Reginald "Rex" Wailes OBE, FSA, F I Mech E (6 March 1901 – 7 January 1986) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

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 limit ...

and

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

who published widely on aspects of engineering history and

industrial archaeology Industrial archaeology (IA) is the systematic study of material evidence associated with the industrial past. This evidence, collectively referred to as industrial heritage, includes buildings, machinery, artifacts, sites, infrastructure, docu ...

, particularly on

windmill A windmill is a structure that converts wind power into rotational energy using vanes called sails or blades, specifically to mill grain (gristmills), but the term is also extended to windpumps, wind turbines, and other applications, in some ...

s and

watermill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the production of ...

s. Wailes was born at

Hadley Wood Hadley Wood is an affluent suburb in the north of Greater London, close to the border with Hertfordshire. It appears to be a stand-alone village surrounded by Green Belt land, however, under the Local Government Act 1972 it is part of the ...

on 6 March 1901, the son of Reginald and Florence Wailes; his father was a mechanical engineer. He was educated at

Oundle School Oundle School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) for pupils 11–18 situated in the market town of Oundle in Northamptonshire, England. The school has been governed by the Worshipful Company of Grocers of the City ...

before becoming an engineering apprentice at Robey's of Lincoln. In 1924 following his apprenticeship he joined the family firm of George Wailes & Company. In 1923, while serving his apprenticeship with Robey, an engineering firm in

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

, he was asked by the then president of the

Newcomen Society Newcomen may refer to: People * John Newcomen (c.1613–1630), English first white settler murdered by another white settler in Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts * Matthew Newcomen (c. 1610–1669), English nonconformist churchman *Thomas Newcomen (16 ...

to record windmills in

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...

. At the time English windmills were rapidly falling into disuse and being demolished, and it was felt that some attempt should be made to record this vanishing aspect of the English countryside. In 1929 he was appointed technical adviser to the newly formed Windmill Section (now the Mills Section) of the

Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) (also known as Anti-Scrape) is an amenity society founded by William Morris, Philip Webb, and others in 1877 to oppose the destructive 'restoration' of ancient buildings occurring in ...

. In this post he visited numerous mills in England and developed a reputation as the leading British authority on them, presenting more than thirty papers to the Newcomen Society on mill-related subjects. He was also invited to report on mills overseas, notably in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, presenting a paper on the windmills of Long Island for the

Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities Historic New England, previously known as the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities (SPNEA), is a charitable, non-profit, historic preservation organization headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. It is focused on New England ...

in 1935. He was also the consultant for the construction of Robertson's post mill at

Colonial Williamsburg Colonial Williamsburg is a living-history museum and private foundation presenting a part of the historic district in the city of Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation has 7300 employees at this location a ...

in the 1950s. Books followed, the most notable of which were ''Windmills in England'' (1948) and ''The English Windmill'' (1954), the latter in particular being considered the classic work on the subject. From 1963 to 1971 he was the lead consultant to the Industrial Monuments Survey then being undertaken by the Ministry of Works in an effort to identify historic industrial sites which were worthy of preservation under the Town and Country Planning Acts. In 1965 he represented United Kingdom at the first International Symposium of Molinology in Portugal. In 1971 he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for his work. He served as president of the Newcomen Society, 1953 to 1955, and was elected as an honorary member in 1977.

References

* * Major, J. Kenneth (1990). ''Rex Wailes: An Appreciation of His Work'', First Rex Wailes Memorial Lecture, presented at the Science Museum, London, 10 May 1989. London:

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Wailes, Rex 1901 births 1986 deaths People educated at Oundle School Officers of the Order of the British Empire 20th-century English historians 20th-century British engineers Industrial archaeology