Ernest F. J. Holcombe Hewlett
Ernest F. J. Holcombe Hewlett (1866-1947)
1947 Obituary [1]
ERNEST F. J. HOLCOMBE HEWLETT who died on the 21st January, 1947, was born in 1866. He received his general education at Manchester Grammar School, and served his apprenticeship with Edison, Swan and Co., Manchester. He assisted in carrying out the electric lighting of the Manchester Exhibition in 1887, and in 1891 was appointed Head of the Electrical Department of Baerlain and Co., of Lisbon, where he was responsible for installing the electrical equipment of various mills and factories. In 1892 he accepted an appointment with Siemens Bros., and became Clerk of the Works for the electric lighting plant of the Hove Corporation. In 1897 he was appointed Electrical Engineer and Manager to the Rockhampton Electricity Works, Queensland, Australia, and later became consulting engineer to the Mount Morgan Gold Mining Co. Returning to England in 1902 he was appointed Resident Engineer to the Mansfield Corporation and later was appointed Borough Electrical Engineer, a position which he held for 35 years until his retirement on the 1st July, 1937. In this capacity he was responsible for the very considerable developments which took place at the generating station and for the distribution to the town and the surrounding rural area. He was a prominent freemason and a member of the Authors' Club, and devoted much of his spare time to archaeological research.
He joined The Institution as an Associate in 1890, and was elected a Member in 1891.