Sydney Donkin

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Sydney Bryan Donkin (24 June 1871 – 12 November 1952) was a British civil engineer.[1] Donkin was educated at Imperial College, London before beginning work for the Sulzer company of mechanical engineers. Whilst based at this company's headquarters in Switzerland he became interested in Alpine climbing and spent much of his spare time climbing the nearby peaks. He was a founding member of the Climbers Club and served on their committee and as their vice-president and president.

He later became an assistant to Alexander Kennedy, the electrical engineer, and worked on several large hydro-electric dams including the Lower Aswan Dam and the Owen Falls Dam. He also sat on the general board of the National Physical Laboratory, as chairman of the Association of Consulting Engineers, president of Association of Supervisory Electrical Engineers, president of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) and president of the Smeatonian Society. He was a proponent of social housing and built the first houses for the ICE Benevolent fund at Haywards Heath.

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[edit] Education and apprenticeship

Sydney was the great grandson of Bryan Donkin, the mechanical engineer and industrialist. He was educated at Imperial College, London, from which he graduated with a degree in engineering in 1892, and was apprenticed to the Sulzer company, a firm of mechanical engineers based at Winterthur in Switzerland.[2]

[edit] Mountain climbing

Donkin first began climbing when working in Switzerland with Salzer, although his uncle was a famed climber and secretary of the Alpine Club who died on a climb in the Caucasus in 1888. He soon became an enthusiast and climbed many of the Alpine peaks including Matterhorn, Monte Rosa, Zinalrothorn, Dent Blanche and the Dom as well as several mountains of North Wales. He made many of his ascents without a local guide and took most of his summer holidays in the Alps. He became a founding member of the Climbers Club in 1898 and served on their committee in 1908-11, 1929-36 and 1939-43. He was elected vice-president for 1926-9 and president 1936-9.[2]

[edit] Electrical engineer

The Owen Falls Dam under construction
The Owen Falls Dam under construction

In 1897 he left Switzerland to become an assistant to Alexander Kennedy, the famed electrical engineer and another keen climber, and worked within his consultancy. He was made a partner in the business in 1908 and a senior partner in 1934. Donkin worked heavily in hydro-electric power and was involved in several large scale projects. Amongst these was the Aswan Low Dam on the Nile in Egypt which was built between 1899 and 1902 and the Owen Falls Dam on the White Nile in Uganda which was started in 1947 and finished two years after his death.[2]

Donkin had a seat on the general board of the National Physical Laboratory from 1922 to 1927. He was chairman of the Association of Consulting Engineers for two terms, first in 1927-28, and again in 1943-44. He acted as an advisor to the government on a proposed Severn barrage scheme.[2] Donkin also served as president of the Association of Supervisory Electrical Engineers from 1925 until 1931 and as president of the Institution of Civil Engineers for 1937 to 1938.[3] He assisted the Ministry of Labour in their preparations for the Second World War by volunteering his services as chairman of the engineering section of the National Register of Scientists, Technical Experts and Professional Men which was established to allow the government to better utilise the skills of these men for the war effort.[3] After the war he became interested in uses for the heated water generated by power stations and devised a way of using it to heat homes and businesses which was put into use on a housing estate in Pimlico. He was made a fellow of University College, London in 1946.[2] In 1949 he was elected as president of the Smeatonian Society, of which he had become a member in 1931.[4]

[edit] Personal life

He was married to Pheobe Smiles in 1902, whilst working in England for Alexander Kennedy.[2] He was a keen proponent of the provision of social housing and in this interest founded the Insitution of Civil Engineers Benovolent Fund housing scheme in July 1937 with the construction of houses at Haywards Heath for members and their families in need.[3] Donkin died at Albury, Surrey on 12 November 1952 at the age of 81[1], his wife had predeceased him by eight months.[2]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b ICE proceedings obituary
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Climbers Club obituary
  3. ^ a b c Watson, Garth (1988), The Civils, London: Thomas Telford, ISBN 0-727-70392-7
  4. ^ Watson, Garth (1989), The Smeatonians: Society of Civil Engineers, London: Thomas Telford, ISBN 0-727-71526-7