Alexander Kennedy
Encyclopedia
Sir Alexander Blackie William Kennedy, LLD
, FRS, FRGS (17 March 1847 – 1 November 1 1928), better known as Alexander Kennedy, was a leading British
civil
and electrical engineer and academic. A member of many institutions and the recipient of three honorary
doctorates, Kennedy was also an avid mountaineer
and a keen amateur photographer being one of the first to document the archeological site of Petra
in Jordan
following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire
.
, London
to Reverend John Kennedy, MA, and Helen Stodart Blackie who were both from Aberdeen
. His uncle on his mother's side was John Stuart Blackie
the Scottish
scholar. He received his early education at the City of London School
, before taking a short course at the Royal School of Mines
, Jermyn Street
to give him a basic grounding in engineering. In 1864, Kennedy was apprenticed
into the shipbuilding
firm of J & W Dudgeon
of Cubitt Town
. He spent the next four years there working as a draughtsman and had a hand in the construction of the first ships with compound engines and twin screws
. By the time he left in 1868 he was one of a few draughtsmen in the country with a thorough understanding of the workings of both systems. He put this understanding to good use when he joined Palmers' Engine Works of Jarrow on Tyne
upon completion of his apprenticeship, he became the leading draughtsman and designed the first compound engine to be built in the north
. Having spent three years with Palmers he worked for a short time for T.M. Tennant and Company of Leith
as their chief draughtsman.
. Over the next three years Kennedy was heavily involved with boiler design, building and testing. In 1873 he visited the Vienna Exhibition
to study the boiler and engine designs exhibited there. He wrote a series of articles on several designs for the journal
Engineering which were later reprinted in the official report on the exhibition made by the British Royal Commission
.
In 1874, aged only 27, he was appointed to the chair
of Engineering at University College, London, a post he would hold for the next 15 years. He set about a series of changes that were to reform the way engineering was taught worldwide. He insisted that all of his students received not only lectures in engineering principles but also a firm grounding in mathematics
, physics
, chemistry
, geology
and the other sciences upon which engineering is based. He also asked that an engineering laboratory
be built so that the students could have first hand experience of the applications of their theoretical studies. This proposal met widespread support from the engineering profession and the presidents of the Institution of Civil Engineers
and the Institution of Mechanical Engineers
were among the leading figures who supported it. In 1878 the laboratory was built and put to use, it was the first of its kind in the world and proved so useful that over the next nine years ten other educational institutions followed Professor Kennedy's example and built their own.
Whilst working at the UCL he translated Franz Reuleaux
's Kinematics of Machinery into English for the first time in 1876. In 1886 he published Mechanics of Machinery, the first time that a book based on Reuleaux's kinematic analysis had been published in English. He also used the laboratory to carry out experiments to determine the strength
and elasticity
of various materials and was elected as a fellow
of the Royal Society
for this work in 1887. There followed a series of other experiments in which he investigated the strength of rivetted joints
and the possibility of developing new electric turbine
s.
, the concrete structure and steelwork of the rebuilt Alhambra Theatre
and the steelwork of the first Hotel Cecil
. He made great use of his laboratory to test his materials and his designs were always valued for the hours of research he had invested in them.
During this period he was asked to investigate a remote oil concession
in California
which lay several days horse riding from the nearest road or railway. Kennedy had no riding experience and knew little about horses, however he immediately accepted the job and set about arranging riding classes in the mornings before he started lecturing. He soon became a very proficient rider and the trip to California proved a great success for Kennedy and the concession owners.
in partnership with Bernard Maxwell Jenkin, (son of Fleeming Jenkin
) with the firm adopting the name of Kennedy & Jenkin. His consultancy soon became famous for its works in this field. His first major contract was to design the supply system for the Westminster Electric Supply Corporation and he was retained by that corporation as their consultant engineer for the rest of his life. He also worked for the Central Electric Company and the St James and Pall Mall Electric Light Company. Many towns first electric generating stations were built to his designs including those of Edinburgh
, Glasgow
, Manchester
, Belfast
, Croydon
, Carlisle, Kirkcaldy
, Weymouth, Hartlepool
, York
and Rotherham
. Kennedy was contracted to build two hydroelectric stations
for the British Aluminium Company, their first at the Falls of Foyers
in 1896 and a second at Kinlochleven
in 1909.
