Thomson system of welding into Woolwich Arsenal. For many years he was a lecturer on this subject at Faraday House. Recently he was responsible for the re-wiring of the building owned by the Institution of Electrical Engineers on the Victoria Embankment, including that part of the premises which is occupied by the British Broadcasting Company.
Capt. Wallis-Jones had been a keen Territorial gunner for many years and was in possession of the Territorial Decoration. During the early part of the war he served with the l/4th Welsh Brigade, R.A., in France and,- after being invalided .out, was appointed controller of Foreign Iron and Steel at the Ministry of Munitions. For his services in this capacity he was awarded the O.B.E. He was a full member of the Institutions of Civil and Electrical Engineers, and the interest he took in the social side of his profession gained him a large circle of friends, by whom he will be greatly missed. He leaves a widow, who is the daughter of Colonel Wallis, a former High Sheriff of Monmouthshire, and one daughter.