Sir John Francis Cleverton Snell, GBE (15 December 1859 – 6 July 1938) was a British electrical engineer and administrator.

Life

Snell was born in

Saltash Saltash (Cornish: Essa) is a town and civil parish in south Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It had a population of 16,184 in 2011 census. Saltash faces the city of Plymouth over the River Tamar and is popularly known as "the Gateway to Corn ...

, Cornwall, the only son of Commander John Skinner Snell, RN and his wife Harriet Cleverton and educated at Plymouth Grammar School,

Finsbury Technical College The City and Guilds of London Institute is an educational organisation in the United Kingdom. Founded on 11 November 1878 by the City of London and 16 livery companies – to develop a national system of technical education, the institute has b ...

and

King's College, London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

. After working for four years from 1885 with Messrs. Woodhouse and Rawson he was appointed in 1889 a resident engineer at Messrs. Crompton and Co., where he worked on electrical supply projects in London and Stockholm. From 1892 he worked as assistant to General

Charles Edmund Webber Charles Edmund Webber (5 September 1838 – 23 September 1904) was a British soldier, engineer and author. Early life and family Born in Dublin, Ireland, Charles was the third son of Rev. Thomas Webber, of Leekfield, County Sligo and Frances K ...

on electrical supply projects in Kensington and a number of country houses, before entering municipal service in London in 1893 as assistant electrical engineer in St Pancras during the construction of the Kings Road power station. In 1896 he transferred to Sunderland as Borough Electrical Engineer, additionally becoming Borough Tramways Engineer in 1896 after which he converted the tramway system to electric power. In 1906, he set up in business as a consulting engineer in Westminster, amalgamating with Preece and Cardew to form Preece, Cardew and Snell. During that time he served as an expert witness for the

General Post Office The General Post Office (GPO) was the state postal system and telecommunications carrier of the United Kingdom until 1969. Before the Acts of Union 1707, it was the postal system of the Kingdom of England, established by Charles II in 1660. ...

in a case involving compensation payments to

National Telephone Company The National Telephone Company (NTC) was a British telephone company from 1881 until 1911 which brought together smaller local companies in the early years of the telephone. Under the Telephone Transfer Act 1911 it was taken over by the General P ...

, after which he was given a knighthood (in 1914). He also acted as President of the Institute of Electrical Engineers for 1914. During the First World War he served on a number of committees, including the Munitions Inventions Committee. After the war he left the consulting company (by then Preece, Cardew, Snell and Rider) to advise the government of matters of electrical supply. He helped to set up the Electricity Commission and served as its first chairman from 1919 to 1938, during which time the

Central Electricity Board The United Kingdom Central Electricity Board (CEB) was established by the Electricity (Supply) Act 1926. It had the duty to supply electricity to authorised electricity undertakers, to determine which power stations would be 'selected' stations ...

was established, the national grid created and the supply of electricity standardised. He was made GBE in 1925. In 1928 he began introducing major new electricity power systems in the West of England with his friend and then colleague, Dr John A. Purves. He was awarded the

Faraday Medal The Faraday Medal is a top international medal awarded by the UK Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) (previously called the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE)). It is part of the IET Achievement Medals collection of awards. T ...

for 1938 by the

Institution of Electrical Engineers The Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE) was a British professional organisation of electronics, electrical, manufacturing, and Information Technology professionals, especially electrical engineers. It began in 1871 as the Society of Te ...

(now the

Institution of Engineering and Technology The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) is a multidisciplinary professional engineering institution. The IET was formed in 2006 from two separate institutions: the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE), dating back to 1871, and ...

). He died after an operation at the

London Clinic The London Clinic is a private healthcare organisation and registered charity based on the corner of Devonshire Place and Marylebone Road in central London. According to HealthInvestor, it is one of England's largest private hospitals. Histor ...

in 1938. He had married Annie Glendenning Quick of Biscovey, Cornwall, with whom he had at least one son.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Snell, John 1859 births 1938 deaths People from Saltash Alumni of King's College London British electrical engineers Knights Bachelor Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Engineers from Cornwall