William Sampson Bishop
William Sampson Bishop (c1883-1948)
1949 Obituary [1]
"WILLIAM SAMPSON BISHOP, whose death occurred on 17th October 1948 at the age of sixty-five, was for twenty-eight years chief mechanical engineer to the Amalgamated Press Company, Ltd.
He received his technical education at the Borough Polytechnic and served his time at the Nine Elms Works of the London and South Western Railway from 1898 to 1904. After brief periods of employment in London as fitter to the Pulsometer Co, and Messrs. John I. Thornycroft, he returned to the service of the London and South Western Railway as maintenance engineer at the generating station.
In 1910 he began his long connection with the Amalgamated Press with a similar appointment. Four years later, however, he was called up from the Reserve as a commissioned engineer and was on active service for five years, finally rising to the rank of engineer lieutenant, R.N.R. On demobilization in 1919 he returned to the Amalgamated Press as deputy engineer, but in the following year he took over the duties of chief mechanical engineer, which included the control of the entire mechanical equipment of two printing works with a personnel of some 2,400. In addition he acted as consultant for the Gravesend works of the company and was responsible for a complete installation of plant at one of the works, besides designing alterations and additions at the other. Mr. Bishop took a keen interest: in local government and education and was twice Mayor of Lambeth. He was also a governor of the Borough Polytechnic and a member of the Surrey education committee. He had been a Member of the Institution since 1945."