William Arthur Young (1867-1955), editor of The Ironmonger
1955 Obituary [1]
WE regret to have to record the death of Mr. William Arthur Young, of Halstead, Essex, which occurred on January 13th, at the great age of eighty-seven. He was well known to many engaged in the engineering and iron and steel industries by reason of his long association with the ironmongery trade, and as editor of The Ironmonger, on the staff of which journal he served from 1900 until his retirement in 1934.
Mr. Young was born at Cambridge in 1867, and after completing an apprenticeship with Mr. Alexander Mcintosh in that city, he added to his experience of the ironmongery business in various parts of the country.
He joined The Ironmonger as a technical sub-editor and succeeded to the editorial chair in 1925. Mr. Young had a vast knowledge of the trade he served so well, and particularly of its manufacturing and workshop side. He was a lucid writer, and a genial and knowledgeable conversationalist.
Mr. Young was one of the founder-members of the Newcomen Society for the Study of the History of Engineering and Technology, and contributed several papers to its transactions. He served as president of the Society in 1938-39, and until a year or two ago was an enthusiastic participant in its summer meetings.
Mr. Young was an acknowledged authority on silver and was the author of a standard work entitled The Silver and Sheffield Plate Collector. He was also a keen student of Kipling's works and at one time edited the journal of the Kipling Society.