Captain Edgar Joseph de Normanville R.E. (1882–1968) was a British

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

who became a successful

inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...

and a technical

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

Biography

William Louis de Normanville (4591721585)

Born 13 October 1882 in

Leamington Spa Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or simply Leamington (), is a spa town and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. Originally a small village called Leamington Priors, it grew into a spa town in the 18th century following ...

, the eldest son of William de Normanville (1843–1928), a civil engineer, and his wife born Elizabeth Simonds he was educated at

Ampleforth College Ampleforth College is a co-educational independent day and boarding school in the English public school tradition located in the village of Ampleforth, North Yorkshire, England. It opened in 1802 as a boys' school, it is situated in the groun ...

and completed an engineering apprenticeship.

Clear view screen

As a schoolboy he developed the idea of a rotating disc to clear drops of water from a windscreen, the

clear view screen A clear view screen or clearview screen is a glass disk mounted in a window that rotates to disperse rain, spray, and snow. A clear view screen is typically driven by an electric motor at the center of the disk, and is often heated to prevent con ...

becoming a design popular in ships.Capt E. J. De Normanville. ''The Times'', Friday, Jan 19, 1968; pg. 10; Issue 57153

Journalist

Fascinated by the development of motor vehicles he joined the editorial staff of the weekly motoring magazine ''

The Motor ''The Motor'' (later, just ''Motor'') was a British weekly car magazine ''Car'' is a British automotive enthusiast magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media. International editions are published by Bauer Automotive in Republi ...

'' in 1908. Following service with the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

in the first world war he became motoring correspondent of ''

The Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet ...

'' and later '' The Chronicle''.

Laycock-de Normanville

He designed an

epicyclic An epicyclic gear train (also known as a planetary gearset) consists of two gears mounted so that the center of one gear revolves around the center of the other. A carrier connects the centers of the two gears and rotates the planet and sun gea ...

four-speed

gearbox Propulsion transmission is the mode of transmitting and controlling propulsion power of a machine. The term ''transmission'' properly refers to the whole drivetrain, including clutch, gearbox, prop shaft (for rear-wheel drive vehicles), differe ...

produced by

Humber The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal rivers Ouse and Trent. From there to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between th ...

during the 1930s but is best known for his epicyclic overdrive manufactured from the 1940s by

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

Laycock Engineering The Laycock Engineering Company Limited of Archer Road, Millhouses, Sheffield, Yorkshire, England was an engineering business established in 1884 by W S Laycock which made small and major components for railway rolling stock. Laycock died in 1 ...

. His design made it possible to shift instantly from

overdrive Overdrive may refer to: Organizations * OverDrive, Inc., a digital distributor of entertainment media ** OverDrive Media Console, a media player developed by OverDrive, Inc. * Overdrive PC, a subsidiary of Velocity Micro Technology * Overdrive ...

to direct drive and back again without a break in the drive.

Death

He died on 17 January 1968, his widow in 1978.Deaths. ''The Times'', Tuesday, May 16, 1978; pg. 28; Issue 60302

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Normanville, Edgar Joseph 1882 births 1968 deaths 20th-century British inventors People from Warwickshire (before 1974) 20th-century British engineers Royal Engineers soldiers British Army personnel of World War I British male journalists Motoring journalists 20th-century British journalists 20th-century British male writers People educated at Ampleforth College