|
|
| Line 1: |
Line 1: |
| Robert C. Macdonald (c1874-1955), chief mechanical engineer of the [[South Metropolitan Gas Co]]
| | #redirect [[Robert Cowan Macdonald]] |
| | |
| ----
| |
| ''' 1955 Obituary <ref>[[The Engineer 1955/10/07]]</ref>
| |
| | |
| WE have learned with regret of the death of Mr. Robert C. Macdonald, which occurred recently, at the age of eighty-one, at Melrose. For many years, until his retirement in 1934, he was chief mechanical engineer of the [[South Metropolitan Gas Co|South Metropolitan Gas Company]].
| |
| | |
| Mr. Macdonald served his apprenticeship
| |
| with [[William Arrol and Co|Sir William Arrol and Co., Ltd.]], of
| |
| Glasgow, and on its completion he continued
| |
| with the firm in the department of the
| |
| drawing-office dealing with coal-handling
| |
| plant and hydraulic stoking apparatus.
| |
| | |
| From 1901 he spent a period as assistant
| |
| manager at the Glasgow tube works of
| |
| [[John Marshall and Sons]], returning to Messrs.
| |
| Arrol as resident agent in 1903. The works
| |
| on which Mr. Macdonald was engaged then
| |
| included the erection of the [[Queen Alexandra Bridge]] at Sunderland, the [[Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge|Transporter Bridge]]
| |
| over the River Tees at Middlesbrough, and
| |
| the widening of [[Blackfriars Bridge]].
| |
| | |
| In 1914 he became works manager to Sir William Arrol and Co., Ltd., a position which he
| |
| occupied until 1916, when he was appointed
| |
| the chief mechanical engineer of the South
| |
| Metropolitan Gas Company. During his
| |
| eighteen years of service with that company
| |
| Mr. Macdonald was responsible for the
| |
| rebuilding of the large gasholder at Silvertown,
| |
| following its collapse after an explosion
| |
| in 1917; the reconstruction of the
| |
| company's Greenwich workshops, and the
| |
| modernisation of the whole of the company's
| |
| equipment to meet the engineering demands
| |
| of modern gasworks practice.
| |
| | |
| Mr. Macdonald was a member of the Institution of
| |
| Civil Engineers and of the Institution of
| |
| Mechanical Engineers. He was also, at one
| |
| time, vice-chairman of the Commercial
| |
| Motor Users' Association, and was keenly
| |
| interested in the work of the National
| |
| "Safety First" Association. The earlier
| |
| years of Mr. Macdonald's retirement were
| |
| particularly active ones ; he not only
| |
| travelled extensively, but during the second
| |
| world war he returned to the service of the
| |
| gas industry by becoming consulting engineer
| |
| to the Severn Valley Gas Corporation.
| |
| ----
| |
| | |
| == See Also ==
| |
| <what-links-here/>
| |
| | |
| == Sources of Information ==
| |
| <references/>
| |
| | |
| {{DEFAULTSORT: Macdonald}}
| |
| [[Category: Biography]]
| |
| [[Category: Biography - Civil]]
| |
| [[Category: Births 1870-1879]]
| |
| [[Category: Deaths 1950-1959]]
| |
| [[Category: Institution of Civil Engineers]]
| |
