1934: Charles Day

Charles Day (1867-1949)

49th President of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers

Day was born at Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England in 1867. He was educated at the Stockport Grammar School and later attended the Manchester Technical School. At the age of 18, he received a Whitworth Scholarship and attended further evening classes in electrical engineering, and a summer evening course at Owens College in industrial chemistry. He served an apprenticeship in engineering with Emerson Murgatroyd and Co., Stockport, and J and H Andrew and Co., makers of the ‘Stockport’ gas engine.

At 23, he was appointed chief draughtsman at the boiler works of Joseph Adamson and Co., Ltd., Hyde. Later he moved to the National Boiler Insurance Company Ltd., where he started a branch for dealing with the insurance of steam engines. Whilst with this company, Day wrote articles for The Practical Engineer on the subject of ‘The Testing of Engines and Boilers’, and also a book on ‘Indicator Diagrams’.

His work on engine testing brought him into contact with Cole Marchent and Morley Ltd., Bradford, who had taken up the manufacture of Corliss-type steam engines. He joined that firm as a manager in 1895. In 1899 he visited the United States, where the horizontal Corliss-type steam engine had been widely adopted for direct-driven dynamos used to supply current to tramways.

In 1902 he joined the Mirrlees Watson Company, Ltd., Glasgow, as general manager. This company had acquired Diesel’s patents and designs, and an engine had been built in 1897 and officially tested by Professor Watkinson of the Liverpool University. This was the first Diesel engine built in Britain, and the third in the world. Owing to technical difficulties, the project had been abandoned, but Day visited Augsburg to study the developments that had been made in Germany and work recommenced. A number of improvements were introduced, and two additional engines were produced to the latest drawings. A Diesel engine department was established. In 1905, engines were supplied to the Admiralty for HMS Dreadnought. These engines, running at 400 rpm, were the earliest high-speed Diesel. At the same time a lighter engine was also supplied to pinnace propulsion. By 1906, the Diesel engine business had developed to such an extent that it was necessary to expand, and in 1907 a new company was formed at Stockport for the manufacture of Mirrlees Diesel engines, in a newly built and equipped works. This company was set up in association with HN Bickerton and was named Mirrlees Bickerton and Day, Ltd. In 1926, the two companies amalgamated, and Day became managing director, later chairman, of both companies. He resigned in 1946, at the age of 79, but continued as a director, and still took an active part in the business until his death.

During the First World War, Day served on the Lancashire Anti-submarine Committee, which included many prominent Lancashire engineers and scientists, and pioneered submarine detection. He was also a leading member of the Associated Group of Tank Engine Builders, which carried out valuable work in connection with the development and construction of tank engines during the war. The group was composed of the principal firms of engine builders in the Manchester area.

In the Second World War, he was intensively engaged in the organization of production to deal with the heavy demands for Diesel engines for war service, aircraft parts, guns, and also the ‘Imo-oil’ pumps for submarines, etc.

As a young man, Day was a keen swimmer, being Captain of the Stockport Swimming Club. He also attended the Lads’ Club where he practiced boxing and other sports. He was a member of the Stockport Golf Club for many years, and a Life Member and joint founder of the West Bowling Golf Club, Bradford. He was fond of gardening and was a Fellow of the Royal Horticultural Society.

He was President of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and he was later elected an Honorary Life Member.

He died on 18th June 1949, at the age of 82.

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