Last month marked the centenary of the death of a past president of the IMechE, Hay Frederick Donaldson. He carried out important work on railways, tramways, harbours, canals, docks and ordnance factories, but was tragically killed during the First World War, while on a journey to Russia as a munitions adviser.
Donaldson was born in Sydney, Australia, on 7 June 1856. Moving to England, he was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge, afterwards receiving technical training at the University of Edinburgh. From 1875 to 1877, he served an apprenticeship at the London and North Western Railway Works, Crewe, and then undertook more training at Zurich and Cambridge.
In 1880, he was employed on parliamentary work and as engineer in charge of the construction of the Burnley tramways, and in September of the following year he worked on the west of India Portuguese railway and harbour. During his service there, he was in charge of the harbour works at Goa.
In 1887 he returned to England, and was appointed engineer in charge of the first section of the Manchester ship canal, which involved the construction of locks, estuary banks and heavy piling work.
After leaving this project, he was engaged in private practice, and on 1 January 1893 he was appointed engineer-in-chief of the London and India Docks Joint Committee, a position that he held until 31 December 1897, when he became deputy director general of ordnance factories, Woolwich, under Sir William Anderson.
During the illness and death of Anderson in 1898, Donaldson was temporarily put in charge of the Royal Ordnance factories, and in 1899 he was appointed chief mechanical engineer.
In 1903, he became chief superintendent of the Royal Ordnance factories. This was responsible work under trying conditions, and it taxed his health. For his services he was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath, and later a Knight Commander of the same order.
Donaldson was active in the IMechE. He joined the council in 1905, became a vice-president in 1910 and occupied the presidential chair in 1913-14. During the first year of his presidency, the institution held its summer meeting at Cambridge. The meeting was a success, owing to the admirable arrangements largely organised by the president and his brother. The summer meeting in Paris in 1914 was held about a month before war broke out, but Donaldson was prevented from attending by urgent matters at Woolwich.
Donaldson was also active in developing the system of examinations for graduates and associate members, and made appeals to establish on a financial basis the benevolent fund of the institution.
In September 1915, Donaldson temporarily gave up his position at Woolwich to act as technical adviser at the Ministry of Munitions. It was as a representative of this ministry that Donaldson, along with another institution member – Leslie Robertson – became a member of the staff of Lord Kitchener on a visit to Russia in 1916 on HMS Hampshire (pictured above).
The ship left Scapa Flow in Orkney in the late afternoon of 5 June, and sailed into stormy conditions. The boat was seen in distress near Marwick Head. A great explosion damaged the ship and it began to sink. Although it was not known at the time, it was later claimed that a U-75 had laid 22 mines off the coast of Orkney. When the ship sank, 737 men died. Among those who did not make it were Donaldson, Robertson and Kitchener.
To commemorate the tragedy, the Kitchener Memorial was built at Marwick Head. It recently underwent restoration, but it reopened on the centenary of the incident. You can read more about it at archives.imeche.org.
You can access more stories of institution members lost during the First World War at www.imeche.org/about-us/imeche-engineering-history/world-war-i-honour-roll.
Did you know? Hay Frederick Donaldson
Hay Frederick Donaldson had a varied early career working on building the Burnley tramways, a railway and harbour works in India, and the Manchester ship canal. Later he joined the Royal Ordnance factories.
During the First World War he became a government adviser and was tragically lost at sea with Lord Kitchener.