Frederick Andrew Fitzpayne AMIEE (1878-1935) was a British electrical and transport engineer responsible for building Scotland's first electric tram system and running the Edinburgh Corporation Tramway system.

Life

He was born in southern England on 23 September 1878. He was educated at All Saints School in Bloxham in Devonshire. He then studied electrical engineering at Faraday House in London receiving his diploma in 1897. He served an apprenticeship at Browett Lindley & Co in Manchester before moving to Southend-on-Sea to be involved in his first tramway project for the South London Electric Supply Corporation. In 1900 he moved to

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth (), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside town and unparished area in, and the main administrative centre of, the Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. A pop ...

working on the installation of electricity under a private company. In 1902 he entered municipal life, when the town council took over the role of installing electric street lights and a tramway. He was Chief Assistant overseeing these projects in both Great Yarmouth and Gorleston. In 1906 he transferred to Leith Corporation in Scotland to oversee the installation there of Scotland's first electric tram, creating 6 miles of track. In 1909 he was promoted to General Manager of the Leith Tramways. In 1920 Leith and Edinburgh were amalgamated. In 1921 he became Deputy Transport Manager and in 1929 he became full Transport Manager for all Edinburgh. He was also General Manager of the Edinburgh Tramway Corporation. During this period Edinburgh's trams were converted from cable-drawn to electricity, and the rolling stock was changed from timber and iron to fully steel construction. Profit of the transport system increased by 50% in this period. He lived at 5 Smiths Place, off Leith Walk. In 1932 he chaired a national conference on motor transport held at the Atholl Palace Hotel in Pitlochry. He died on 3 March 1935 and is buried in

Rosebank Cemetery Rosebank Cemetery is a 19th-century cemetery in Edinburgh. It is located at the junction of Pilrig Street and Broughton Road in the Pilrig area, close to the historical boundary of Leith. The cemetery is protected as a category C listed buildi ...

in northern Edinburgh. His toppled stone lies to the south of the

Christian Salvesen Christian Salvesen was a Scottish whaling, transport and logistics company with a long and varied history, employing 13,000 staff and operating in seven countries in western Europe. In December 2007, it was acquired by French listed transport ...

monument. Following his death, his house at Smiths Place was demolished to make way for a faux-Georgian infill by

Ebenezer James MacRae Ebenezer James MacRae (18 January 1881 – 15 January 1951) was a Scottish architect serving as City Architect for Edinburgh for most of his active life. Life He was the son of Rev Alexander MacRae of the Free Church of Scotland. To family ...

operating as offices and social club for the teamworks (which were located to the rear).

Family

He was married to Emily Daisy Hall (d.1967). His son, Eric Fitzpayne, was General Manager of Glasgow Corporation Transport.Scotsman (newspaper) obituary of Alan Fitspayne, 21 March 2006 In 1962 his grandson, Alan Fitzpayne, aged only 13, was given the honour of running the last tram through the streets of

Clydebank Clydebank ( gd, Bruach Chluaidh) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, it borders the village of Old Kilpatrick (with Bowling, West Dunbartonshire, Bowling and Milton, West Dunbartonshire, Mil ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzpayne, Frederick Andrew 1878 births 1935 deaths British electrical engineers Transport engineers Edinburgh Trams