Sydney Bryan Donkin (24 June 1871 – 12 November 1952) was a British civil engineer.
His parents were Bryan Donkin Junior and Georgina Dillon. Donkin was educated at
University College, London
, mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £143 million (2020)
, budget = ...
before beginning work for Sulzer Brothers, mechanical engineers, later the
Sulzer company. Whilst based at this company's headquarters in Switzerland he became interested in
Alpine
Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to:
Places Europe
* Alps, a European mountain range
** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range
Australia
* Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village
* Alpine National Pa ...
climbing and spent much of his spare time climbing the nearby peaks. He was a founding member of the
Climbers' Club
The Climbers' Club is the senior rock-climbing club in England and Wales (outside the Lake District). The club was founded in 1898. The CC one of the largest publishers of climbing guidebooks in many of the main climbing areas of England and Wal ...
and served on their committee in 1908 and later as vice-president and president.
He later became an assistant to
Alexander Kennedy
Sir Alexander Blackie William Kennedy FRS, FRGS (17 March 1847 – 1 November 1928), better known simply as Alexander Kennedy, was a leading British civil and electrical engineer and academic. A member of many institutions and the recipient ...
, the electrical engineer, and worked on several large hydro-electric dams including the first
Lower Aswan Dam and the
Owen Falls Dam
Nalubaale Power Station, formerly known as Owen Falls Dam, is a hydroelectric power station across the White Nile near its source at Lake Victoria in Uganda. ''Nalubaale'' is the Luganda name for Lake Victoria.
Location
The dam sits across t ...
. He also sat on the general board of the
National Physical Laboratory, as chairman of the
Association of Consulting Engineers, president of the
Association of Supervisory Electrical Engineers, president of the
Institution of Civil Engineers
The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) is an independent professional association for civil engineers and a charitable body in the United Kingdom. Based in London, ICE has over 92,000 members, of whom three-quarters are located in the UK, whi ...
(ICE) and president of the
Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers
The Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers was founded in England in 1771. It was the first engineering society to be formed anywhere in the world, and remains the oldest. It was originally known as the Society of Civil Engineers, being renamed fo ...
. He was a proponent of
social housing
Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, def ...
and built the first houses for the ICE Benevolent fund at
Haywards Heath.
Education and apprenticeship
Donkin was the great-grandson of
Bryan Donkin
Bryan Donkin FRS FRAS
(22 March 1768 – 27 February 1855) developed the first paper making machine and created the world's first commercial canning factory. These were the basis for large industries that continue to flourish today. Bryan D ...
, the distinguished mechanical engineer and
industrialist
A business magnate, also known as a tycoon, is a person who has achieved immense wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term characteristically refers to a powerful entrepreneur or investor who controls, through perso ...
and the grandson of
John Donkin
John Donkin (1802–1854) was a British engineer. He was a son of Bryan Donkin and worked in this father's company in Bermondsey, primarily on paper-making equipment. He married Caroline Hawes, granddaughter of William Hawes, notable as founder ...
. He was educated at
University College, London
, mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £143 million (2020)
, budget = ...
, from which he graduated with a
degree in engineering. He served an apprenticeship first with the family firm of Bryan Donkin and Company, of Bermondsey, of which his father, Bryan Donkin Jr., was then chairman. This was where his father had carried out classic scientific boiler trials with Sir Alexander Kennedy, in 1887–88. He completed his apprenticeship (1889–1893) by spending a year in Switzerland about 9 months of which was with
Sulzer company, a firm of mechanical engineers based at
Winterthur
, neighboring_municipalities = Brütten, Dinhard, Elsau, Hettlingen, Illnau-Effretikon, Kyburg, Lindau, Neftenbach, Oberembrach, Pfungen, Rickenbach, Schlatt, Seuzach, Wiesendangen, Zell
, twintowns = Hall in Tirol (Austria), La ...
in Switzerland.
[Private Family Papers
] On returning to England in 1893 he rejoined Bryan Donkin & Company as a draughtsman, later becoming assistant to the manager.
