James Edward Henry Gordon (26 June 1852 – 3 February 1893) was a British electrical engineer, the son of James Alexander Gordon (1793-1872). He took his B.A. at

Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of t ...

in 1876. Gordon designed large electrical machines, such as an early 350 kilowatt

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, and wrote extensively on practical electrical problems such as lighting. In 1875, he published results of experiments on electrical constants done at the

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under the supervision of

James Clerk Maxwell James Clerk Maxwell (13 June 1831 – 5 November 1879) was a Scottish mathematician and scientist responsible for the classical theory of electromagnetic radiation, which was the first theory to describe electricity, magnetism and ligh ...

. In 1878 he was assistant secretary to the

British Association The British Science Association (BSA) is a charity and learned society founded in 1831 to aid in the promotion and development of science. Until 2009 it was known as the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BA). The current Chie ...

. In 1879, he published "Electrostatic Induction" based on lectures and in 1880 released "Physical Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism." After 1882 he turned to consulting engineering and construction of central station power plants. He was manager of the electric lighting department at the

Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company Enderby's Wharf is a wharf and industrial site on the south bank of the Thames in Greenwich, London, associated with Telcon and other companies. It has a history of more than 150 years of production of submarine communication cables and asso ...

in 1883. In 1884 he released "Practical Treatise on Electric Lighting." He was engineer for the Metropolitan Electric Supply Company in 1888-9, then in 1889 he started practice with W. J. Rivington, forming "J. E. H. Gordon and Company". His wife Alice Mary Gordon (née Brandreth, later Lady

Danesfort Danesfort () is a small rural area in County Kilkenny, Ireland, located approximately 6 km from Kilkenny City on the N10 (Waterford to Kilkenny). It is also the name of a civil parish in County Kilkenny. The local area consists of one pr ...

on her second marriage) was an author and domestic electrical pioneer. She wrote a popular book on application of electricity to household lighting in 1891. The couple had three children, Dorothy Frances, Peter Christian and James Geoffrey Gordon (1881-1938) who became

Bishop of Jarrow The Bishop of Jarrow is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Durham, in the Province of York, England. The title takes its name after the former Anglo Saxon monastery in the town of Jarrow in Tyne and ...

. Gordon died from injuries sustained from a fall from his horse on 3 February 1893.''The Electrical Engineer'', 10 February 1893, p. 157

References

* 1852 births 1893 deaths English electrical engineers {{UK-engineer-stub