Kennedy also acted as a consultant to several railway companies in the London area, particularly in regard to electrification
and tram systems
. He advised the London County Council
with regard to their tram network
and instigated their use of unusual underground conduits
for their electricity supply. In 1896 he was appointed engineer to the Waterloo and City Railway and the electrical systems were designed to his specifications. He held consultancy contracts with the London and Home Counties Electricity Authority
, London Power Company
, Edinburgh Corporation and the Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation
.
Kennedy hired as his Assistant Engineer at the firm another climber, Sydney Donkin
, who was made a partner in the business in 1908 and became senior partner in 1934 upon the retirement of the son of the founder.
In 1932 the London Power Company commemorated Kennedy by naming a new 1,315 GRT
coastal
collier
SS Alexander Kennedy.
s. This was the first in a long line of Admiralty commissions that he undertook which included work behind the front line
s in France
during the First World War. There followed several more admiralty appointments, serving on the Machine Design Committee from 1900 to 1906, the Ordnance Board in 1909 and on the government committee for wireless telegraphy
in 1913. During the First World War his skills were in great demand and he served on many committees including the Panel of the Munitions Inventions Department; as Chair of the Committee on Gunsights and Rangefinders; Vice Chairman of the Committee on Ordnance and Ammunition and as Vice-Chairman of the Anti-Aircraft Sub-Committee. After the war he was employed by the Ministry of Transport
as chairman of the Electric Railway Advisory Committee.
where he took many photographs of the effects of the war and later published these in his account of the war, Ypres to Verdun, in 1921. He also maintained a keen interest in mountaineering, in particular the Alps
mountain range, and was a member of the Alpine Club
. He used his inaugural presidential address to the Institution of Civil Engineers
to highlight the impact the profession had upon the environment. Kennedy edited a revised edition of A.W. Moore's Alps in 1864: A Private Journal in 1902, illustrated with photographs he had taken of the area.
In 1922, at the age of 75, he visited the ruins of Petra
in Jordan
, then under British mandate
, which had become much safer to visit after the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire
following the First World War. The ruins fascinated him as an engineer and he returned the next year as the guest of Emir Abdullah
. He returned for a third and final time in 1924 and was made a Pasha
by the Emir. These excursions did, however, take their toll on his physical and mental health and Kennedy resigned himself to not to visit again. He published an account of the history of the area in his book Petra: its history and monuments published in 1925.
, Scotland. Together they had one daughter and two sons, one of whom, John MacFarlane, became a full partner of his father's firm, Kennedy & Jenkin, in 1908. He was widowed in 1911 and died at his home at 7a The Albany
in London
on 1 November 1928.
1879 - Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers
, member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers
1887 - Fellow of the Royal Society
1890 - President of The Camera Club
1890 - Member of the Institution of Electrical Engineers
1894 - President of the engineering section of the British Association
1894 - President of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers
1907 - President of the Institution of Civil Engineers
Doctor of Laws, Birmingham University
Doctor of Engineering
, Liverpool University
Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
Fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales
LLD
LLD may refer to* Ladder logic Diagram, a graphical representation of a program written in the programming language Ladder logic* Legum Doctor, a doctorate-level academic degree in law...
