George Thomas Smith-Clarke
Captain George Thomas Smith-Clarke (1884–1960) of Alvis
1884 December 23rd. Born at Lower Park, Bewdley, Worcestershire, the son of Henry Clarke (1850–1897), brass finisher and engineer, and Harriet (b. 1851), daughter of George Thomas Smith
Educated at the national school in Bewdley
1902 Joined the Great Western Railway (GWR) engineering department and was transferred to the GWR road motor department in Slough in 1905.
1910 Bus driver with the GWR in Leamington.
1915 Joined the Aeronautical Inspection Directorate with responsibility for the inspection of aero engines manufactured in Coventry and elsewhere.
1915 December 26th. Married Mary (1875/6–1944), daughter of William Walker, blacksmith
1916 August. Commissioned in the Royal Flying Corps and was promoted to captain in April 1917.
Post-WWI Assistant works manager at Daimler
1919 Designed and built a motorcycle for his wife, which was then put into production firstly by Booth Brothers (of Coventry).
1922 Chief engineer of Alvis
1926 He took out a patent for a loud-speaking telephone and subsequently tried to help children with hearing problems by providing the local hospital with an amplifying system and headphones.
1942 Chairman of the Coventry and Warwickshire Hospital Board of Management. [1].
1947 February 19th. Following the death of his first wife he married Elsie Richards (1903–1983), a nurse, the daughter of Thomas Richards, a colliery manager. There were no children of either marriage.
1950 Retired from Alvis
1952 he was co-opted onto a Birmingham hospital region subcommittee "to investigate the efficacy of mechanical ventilators". Upset at the distress caused to a patient taken out of an iron lung for nursing care, he redesigned all aspects of the existing Nuffield/Both iron lung or cabinet breathing machine, widely used to treat patients with respiratory paralysis caused by poliomyelitis.
Kits of parts to modify 500 Both machines were manufactured by a new company, Cape Engineering Co, set up with Smith-Clarke's support by several ex-Alvis employees.
1960 February 28th. He died at his home, Shenandoah, 4 Stoneleigh Road, Gibbet Hill, Coventry, on 28 February 1960.
1960 Obituary [2]. Died aged 75 years. Born at Bewdley. Chief Engineer and MD of Alvis. Developer of mechanical respirators.
1960 Captain G. T. Smith-Clarke. Memorial service. [3]
See Also
Sources of Information
- [1] DNB
- Coventry’s Motorcycle Heritage by Damien Kimberley. Published 2009. ISBN 978 0 7509 5125 9