Robert Walter Pitt
Robert Walter Pitt (c1871-1943)
1944 Obituary [1]
ROBERT WALTER PITT, whose death in his seventy-second year occurred on 9th December 1943, was elected an Associate Member of the Institution in 1913 and was transferred to Membership in 1922. On the termination of a five years' apprenticeship with Messrs. Black, Hawthorn and Company, Ltd., of Gateshead, in 1891, he went to sea as a marine engineer. He obtained his first-class Board of Trade Certificate, and received rapid promotion so that by 1894 he had been appointed chief engineer. In 1898 he became engineer surveyor to the British Engine, Boiler and Electrical Insurance Corporation of Manchester, and after being associated with the firm for fifteen years took over the duties of engine and boiler inspector.
In 1917 he accepted an appointment as manager to Messrs. J. W. Ellis and Company, Ltd., Newcastle upon Tyne, and was primarily concerned with the dismantling and rebuilding of collieries. Subsequently he joined the board of directors, in which capacity he was responsible for the layout of machinery, the installation of electric power in various works, and the dismantling of an obsolete battleship. In 1929 he went into business on his own account as an installation and acceptance engineer. at Newcastle, taking over the interests of Messrs. Davey, Paxman and Company in the northern counties, and for some years, in collaboration with his two sons, he was engaged upon important installations of machinery for various firms, including Messrs. Vickers-Armstrongs, Ltd., and also on the delivery of engines for warships building on the Tyne.