, FRS, FRGS (17 March 1847 – 1 November 1 1928), better known as Alexander Kennedy, was a leading British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
civil
Civil engineer
A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering; the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructures while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing infrastructures that have been neglected.Originally, a...
and electrical engineer and academic. A member of many institutions and the recipient of three honorary
Honorary degree
An honorary degree or a degree honoris causa is an academic degree for which a university has waived the usual requirements, such as matriculation, residence, study, and the passing of examinations...
doctorates, Kennedy was also an avid mountaineer
Mountaineer
-Sports:*Mountaineering, the sport, hobby or profession of walking, hiking, trekking and climbing up mountains, also known as alpinism-University athletic teams and mascots:*Appalachian State Mountaineers, the athletic teams of Appalachian State University...
and a keen amateur photographer being one of the first to document the archeological site of Petra
Petra
Petra is a historical and archaeological city in the Jordanian governorate of Ma'an that is famous for its rock cut architecture and water conduits system. Established sometime around the 6th century BC as the capital city of the Nabataeans, it is a symbol of Jordan as well as its most visited...
in Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
.
Early life and works
Kennedy was born in StepneyStepney
Stepney is a district of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in London's East End that grew out of a medieval village around St Dunstan's church and the 15th century ribbon development of Mile End Road...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
to Reverend John Kennedy, MA, and Helen Stodart Blackie who were both from Aberdeen
Aberdeen
Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....
. His uncle on his mother's side was John Stuart Blackie
John Stuart Blackie
John Stuart Blackie was a Scottish scholar and man of letters. He was born in Glasgow, and educated at the New Academy and afterwards at the Marischal College, in Aberdeen, where his father was manager of the Commercial Bank.After attending classes at Edinburgh University , Blackie spent three...
the Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
scholar. He received his early education at the City of London School
City of London School
The City of London School is a boys' independent day school on the banks of the River Thames in the City of London, England. It is the brother school of the City of London School for Girls and the co-educational City of London Freemen's School...
, before taking a short course at the Royal School of Mines
Royal School of Mines
Royal School of Mines comprises the departments of Earth Science and Engineering, and Materials at Imperial College London.- History :The Royal School of Mines was established in 1851, as the Government School of Mines and Science Applied to the Arts...
, Jermyn Street
Jermyn Street
Jermyn Street is a street in the City of Westminster, central London, to the south, parallel and adjacent to Piccadilly.It is well known as a street where the shops are almost exclusively aimed at the Gentleman's market and is famous for its resident shirtmakers Jermyn Street is a street in the...
to give him a basic grounding in engineering. In 1864, Kennedy was apprenticed
Apprenticeship
Apprenticeship is a system of training a new generation of practitioners of a skill. Apprentices or protégés build their careers from apprenticeships...
into the shipbuilding
Shipbuilding
Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to before recorded history.Shipbuilding and ship repairs, both...
firm of J & W Dudgeon
J & W Dudgeon
J & W Dudgeon was a Victorian shipbuilding and engineering company based in Cubitt Town, London, founded by John and William Dudgeon.John and William Dudgeon had established the Sun Iron Works in Millwall in the 1850s, and had a reputation for advanced marine engines. In 1862 they set up as...
of Cubitt Town
Cubitt Town
Cubitt Town is an area on the Isle of Dogs in Tower Hamlets in London, England. It is on the east of the Isle, facing Greenwich across the River Thames. To the west is Millwall, to the northwest Canary Wharf and to the north, across the Blue Bridge, Blackwall...
. He spent the next four years there working as a draughtsman and had a hand in the construction of the first ships with compound engines and twin screws
Twin screw steamer
A twin screw steamer is a steam-powered vessel propelled by two screws, one on either side of the plane of the keel....
. By the time he left in 1868 he was one of a few draughtsmen in the country with a thorough understanding of the workings of both systems. He put this understanding to good use when he joined Palmers' Engine Works of Jarrow on Tyne
Jarrow
Jarrow is a town in Tyne and Wear, England, located on the River Tyne, with a population of 27,526. From the middle of the 19th century until 1935, Jarrow was a centre for shipbuilding, and was the starting point of the Jarrow March against unemployment in 1936.-Foundation:The Angles re-occupied...
upon completion of his apprenticeship, he became the leading draughtsman and designed the first compound engine to be built in the north
Northern England
Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North or the North Country, is a cultural region of England. It is not an official government region, but rather an informal amalgamation of counties. The southern extent of the region is roughly the River Trent, while the North is bordered...
