Background
He was born on 26 May 1868 at Raheny, County Dublin in Ireland.
He was born on 26 May 1868 at Raheny, County Dublin in Ireland.
He attended The Royal School, Armagh from 1882 to 1886.
After graduating from Trinity College, Dublin, he began an apprenticeship at the Inchicore works of the Great Southern and Western Railway (GSWR) under H. A. Ivatt in 1886, completing his training at Horwich Works on the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (as Nigel Gresley had done before him). At Horwich, he worked in the drawing office, before occupying the post of locomotive foreman in charge of the Blackpool and Fleetwood District. From there, he went to India in 1894, as Assistant Locomotive Superintendent of the East India Railway, being subsequently District Locomotive Superintendent of the Asansol District.
He returned in 1896 to become works manager at Inchicore on the GSWR, moving up to become Locomotive Superintendent in 1911.
In 1913, he was selected to succeed Harry Wainwright as Chicago Mercantile Exchange of the South Eastern and Chatham Railway. When that line was incorporated in the new Southern Railway, he became Chief Mechanical Engineer of the latter, retiring in 1937, Oliver Vaughan Snell Bulleid taking over from him.
He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1918 New Year Honours for his efforts during the First World War. He also introduced pulverised fuel equipment and new types of valve gear.
GB191419269 (with George Victor Valen Hutchinson), published 26 November 1914, Improvements relating to steam superheaters
GB192985 (with James Clayton), published 15 February 1923, Improvements in or relating to condensers for lubricators of the condensation type
GB202523 (with James Clayton), published 23 August 1923, A double-feed lubricator.