William Johnson Tomes
William Jameson Tomes (1866-1944)
1946 Obituary [1]
WILLIAM JAMESON TOMES, M.B.E., V.D., spent the greater part of his professional career in India, where for some years he held the position of chief mechanical' engineer of the East Indian Railways. He was born in 1866, and on the completion of a two years' training in the London drawing office of Messrs. Head, Wrightson and Company, Ltd., from 1881 to 1883, he entered the works of the London and South Western Railway at Nine Elms, where he gained further experience in the shops and test room. He received his first appointment in 1892 when he was made assistant works manager of the locomotive department.
After holding this position for five years, he was for a few months an inspector on the staff of Sir A. M. Rendel, consulting engineer. In 1897 he began his long connection with the East Indian Railways with his appointment as district locomotive superintendent, and two years later was made works manager. In 1910 he became deputy locomotive superintendent and subsequently was appointed chief mechanical engineer, a position he retained until his retirement in 1923. Mr. Tomes had a long association with the Volunteer Force; he was a recipient of the Volunteer Officers' Decoration, and commanded a battalion of the East Indian Railways Regiment, Indian Defence Force, retiring in 1923 with the rank of lieutenant-colonel.
He had been a Corporate Member of the Institution for over fifty years, having been elected an Associate Member in 1893, and transferred to Membership in 1911. His death occurred on 8th July 1944.