. Having spent three years with Palmers he worked for a short time for T.M. Tennant and Company of Leith
Leith
-South Leith v. North Leith:Up until the late 16th century Leith , comprised two separate towns on either side of the river....
as their chief draughtsman.
Partnership
In 1871 at the young age of 24 he was invited to become a partner of H.O. Bennett in EdinburghEdinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
. Over the next three years Kennedy was heavily involved with boiler design, building and testing. In 1873 he visited the Vienna Exhibition
Weltausstellung 1873 Wien
]The Weltausstellung 1873 Wien was the large World exposition was held in 1873 in the Austria–Hungarian capital of Vienna. Its motto was Kultur und Erziehung ....
to study the boiler and engine designs exhibited there. He wrote a series of articles on several designs for the journal
Academic journal
An academic journal is a peer-reviewed periodical in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as forums for the introduction and presentation for scrutiny of new research, and the critique of existing research...
Engineering which were later reprinted in the official report on the exhibition made by the British Royal Commission
Royal Commission
In Commonwealth realms and other monarchies a Royal Commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue. They have been held in various countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Saudi Arabia...
.
Academic works
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
of Engineering at University College, London, a post he would hold for the next 15 years. He set about a series of changes that were to reform the way engineering was taught worldwide. He insisted that all of his students received not only lectures in engineering principles but also a firm grounding in mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
, physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
, chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
, geology
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
and the other sciences upon which engineering is based. He also asked that an engineering laboratory
Laboratory
A laboratory is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. The title of laboratory is also used for certain other facilities where the processes or equipment used are similar to those in scientific laboratories...
be built so that the students could have first hand experience of the applications of their theoretical studies. This proposal met widespread support from the engineering profession and the presidents of the Institution of Civil Engineers
Institution of Civil Engineers
Founded on 2 January 1818, the Institution of Civil Engineers is an independent professional association, based in central London, representing civil engineering. Like its early membership, the majority of its current members are British engineers, but it also has members in more than 150...
and the Institution of Mechanical Engineers
Institution of Mechanical Engineers
The Institution of Mechanical Engineers is the British engineering society based in central London, representing mechanical engineering. It is licensed by the Engineering Council UK to assess candidates for inclusion on ECUK's Register of professional Engineers...
were among the leading figures who supported it. In 1878 the laboratory was built and put to use, it was the first of its kind in the world and proved so useful that over the next nine years ten other educational institutions followed Professor Kennedy's example and built their own.
Whilst working at the UCL he translated Franz Reuleaux
Franz Reuleaux
Franz Reuleaux , was a mechanical engineer and a lecturer of the Berlin Royal Technical Academy, later appointed as the President of the Academy. He was often called the father of kinematics...
's Kinematics of Machinery into English for the first time in 1876. In 1886 he published Mechanics of Machinery, the first time that a book based on Reuleaux's kinematic analysis had been published in English. He also used the laboratory to carry out experiments to determine the strength
Strength of materials
In materials science, the strength of a material is its ability to withstand an applied stress without failure. The applied stress may be tensile, compressive, or shear. Strength of materials is a subject which deals with loads, deformations and the forces acting on a material. A load applied to a...
and elasticity
Elasticity (physics)
In physics, elasticity is the physical property of a material that returns to its original shape after the stress that made it deform or distort is removed. The relative amount of deformation is called the strain....
of various materials and was elected as a fellow
Fellow
A fellow in the broadest sense is someone who is an equal or a comrade. The term fellow is also used to describe a person, particularly by those in the upper social classes. It is most often used in an academic context: a fellow is often part of an elite group of learned people who are awarded...
of the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
for this work in 1887. There followed a series of other experiments in which he investigated the strength of rivetted joints
Rivet
A rivet is a permanent mechanical fastener. Before being installed a rivet consists of a smooth cylindrical shaft with a head on one end. The end opposite the head is called the buck-tail. On installation the rivet is placed in a punched or pre-drilled hole, and the tail is upset, or bucked A rivet...
and the possibility of developing new electric turbine
Turbine
A turbine is a rotary engine that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work.The simplest turbines have one moving part, a rotor assembly, which is a shaft or drum with blades attached. Moving fluid acts on the blades, or the blades react to the flow, so that they move and...
s.
