Jump to content

Robert Mullineux Walmsley

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dr Robert Mullineux Walmsley FRSE (1854–1924) was a British electrical pioneer. He was one of the first to bridge the gap between academic theory and practical use of electricity in the working world.

Life

[edit]

He was born near Liverpool in 1854, the eldest of nine children.[1] He studied Sciences at the University of London graduating BSc in 1882. He began teaching physics in London then took on a post as assistant Demonstrator to Prof Ayrton at Finsbury Technical College. He then worked under Prof Silvanus Thompson, receiving a doctorate (DSc) in 1886.[2]

In 1890 he went to Edinburgh as Professor of Electrical Engineering at Heriot-Watt University.

In 1891 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His proposers were Francis Grant Ogilvie, William Henry Perkin, Alexander Bruce, and Sir Byrom Bramwell.[3]

In 1895 he was living at 5 Seton Place in the Grange district in south Edinburgh.[4]

In 1896 he relocated from Edinburgh to Northampton Polytechnic Institute in Clerkenwell as its very first principal. The college later evolved into City, University of London.[1]

He was struck by a vehicle on a London street near his home in Islington on 12 June 1924 and never regained consciousness. He died in London on 14 June 1924.[5]

Family

[edit]

In 1896 he married Emily Victoria Hicks.

Publications

[edit]
  • Electric Current: How Produced and How Used (1894)
  • Transatlantic Engineering Schools and Engineering (1904)
  • Engineering Colleges and the War (1915)
  • Electricity in the Service of Man (1921)[6]
  • Modern Practical Electricity

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "The pioneering Principal – City 125th Anniversary". 125-anniversary.city.ac.uk. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
  2. ^ "Robert Mullineux Walmsley". gracesguide.co.uk. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
  3. ^ Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002 (PDF). The Royal Society of Edinburgh. July 2006. ISBN 978-0-902198-84-5.
  4. ^ edinburgh Post Office directory 1895
  5. ^ "Dr. R. M. Walmsley". Nature. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
  6. ^ "Amazon.co.uk: Robert Mullineux Walmsley: Books". amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 22 March 2019.