Richard Hosken
Richard Hosken (1856-1936), managing director of William Hosken and Co
1896 of Severn Tunnel Works, Sudbrook, near Chepstow
1936 Obituary [1]
RICHARD HOSKEN was managing director of Messrs. William Hosken and Company, Ltd., mining machinery and railway material merchants.
He was born in 1856 at Hayle, Cornwall, where he served his apprenticeship at the works of Messrs. Harvey and Company, makers of pumping machinery.
At the age of 21 he joined the Cornwall Railway, which was then leased to the Great Western Railway, and took charge of the machinery used in the reconstruction of various bridges and viaducts.
In 1886 he went to Plymouth to take charge of the machinery at the docks owned by the Great Western Railway and a year later was promoted to be resident engineer for the Severn Tunnel, with responsibility for what was then the largest pumping station in the world; he held this position for ten years.
He then joined his brother in business in Johannesburg, entering the firm with which he was associated for the remainder of his life. During the South African War he took an active part in welfare work among the troops and was subsequently invited by Lord Milner and Lord Roberts to join the Headquarters Staff, to assist in inaugurating the new Government. He was also appointed adviser to the Military Police. For forty years he devoted himself to social work in Johannesburg, where his death occurred on 14th August 1936.
He had been a Member of the Institution since 1889 and was also an Associate Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers.