Background
Duckham was born in Blackheath, London.
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Arthur Duckham
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King"s College London.
Career
He became a trainee gas engineer, while also taking evening classes at King"s College, London, and was appointed assistant superintendent of a London gasworks. Along with Harold Woodall he formed a company Woodall-Duckham which developed the continuous vertical retort for manufacturing gas from coal. During the First World War he was involved in the supply of coal-derived chemicals for use in the manufacture of explosives, becoming Deputy Controller of Munitions Supply in 1915.
He performed a number of other executive and advisor roles, notably Chairman of the Advisory Committee, Ministry of Munitions, which resulted in the him being knighted with the Order of the Bath (Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath).
He also received the Légion d"honneur (Cross of Officer). After the war his business flourished, expanding into other areas of chemical engineering.
He joined the Institution of Civil Engineers (which then included all non-military engineers) in 1918, but chaired the committee which created the Institution of Chemical Engineers, and became its first President. In 1928 he led a British trade mission to Australia, and following this received a further knighthood, GBE. He died 14 February 1932 at Ashtead, Surrey.
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Born
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Died
February 14, 1932 (aged 52)