Sir Christopher Sydney Cockerell
Trumpington Road Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, CB2 8AG England, UK
St. Faith's School
Holt, Norfolk, NR25 6EA England,UK
Gresham's School, sketched in 1838
The Old Schools Trinity Lane Cambridge CB2 1TN United Kingdom
University of Cambridge
Honorary Doctorate
Howard N. Potts Medal
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire
Trumpington Road Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, CB2 8AG England, UK
St. Faith's School
Holt, Norfolk, NR25 6EA England,UK
Gresham's School, sketched in 1838
The Old Schools Trinity Lane Cambridge CB2 1TN United Kingdom
University of Cambridge
An employee of the Marconi Company, England, 1906
Honorary Doctorate
Howard N. Potts Medal
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire
Christopher Sydney Cockerell was born on the 4th of June, 1910 in Cambridge.His father, Sir Sydney Cockerell, was curator of the Fitzwilliam Museum, having previously been the secretary of William Morris. His mother was the illustrator and designer Florence Kingsford Cockerell.
Christopher attended the preparatory school of St Faith's. Christopher was educated at Gresham's School, Holt, Norfolk. He matriculated at Peterhouse, Cambridge to read mechanical engineering and was tutored by William Dobson Womersley. He was later to return to Cambridge to study radio and electronics.
He began his career working for W. H. Allen & Sons of Bedford. After returning to the University of Cambridge in 1934 to study radio and electronics, he went to work at the Radio Research Company. In 1935 he went to work at the Marconi Company. During his time in Chelmsford, he led a research team in the famous Marconi hut at Writtle and worked on many systems, including radar.
Cockerell's greatest invention was the hovercraft. The first full-size hovercraft with passengers on board, SR-N1 (Saunders-Roe-Nautical 1), built in 1959, crossed the English Channel in 20 minutes.
In later life, Cockerell developed many other improvements to the hovercraft, and invented various other applications for the air cushion principle, such as the hovertrain.
In the 1970s Cockerell became interested in wave energy extraction, and designed hydraulic devices that could be used in the future to generate electricity (similar to tidal power plants).
Cockerell developed the Cockerell Raft, a wave power hydraulic device which may have implications in the future for electricity generation.
Cockerell was awarded £5,000 by the British Government of the 1960s, the only practical official recognition of the value of his work, though he was given a knighthood.
Quotations:
"The Admiralty said it was a plane and not a boat, the Royal Air Force said it was a boat and not a plane, the Army were plain not interested".
"But for the silly chaps, we would still be living in the Stone Age".
"Some of the hovercraft saga was fun, but most of it was incredibly frustrating".
"I’ve enjoyed life, but it would have been nice to treat my wife to dinner once in a while".
Married Margaret Elinor Belsham in 1937 and had 2 children.
