Wilhelm Mauseth (8 October 1875 in

Bakke, Norway Bakke is a former municipality in Vest-Agder county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1965. It was located in the present-day municipalities of Sirdal and Flekkefjord. It included the whole Sirdalen valley a ...

– 11 June 1948 in Whites, OFS) was a Norwegian

speedskater 　 Long-track speed skating, usually simply referred to as speed skating, is the Olympic discipline of speed skating where competitors are timed while crossing a set distance. It is also a sport for leisure. Sports such as ice skating marathon, ...

. He set a world record in 500 m in 1895 with the time 46.8. He was two time national all-round champion, in 1895 and 1896. Around the turn of the century he emigrated to South Africa and he married Sarah Anne Beeming in

Cape Town, South Africa Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislature, legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the sec ...

. Wilhelm Alfred Mauseth was a student at Trondhiems Technical College . Graduated in 1897 at the engineering line. 1897-1903 Engineering Assistant City Council of Cape Town. 1903-04 Chief Surveyor on Irrigation Scheme Rhodes Trust`s Farms, Golesberg. 1904-07 own business in Cape Town under the company Mauseth & Goodchild Architects and Surveyors during this time he did the surveying work on the Victoria Falls bridge which opened in 1905. From 1907 Assistant Engineer Rhodesia Railways, Mafeking, South Africa. Mauseth also worked as a surveyor for George Pauling, the main contractor to Cecil Rhodes, who was at that time opening up and building a railway and telegraph system in Rhodesia. 1918 Hydraulic Engineer Orange River, Mauseth had a hand in surveying the sewage system in Johannesburg. He was in the Cape Colony Cyclists Corp (as William Alfred Mauseth 23932) from 21 Jan 1901 to 24 April 1901 He attested (as W.A, Manseth) into the South African Orange River Scouts on 7 April 1902 and was discharged on 30 June 1902 when the regiment was disbanded. Later as William Alfred Manseth, he fought with distinction with the Nyasaland Rhodesia Mechanical Forces in the 1914-1918 Great War (possibly in Tanganyika), he was promoted Temp. Captain and was "

mentioned in dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

" He was awarded the

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

by the British government. "Manseth, T.Capt. William Alfred, S.A.S.C. was made a Member of the Military Division of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire on Tuesday 3rd June 1919 as Published in the Tenth Supplement to The London Gazette of Friday 30th May 1919"Tenth Supplement to The London Gazette of Friday 30 May 1919 http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/31375/supplements/6968/page.pdf The reason for the name changes in his life are interesting, During the Boer War the name Wilhelm seemed to be too "Dutch" for the English, so this was changed to the more anglicized William, later on the Mauseth was changed to Manseth which was much more English. This was used as a family name until his death, so he died as William Alfred Manseth. He died of cancer

World record

Source: SpeedSkatingStats.com

References

External links

* 1875 births 1948 deaths Norwegian male speed skaters World record setters in speed skating {{Norway-speed-skater-bio-stub