Mountain climbing
Donkin first began climbing when working in Switzerland with Sulzer Brothers. A cousin, William Frederick Donkin, had been a famed climber and secretary of the
Alpine Club
The first alpine club, the Alpine Club, based in the United Kingdom, was founded in London in 1857 as a gentlemen's club. It was once described as:
:"a club of English gentlemen devoted to mountaineering, first of all in the Alps, members of whi ...
who died on a climb in the
Caucasus
The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically ...
in 1888. He soon became an enthusiast and climbed many of the
Alpine
Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to:
Places Europe
* Alps, a European mountain range
** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range
Australia
* Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village
* Alpine National Pa ...
peaks including
Matterhorn
The (, ; it, Cervino, ; french: Cervin, ; rm, Matterhorn) is a mountain of the Alps, straddling the main watershed and border between Switzerland and Italy. It is a large, near-symmetric pyramidal peak in the extended Monte Rosa area of the ...
,
Monte Rosa
:
, other_name = Monte Rosa massif
, translation = Mount Rose
, photo = Dufourspitze (Monte Rosa) and Monte Rosa Glacier as seen from Gornergrat, Wallis, Switzerland, 2012 August.jpg
, photo_caption = Central Mon ...
,
Zinalrothorn
The Zinalrothorn (4,221 m) is a mountain in the Pennine Alps in Switzerland. Its name comes from the village of Zinal lying on the north side and from the German word ''Rothorn'' which means ''Red Peak''. When it was first climbed in 1864 the mo ...
,
Dent Blanche
The Dent Blanche is a mountain in the Pennine Alps, lying in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. At -high, it is one of the highest peaks in the Alps.
Naming
The original name was probably ''Dent d'Hérens'', the current name of the nearby D ...
and the
Dom Dom or DOM may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Dom (given name), including fictional characters
* Dom (surname)
* Dom La Nena (born 1989), stage name of Brazilian-born cellist, singer and songwriter Dominique Pinto
* Dom people, an et ...
as well as several mountains of
North Wales
, area_land_km2 = 6,172
, postal_code_type = Postcode
, postal_code = LL, CH, SY
, image_map1 = Wales North Wales locator map.svg
, map_caption1 = Six principal areas of Wales common ...
. He made many of his ascents without a local guide and took most of his summer holidays in the Alps. He became a founding member of the
Climbers' Club
The Climbers' Club is the senior rock-climbing club in England and Wales (outside the Lake District). The club was founded in 1898. The CC one of the largest publishers of climbing guidebooks in many of the main climbing areas of England and Wal ...
in 1898 and served on their committee in 1908–11, 1929–36 and 1939–43. He was elected vice-president for 1926-9 and president 1936-9.
Electrical engineer
In 1897 he left the family firm to become an Assistant Engineer at Kennedy and Jenkin, working with
Alexander Kennedy
Sir Alexander Blackie William Kennedy FRS, FRGS (17 March 1847 – 1 November 1928), better known simply as Alexander Kennedy, was a leading British civil and electrical engineer and academic. A member of many institutions and the recipient ...
, the famed electrical engineer and another keen climber, and worked within his consultancy. He was made a
partner
Partner, Partners, The Partner, or, The Partners may refer to:
Books
* ''The Partner'' (Grisham novel), by John Grisham, 1997
* ''The Partner'' (Jenaro Prieto novel), 1928
* ''The Partners'' (book), a 1983 book by James B. Stewart
* ''Partner'' (m ...
in the business in 1908 and became the senior partner in 1934 on the retirement of John MacFarlane Kennedy, son of the founder. Donkin worked heavily in
hydro-electric power
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...
and was involved in several large scale projects. Amongst these were the
Aswan Low Dam
The Aswan Low Dam or Old Aswan Dam is a gravity masonry buttress dam on the Nile River in Aswan, Egypt. The dam was built at the former first cataract of the Nile, and is located about 1000 km up-river and 690 km (direct distance) south ...
on the
Nile
The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin language, Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered ...
in Egypt which was built between 1899 and 1902 and the
Owen Falls Dam
Nalubaale Power Station, formerly known as Owen Falls Dam, is a hydroelectric power station across the White Nile near its source at Lake Victoria in Uganda. ''Nalubaale'' is the Luganda name for Lake Victoria.
