Harold Lyon Thomson
Harold Lyon Thomson ( -1924)
Born the son of Robert William Thomson
1924 Obituary [1]
HAROLD LYON THOMSON, who died after a short illness on the 13th March, 1924, was one of the earliest electrical engineers.
He was the son of the late R. W. Thomson of Edinburgh, to whom the automobile owes so much for his invention of rubber and pneumatic tyres, and he inherited much of his father's genius for mechanics.
In 1880 he went to Crompton's works at Chelmsford at a time when the invention of the electric lamp by Swan and by Edison had made indoor electric lighting a possibility. His first work was in A. P. Lundberg's shop. At that time he showed remarkable facility in designing domestic fittings of all kinds, and a large proportion of the ordinary fittings now used in connection with indoor lighting were then designed by him, in many cases the original form being still in use with very little modification. He was with Cromptons when they carried out at the Law Courts the first large installation of electric light, this installation being completed in 1882. Many of his fittings are still in use and serve to show how little his first designs have been departed from. He was Cromptons' representative in Paris at the first Electrical Exhibition in 1881.
In the early days when so much propaganda work in connection with electric light was carried out by means of portable apparatus he was generally to the fore in showing the advantages of the new illuminant. When representing Cromptons at the Vienna International Exhibition he was invited by the then Khedive of Egypt to go to Egypt, originally to develop electrical work in that country, but eventually to become secretary to the Khedive. Gradually he went over to the political side, that being the stormy period when the expedition was arranged for the relief of General Gordon at Khartoum.
When at Cairo he became a student of Arabic and Oriental literature, and on his return to this country he became a distinguished Orientalist.
Later he was elected to the Westminster City Council, subsequently becoming Alderman, and Mayor in 1912. He was responsible for Westminster being the first city to take up mechanical transport, and he developed it to such an extent that when the war broke out in 1914 he went over to Flanders in charge of a fleet of the Westminster City vehicles.
His skill as a mechanic was exceptional and was much remarked on by his friends. Just before his death he was engaged on finishing the miniature set of gold saucepans for the Queen's doll house which has been shown at the Wembley Exhibition. Westminster owes to him many improvements, not the least of which is the daily collection of house refuse. As a man he was universally loved and his place will be found a difficult one to fill.
He was elected a Member of the Institution in 1898.