1957: George Horatio Nelson, First Baron Nelson of Stafford

George Horatio Nelson, First Baron Nelson of Stafford (1887-1962)

72nd President of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers

Nelson was born in 1887 in Islington, London, England. He was educated at the City and Guilds Technical College, where he gained a diploma. He received a Brush studentship to the Brush Engineering Company at Loughborough.

He then joined British Westinghouse Company in Manchester. In 1911 he became Chief Outside Engineer at Trafford Park, and was made Chief Electrical Superintendent in 1914. He was responsible for the manufacture and installation of steam and hydro-electric power equipment and electric traction equipment. The company joined with the Metropolitan Vickers Group, and in 1920 Nelson became Manager of the Sheffield Works of the Metropolitan Vickers Electrical Company. He remained in this position for ten years.

His former manager, Sir Holberry Mensforth, had been appointed Chairman of the English Electric Company, and in 1930 he persuaded Nelson to join him there as managing director. When Mensforth retired, in 1933, Nelson became chairman and managing director of the company. During Nelson’s time at the company he instituted a massive development of the company, for example, building up the number of employees from 4,000 to 80,000. When, in preparation for the Second World War, a policy of rearmament was being followed, Nelson worked very hard to get the English Electric Company involved. In 1938 he was successful in obtaining a training contract for 75 Hampden bombers, although he was told that these were already obsolete. The order was fulfilled successfully, and was followed by orders for 2,470 Halifax bombers and 2,730 tanks. By the end of the war, the company was developing the Canberra bomber, one of the most successful military aircraft of the time, to its own designs.
Nelson was also active in public work, and was a member of many important committees such as the Heavy Bomber Group Committee of the Air Ministry from 1939-1945 and the Reconstruction Joint Advisory Council from 1943 to 1944. He was also Chairman of the United Kingdom Tank Mission, which went to the United States and Canada in 1942 to discuss a joint policy for tank production.

He received a knighthood in 1943, a baronetcy in 1955, and was made first Baron Nelson of Stafford in 1966. He was President of the Institution of Electrical Engineers in 1955, and was President of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in 1957.

He died in 1962.

Related Collections

Presidents' gallery