William Brown (1849-1936)
William Brown (1849-1936)
1892 Member of I Mech E, of Siemens Brothers and Co., Woolwich.
1936 Obituary [1]
WILLIAM BROWN was born in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1849.
He was educated at Earby Hall, Yorkshire, and privately during his apprenticeship, which he served from 1864 to 1871 with Messrs. R. and W. Hawthorn, Forth Banks, Newcastle. For six years he worked in the marine department, and in the seventh he was transferred to the drawing office, where he became sectional draughtsman on ship design. He also had a short seagoing experience as guarantee engineer to the firm. In 1875 he was appointed foreman in the erecting shops and a year later he became assistant outdoor manager, being appointed outdoor manager in 1882.
When the firm amalgamated with Messrs. Andrew Leslie and Company, of Hebburn on Tyne, he took charge of the fitting of propelling and auxiliary machinery on warships at British, Italian, French, Danish, Russian, and Japanese dockyards. When he finished the contract in the Japanese Dockyard at Yokosuka in 1890, he had the honour of being presented to H.I.M. the late Emperor of Japan. In all, he fitted out 39 warships.
After 27 years with Messrs. Hawthorn, Leslie and Company, he was appointed general manager of the Woolwich works of Messrs. Siemens Brothers and Company.
He retired in 1909. During the whole of the War period he devoted himself to assisting in the welfare and recreation of soldiers who were being trained in the Blackheath district.
In 1926 he went to South Africa, and four years later he travelled to Southern Rhodesia, where his death occurred on 12th December 1936.
Mr. Brown had been a Member of the Institution since 1892.