Sir William Ashbee Tritton, JP, (19 June 1875 – 24 September 1946) was a British expert in agricultural machinery, and was directly involved, together with Major Walter Gordon Wilson, in the development of the

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engin ...

. Early in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he was asked to produce tractors for moving heavy howitzers, the result being eventually the first tanks.

Early life

Tritton was born in

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...

, where his father William Birch Tritton (1845,

Hythe, Kent Hythe () is a coastal market town on the edge of Romney Marsh, in the district of Folkestone and Hythe on the south coast of Kent. The word ''Hythe'' or ''Hithe'' is an Old English word meaning haven or landing place. History The town has m ...

– 29 July 1918) and mother Ellen Hannah Ashbee (16 December 1847 – 19 April 1921) lived at 51 Carleton Road. His parents had married on 22 October 1873 in

Boughton under Blean Boughton under Blean is a village and civil parish between Faversham and Canterbury in south-east England. "Boughton under Blean" technically refers only to the hamlet at the top of Boughton Hill; the main village at the foot of the hill is named ...

, Kent. His brother was Percy Kingsnorth Tritton (1878–1903). He was the son of a London

stockbroker A stockbroker is a regulated broker, broker-dealer, or registered investment adviser (in the United States) who may provide financial advisory and investment management services and execute transactions such as the purchase or sale of stocks an ...

, educated at

Christ's College, Finchley Christ's College is a secondary school with academy status in East Finchley, London, United Kingdom. It falls under the London Borough of Barnet Local Education Authority for admissions. Since September 2018, Christ’s College Finchley has off ...

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 ...

. By 1901 he was living in

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester city centre, southwest of Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2011 Census, it had a population o ...

Water Carrier for Mesopotamia - geograph

Career

He joined Gwynnes Pumps in 1891. He later became a linotype mechanic and an electrical engineer. In 1906 he joined William Foster & Co. on Waterloo Street 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 ...

, and from 1911 until 1939 he was Managing Director of the company, after which he became Chairman. On 22 July 1915, it was decided on the proposal for the tank – 28 tons, to cross a trench four feet wide. The tank was developed at Foster's Wellington Works on Firth Road and tested on a field south of the Lincoln Avoiding Line, a railway line that closed in 1985. The site of Foster's was demolished in 1984. He was the production engineer for the tank at Fosters. He had the idea for steering the tank with the rear wheels. Major

Ernest Swinton Major-General Sir Ernest Dunlop Swinton, (21 October 1868 – 15 January 1951) was a British Army officer who played a part in the development and adoption of the tank during the First World War. He was also a war correspondent and author of sev ...

and Major

Walter Dally Jones Walter Dally Jones (21 May 1855, Wandsworth – 20 September 1926) was a British soldier. He was assistant secretary to the Committee of Imperial Defence 1914–1919. Dally Jones was educated at Harrow and Trinity College, Cambridge before joining ...

thought up the name ''tank''. fr. Kenneth Spencer - Personal conversation with John (k/a Jack) Knott The construction of the first tank at Fosters began on 11 August 1915. World War I tanks were also built by

Metro-Cammell Metro-Cammell, formally the Metropolitan Cammell Carriage and Wagon Company (MCCW), was an English manufacturer of railway carriages, locomotives and railway wagons, based in Saltley, and subsequently Washwood Heath, in Birmingham. Purchased ...

Wednesbury Wednesbury () is a market town in Sandwell in the county of West Midlands, England. It is located near the source of the River Tame. Historically part of Staffordshire in the Hundred of Offlow, at the 2011 Census the town had a population of ...

and a number of other contractors. Foster's was, at the time, the only company in the UK that were commercially making caterpillar-tracked vehicles.

Personal life

In 1916 he married Isobella Johnstone White, of Scotland, in

Willesden Willesden () is an area of northwest London, situated 5 miles (8 km) northwest of Charing Cross. It is historically a parish in the county of Middlesex that was incorporated as the Municipal Borough of Willesden in 1933, and has formed ...

. He was knighted on 21 February 1917. He was a JP in

Kesteven The Parts of Kesteven ( or ) are a traditional division of Lincolnshire, England. This division had long had a separate county administration (quarter sessions), along with the two other Parts of Lincolnshire, Lindsey and Holland. Etymology Th ...

from 1934. He died in Lincoln aged 71 in September 1946. His wife died in Lincoln on 15 November 1950. He had lived on Eastcliff Road, Lincoln. Tritton Road in Lincoln is named after him and a

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...

is located at the entrance of a supermarket at the northern end of the road around the site of the original factories. Sir William Ashbee Tritton

References

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

Obituary, September 1946.

External links

Making History

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tritton, William Alumni of King's College London English mechanical engineers English inventors English justices of the peace History of the tank Knights Bachelor People from Islington (district) People from Lincoln, England 1875 births 1946 deaths People educated at Christ's College, Finchley