Location
The dam sits across t ...
on the
White Nile in Uganda which was started in 1947 and finished two years after his death.
Donkin had a seat on the general board of the
National Physical Laboratory from 1922 to 1927. He was one of the original consultants for the planning and construction of the National Grid, and was responsible for the design and construction of approximately half of the hydro-electric stations and distribution systems commissioned by the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board. Because of his great interest in mountain climbing, in 1928 he urged his assistants working on the design of the grid system that the pylons should be simple in design and positioned so as to do the least environmental damage. He was chairman of the
Association of Consulting Engineers for two terms, first in 1927–28, and again in 1943–44. He acted as an adviser to the government on a proposed
Severn barrage
The Severn Barrage is any of a range of ideas for building a barrage from the English coast to the Welsh coast over the Severn tidal estuary. Ideas for damming or barraging the Severn estuary (and Bristol Channel) have existed since the 19t ...
scheme,
and was personally responsible for the crucial technical appendices of the report (HMSO 1945). Donkin also served as President of the
Association of Supervisory Electrical Engineers from 1925 until 1931 and as President of the
Institution of Civil Engineers
The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) is an independent professional association for civil engineers and a charitable body in the United Kingdom. Based in London, ICE has over 92,000 members, of whom three-quarters are located in the UK, whi ...
for 1937 to 1938.
[Watson, Garth (1988), ''The Civils'', London: Thomas Telford, ] He assisted the
Ministry of Labour
The Ministry of Labour ('' UK''), or Labor ('' US''), also known as the Department of Labour, or Labor, is a government department responsible for setting labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, training, a ...
in their preparations for the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
by volunteering his services as Chairman of the engineering section of the National Register of Scientists, Technical Experts and Professional Men which was established to allow the government to better use the skills of these men for the war effort.
In the 1930s he became interested in uses for the heated water generated by
power station
A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid.
Many p ...
s and this was the subject of his Presidential Address to the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1937. After the war he devised a way of using it to heat homes and businesses which was put into use on a
housing estate
A housing estate (or sometimes housing complex or housing development) is a group of homes and other buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to country.
Popular throughout the United States a ...
in
Pimlico
Pimlico () is an area of Central London in the City of Westminster, built as a southern extension to neighbouring Belgravia. It is known for its garden squares and distinctive Regency architecture. Pimlico is demarcated to the north by London V ...
. He erected a working model of it in his home in Surrey. He was made a Fellow of
University College, London
, mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £143 million (2020)
, budget = ...
in 1946.
In 1949 he was elected as President of the
Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers
The Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers was founded in England in 1771. It was the first engineering society to be formed anywhere in the world, and remains the oldest. It was originally known as the Society of Civil Engineers, being renamed fo ...
, of which he had become a member in 1931.
[Watson, Garth (1989), ''The Smeatonians: Society of Civil Engineers'', London: Thomas Telford, ]
Personal life
He was married to Phoebe Smiles in 1902, whilst working in England for
Alexander Kennedy
Sir Alexander Blackie William Kennedy FRS, FRGS (17 March 1847 – 1 November 1928), better known simply as Alexander Kennedy, was a leading British civil and electrical engineer and academic. A member of many institutions and the recipient ...
.
He was a keen proponent of the provision of
social housing
Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, def ...
and in this interest founded the Institution of Civil Engineers Benevolent Fund housing scheme in July 1937 with the construction of houses at
Haywards Heath for members and their families in need.
Donkin died at
Albury
Albury () is a major regional city in New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the Hume Highway and the northern side of the Murray River. Albury is the seat of local government for the council area which also bears the city's name – the ...
, Surrey on 12 November 1952 at the age of 81.
His wife had predeceased him by eight months.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Donkin, Sydney
British civil engineers
1871 births
1952 deaths
Presidents of the Institution of Civil Engineers
Presidents of the Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers
Alumni of Imperial College London