George Hannyngton Cole-Baker
George Hannyngton Cole-Baker (1866-1894)
1895 Obituary [1]
GEORGE HANNYNGTON COLE-BAKER, B.A., eldest son of the late Mr. George Cole-Baker of Ballydavid, Co. Tipperary, was born at that place on the 12th of January, 1866.
He was educated in the Isle of Man and at the University of Cambridge, where he graduated in 1887 with honours in mathematics, and was twice coxswain of the winning crew in the inter-University boat race.
After taking his degree Mr. Cole-Baker served a pupilage of three years to J. C. Park in the works of the North London Railway Company at Bow.
During that time he gained considerable knowledge of the construction and repair of locomotives and passed through the various shops in a satisfactory manner.
In 1891 he was appointed by Kennett Bayley an Assistant Engineer on the construction of the Valencia branch of the Great Southern and Western Railway of Ireland, and was engaged on the staff until the completion of that line.
On the 9th of September, 1894, Mr. Cole-Baker went for a sail at Rossboigh, Co. Kerry, in a small peculiarly - fashioned boat devised and constructed by himself - a flat-bottomed duck-punt, about 15 feet long, having a sail but unprovided with paddles.
It is not known exactly how he was lost, as, although a high sea was running at the time, he had often been out in this boat in much rougher weather. At one o’clock on the following morning his body was found cast on the shore.
A bright and genial, yet independent manner, and a character sympathetic yet firm, made him universally popular, and enabled him to gain in a remarkable degree the confidence and affection of the workmen and peasantry with whom he came in contact. He leaves a widow and a son of eight months old.
Mr. Cole-Baker was elected an Associate Member of the Institution on the 2nd of February, 1892.