Edward Alan Christian
Edward Alan Christian (1879-1918)
1918 Obituary [1]
EDWARD ALAN CHRISTIAN was born at Ramsey, Isle of Man, on 5th December 1879.
Losing his father early in life, he was sent to be educated at the Bluecoat School, in Hertford and London, and then spent some time in Switzerland in preparation for the profession of electrical engineer.
In 1896 he began a four-years' apprenticeship with the Isle of Man Tramways and Electric Power Co., and on its completion in 1900 he acted as assistant engineer to the company until 1902 when he entered the service of the Manx Electric Railway Co.
In June 1903 he was appointed rolling stock engineer to the Mersey Railway Co., Liverpool, and six years later he became assistant engineer to the company. During this period his duties comprised the supervision of all the engineering departments of the railway and of the organization and training of the drivers 5nd repair staffs at the time of the conversion from steam to electric traction.
In 1915 he was obliged, through illness, to return home to Milntown, Isle of Man; his health gradually became worse, and his death took place on 17th February 1918, at the age of thirty-eight.
He was elected an Associate Member of this Institution in 1910. He was the last male survivor of an ancient and prominent Manx family, and they have held the estate of Milntown in unbroken succession from father to son since 1400. In early days the Deemstership was an hereditary office in this family, Mr. Christian's grandfather having been the last Deemster Christian.