William Andrew Ritchie
William Andrew Ritchie (c1881-1941)
1941 Obituary [1]
WILLIAM ANDREW RITCHIE, who died on the 10th May, 1941, at the age of 60, received his primary education at St. Andrews and his technical education at Dundee Technical Institute and the Durham College of Science at Newcastle.
After an apprenticeship in Dundee and serving on the staff of the Newcastle Electric Supply Co. and the Charing Cross and Strand Electricity Supply Corporation, he was appointed in 1904 by the Electric Supply Corporation as District Engineer for Scotland. He was Resident Engineer at Dumbarton and supervised the operation of the works of the company at Dalkeith, Jedburgh, Melrose and Dollar, from 1904 to 1910.
For a further period of 13 years, he was Joint Managing Director of a firm of electrical contractors in Glasgow, and in 1923 was appointed by the Hendon Electric Supply Co. as Commercial Manager, dealing mainly with the Sales Department, the negotiation of supply contracts and the carrying out of installation work. In this he was particularly successful and he built up a very sound commercial organization.
When the Hendon undertaking became vested in the Northmet Power Co. in 1939, he became District Superintendent of the undertaking for the Northmet and, in addition, assumed responsibility for the Northmet districts of Edgware and Elstree. In this capacity, in addition to carrying out the duties he formerly undertook as Commercial Manager, he was also responsible for the engineering control of the undertaking. It can fairly be said that much of the credit for the large development of this big and densely populated area was due to his untiring efforts, and his quiet and genial personality will be much missed by the staff and consumers alike.
He was elected a Student of The Institution in 1904, an Associate Member in 1908 and a Member in 1926.