Charles Frewen Jenkin, CBE, FRS (24 September 186523 August 1940) was a British engineer and academic. He held the first

chair A chair is a type of seat, typically designed for one person and consisting of one or more legs, a flat or slightly angled seat and a back-rest. They may be made of wood, metal, or synthetic materials, and may be padded or upholstered in vario ...

of engineering at the University of Oxford as Professor of Engineering Science.

Early life

Jenkin was born on 24 September 1865 in Claygate, Surrey. He was the second son of Fleeming Jenkin who was Regius Professor of Engineering at the University of Edinburgh. He was educated at Edinburgh Academy, then an all boys

independent school An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British Eng ...

in Edinburgh. He attended the University of Edinburgh, before matriculating into Trinity College, Cambridge in 1883. As the University of Cambridge had no engineering degree, he instead studied the Mathematical Tripos. He graduated in 1886 with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree; as per tradition, this was later promoted to a Master of Arts (MA (Cantab)) degree.

Career

Upon graduation, Jenkin joined

Mather & Platt Mather & Platt is the name of several large engineering firms in Europe, South Africa and Asia that are subsidiaries of Wilo SE, Germany or were founded by former employees. The original company was founded in the Newton Heath area of Manchester, ...

, an engineering company based in Manchester. He then worked for

London and North Western Railway The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom. In 1923, it became a constituent of the Lo ...

based in

Crewe Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. The Crewe built-up area had a total population of 75,556 in 2011, which also covers parts of the adjacent civil parishes of Willaston ...

, having been granted a Miller scholarship from the Institution of Civil Engineers. In 1891, he joined the Royal Gunpowder Factory in Waltham Abbey as a mechanical assistant superintendent. From 1893 to 1898, he worked for Nettlefolds at their

steelworks A steel mill or steelworks is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel. It may be an integrated steel works carrying out all steps of steelmaking from smelting iron ore to rolled product, but may also be a plant where steel semi-fini ...

in Wales. From 1898 to 1908, he worked for the Siemens Brothers. He ended his time with them as head of Siemens's railway department and manager of the works based in

Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies about north of Wolverhampton, south of Stoke-on-Trent and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 70,145 in t ...

Academic career

On 21 May 1908, Jenkin was elected to the newly constituted position of Professor of Engineering Science at the University of Oxford. In addition to the Chair, he was granted fellowship of

New College, Oxford New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at th ...

. In 1912, he moved from New College to become a fellow of

Brasenose College, Oxford Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The library and chapel were added in the mi ...

. On 17 May 1913, he was re-elected Professor of Engineering Science to serve for a further five years. In 1914, the Department of Engineering Science was finally collected into one building having previously been spread among many, temporary buildings. During World War I, from 1915 to 1919, he took a break from academia to serve in the Royal Navy and then in the Royal Air Force. Jenkin returned to Oxford after his military service ended in 1919. He continued the research he undertook at the Ministry of Munitions, and specialised in corrosion fatigue. On 24 May 1923, he was re-elected Professor of Engineering Science to serve for a further five years. In 1929, he resigned from his appointment to concentrate on his research. Outside of his university work, Jenkin held a number of appointments. He was Chairman of the Materials Subcommittee of the Aeronautical Research Committee, and was also Chairman of the structures investigation committee of the

Building Research Board The Building Research Establishment (BRE) is a centre of building science in the United Kingdom, owned by charitable organisation the BRE Trust. It is a former UK government national laboratory that was privatised in 1997. BRE provides resea ...

Military service

In May 1915, Jenkin was granted a temporary commission in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve in the rank of lieutenant. He worked in the Air Department of the Admiralty. On 5 October 1916, he was promoted to temporary lieutenant commander. On the amalgamation of the

Royal Naval Air Service The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps t ...

and the

Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...

in April 1918, he was appointed head of the branch of the Royal Air Force responsible for aircraft materials. He was granted the rank of

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

and attached to the Ministry of Munitions. In 1918, the results of his research in this area were published as ''Report on Materials of Construction used in Aircraft and Aircraft Engines''. On 31 March 1919, he was transferred to the unemployed list, thereby ending his military service.

Later life

Following his retirement from the University of Oxford, Jenkin moved to

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...

, Hertfordshire. He survived a series of heart attacks in 1933 but was left living in pain. He died on 23 August 1940 at his home in St Albans. His funeral and burial took place on 27 August 1940 at

St Albans Abbey St Albans Cathedral, officially the Cathedral and Abbey Church of St Alban but often referred to locally as "the Abbey", is a Church of England cathedral in St Albans, England. Much of its architecture dates from Norman times. It ceased to be ...

Personal life

In 1889, Jenkin married Mary Oswald Mackenzie, youngest daughter of the Scottish Judge Lord Mackenzie. Together they had two sons and a daughter. His was outlived by his wife and their daughter May. His younger son Conrad Jenkin (1894–1916) died while serving in the Royal Navy during World War I. His elder son Charles Oswald Frewen Jenkin (1890–1939) was an engineer. His grandchildren and great-grandchildren include Patrick Jenkin, Baron Jenkin of Roding, a cabinet minister and

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

, and

Bernard Jenkin Sir Bernard Christison Jenkin (born 9 April 1959) is a British Conservative Party politician serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for Harwich and North Essex since 2010. He also serves as chair of the Liaison Committee. He was first elected to ...

, a member of parliament. He was a self-taught multi-linguist: he spoke medieval French, medieval Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and Catalan, in addition to his native English.

Honours

During World War I, at some time between May 1915 and March 1919, he was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE). In the 1919 King's Birthday Honours, he was promoted to Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) 'in recognition of distinguished services rendered during the war'. He was elected a Member of the Institution of Electrical Engineers in 1901 and a Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1912. On 7 May 1931, he was elected Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS). He was awarded the Telford Medal and the James Watt Medal by the Institution of Civil Engineers. The Jenkin Building of the Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford is named after him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jenkin, Charles Frewen 1865 births 1940 deaths English railway mechanical engineers Academics of the University of Oxford Fellows of New College, Oxford People educated at Edinburgh Academy Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Fellows of Brasenose College, Oxford Royal Navy officers of World War I Royal Air Force officers Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the Royal Society People from Surrey