1954-1955: Alexander Campbell

1954-1955: Alexander Campbell

Alexander Campbell (1902-1963)

President of the Institution of Locomotive Engineers

ILE Obituary:

Dr. Alexander Campbell, whose father had come from India to undertake in 1862 the management of the young firm of The Hunslet Engine Company, was born in 1869 and was elected a member in 1917. From leaving school at the age of 17 when he entered that firm as an apprentice to the end of his life he has devoted his energies, his abilities, and his remarkable power of foresight, to the services of his company.

During the last war, as a colleague of Sir John McLaren, he developed the production of munitions at the factories which were established at Newlay, Leeds Forge and The Ordnance Factory at Hunslet, and at its close, after Sir John’s death, he was invited to act as Chairman of the Leeds Engineering Employers’ Federation. They were difficult years. So ably, however, did he conduct affairs, that he retained the respect of the Unions, earned the confidence of the employers and kept the peace. He was also elected to the Management Board of the National Engineering Federation and eventually to the chief position in the world of engineering industrial relationship -the Presidency of the National Engineering Employers’ Federation in London.

He was a member of the Council of Leeds University from 1920 to 1940, and as Chairman of the House and Estates Committee was chiefly responsible for the planning and execution of the University’s scheme of building development. At that stage in its history the University was fortunate in having the ideal man for this key position, and both the University and the City owe much to the practical wisdom and the watchful care which he devoted to an undertaking by which the city’s architecture is enriched and the University is enabled to fulfil its purpose more completely. Not only has the University lost a wise counsellor but its members have lost a valued friend, for Dr. Campbell had a great capacity for friendship, and his kindly, generous personality, his unselfishness and his appreciation of the efforts of others endeared him to his colleagues.

Dr. Campbell was Chairman of the Hunslet Engineering Co., Ltd., from 1905 up to the time of his death, which took place on March 14th 1941, in his 71st year.

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