William Borrowman
William Borrowman (1899-1951)
1952 Obituary [1]
" WILLIAM BORROWMAN was educated at Govan High School and the Royal Technical College, Glasgow. He served his apprenticeship (which was interrupted by war service as a flight cadet in the Royal Flying Corps) with Messrs. Ross and Duncan, Govan, marine engineers, between 1915 and 1920. Most of the rest of his life was spent in the drawing offices .of various engineering firms, his first appointment being that of junior draughtsman to Dunsmuir and Jackson, Ltd., Govan. This was followed by positions as leading engine draughtsman to Alexander Stephen and Sons, Ltd., Glasgow, with responsibility for the design of steam engines for a cable ship, and as chief engine draughtsman to W. S. Bailey and Company, Ltd., Hong Kong, shipbuilders. In this capacity he was responsible for the complete design of marine engine sets and of plant and boilers.
On his return from the Far East in 1931 he was for a brief period mechanical engineering draughtsman to Mirrlees Watson Company, Ltd., Glasgow. In 1933 he joined the staff of Imperial Chemical Industries, Ltd., with which he remained up to the time of his death, which occurred on 1st January 1951 at the age of fifty-two. After acting as technical assistant in the chief engineer's department for six years, he became a section leader in the drawing office and in 1943 was transferred to the research general design section. A year later he received his final appointment as a design engineer at Billingham. Mr. Borrowman had been an Associate Member of the Institution since 1944."