William Clark (1854-1937)
William Clark (1854-1937) of Vickers
1937 Obituary [1]
WILLIAM CLARK died on March 13, 1937, at his residence in Skebmorlie, Ayrshire, at the age of 83.
He was born in Mauchline, Ayrshire, in 1854, but early in his life, his family removed to Glasgow.
In 1873 Mr. Clark joined the accountants' staff of the Steel Company of Scotland, Ltd., and saw the first cast of Siemens-Martin acid steel made in Scotland.
He left in 1875 to take charge of a small wire-rolling mill plant at Brighouse, Yorkshire, but after only twelve months he was offered another appointment with the Steel Company of Scotland, Ltd., where he eventually became accountant, then secretary and, finally, manager. He resigned in 1910 to become manager of Messrs. Vickers' Sheffield works and was shortly afterwards appointed a local director of this company. This was followed by his election as a full director.
During his sixteen years' residence in Sheffield Mr. Clark played an important part in industrial development. He was Master Cutler in 1920 and on the completion of his year of office, he was elected president of the Chamber of Commerce. He did much valuable work during the War when he was called on to control and direct a great number of alterations, extensions, and developments of the manufacture of armaments and munitions. In this connection he was appointed a member of a deputation to meet Lord Kitchener's Committee which was dealing with this matter.
Mr. Clark managed, in spite of his many activities in the world of trade, to find time for social, philanthropic, and welfare work, and he was keenly interested in any movement for helping boys to obtain a good start in life. Mr. Clark was one of the promoters of, and a member of the committee of, the Sheffield branch of the Anglo-American Society which was formed in 1919. He was also an enthusiastic member of the Caledonian Society of Sheffield, and became its president in 1923.
He retired from Messrs. Vickers, Ltd., in 1925, and left Sheffield to return to Scotland in 1926.
Mr. Clark was a Past-President of the West of Scotland Iron and Steel Institute and was the first Chairman of the Steel Makers' Association in Scotland, a position he held when he moved to Sheffield. At that time, too, he was a member of the Council of the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland. He was a member of the Merchant Home in Glasgow, a life member of the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, and a member of the Guild of Hammermen of that city. He was also a member of the Iron and Steel Institute, the Executive Council of the Iron and Steel Federation, and the Grand Council of the Federation of British Industries.
Mr. Clark was elected a member of the Institute of Metals on July 24, 1919.