Consultancy
Kennedy found time outside of his academic works to establish an extensive concultancy business. His designs include the steel arched pier at Trouville-sur-MerTrouville-sur-Mer
Trouville-sur-Mer, commonly referred to as Trouville, is a commune in the Calvados department in the Basse-Normandie region in northwestern France.Trouville-sur-Mer borders Deauville...
, the concrete structure and steelwork of the rebuilt Alhambra Theatre
Alhambra Theatre
The Alhambra was a popular theatre and music hall located on the east side of Leicester Square, in the West End of London. It was built originally as The Royal Panopticon of Science and Arts opening on 18 March 1854. It was closed after two years and reopened as the Alhambra. The building was...
and the steelwork of the first Hotel Cecil
Hotel Cecil (London)
The Hotel Cecil was a grand hotel built 1890–96 between the Thames Embankment and the Strand in London, England. It was named after Cecil House , a mansion belonging to the Cecil family, which occupied the site in the 17th century.Designed by architects Perry & Reed in a "Wrenaissance" style, the...
. He made great use of his laboratory to test his materials and his designs were always valued for the hours of research he had invested in them.
During this period he was asked to investigate a remote oil concession
Oil field
An oil field is a region with an abundance of oil wells extracting petroleum from below ground. Because the oil reservoirs typically extend over a large area, possibly several hundred kilometres across, full exploitation entails multiple wells scattered across the area...
in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
which lay several days horse riding from the nearest road or railway. Kennedy had no riding experience and knew little about horses, however he immediately accepted the job and set about arranging riding classes in the mornings before he started lecturing. He soon became a very proficient rider and the trip to California proved a great success for Kennedy and the concession owners.
Electrical engineer
In 1889, Kennedy resigned his professorship and left the University turning to electrical engineering, which he had researched during his academic career. That year he established a very thriving private practise as a consulting engineer at WestminsterWestminster
Westminster is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, southwest of the City of London and southwest of Charing Cross...
in partnership with Bernard Maxwell Jenkin, (son of Fleeming Jenkin
Fleeming Jenkin
Henry Charles Fleeming Jenkin was Professor of Engineering at the University of Edinburgh, remarkable for his versatility. Known to the world as the inventor of telpherage, he was an electrician and cable engineer, economist, lecturer, linguist, critic, actor, dramatist and artist...
) with the firm adopting the name of Kennedy & Jenkin. His consultancy soon became famous for its works in this field. His first major contract was to design the supply system for the Westminster Electric Supply Corporation and he was retained by that corporation as their consultant engineer for the rest of his life. He also worked for the Central Electric Company and the St James and Pall Mall Electric Light Company. Many towns first electric generating stations were built to his designs including those of Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
, Croydon
Croydon
Croydon is a town in South London, England, located within the London Borough of Croydon to which it gives its name. It is situated south of Charing Cross...
, Carlisle, Kirkcaldy
Kirkcaldy
Kirkcaldy is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. The town lies on a shallow bay on the northern shore of the Firth of Forth; SSE of Glenrothes, ENE of Dunfermline, WSW of Dundee and NNE of Edinburgh...
, Weymouth, Hartlepool
Hartlepool
Hartlepool is a town and port in North East England.It was founded in the 7th century AD, around the Northumbrian monastery of Hartlepool Abbey. The village grew during the Middle Ages and developed a harbour which served as the official port of the County Palatine of Durham. A railway link from...
, York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
and Rotherham
Rotherham
Rotherham is a town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Don, at its confluence with the River Rother, between Sheffield and Doncaster. Rotherham, at from Sheffield City Centre, is surrounded by several smaller settlements, which together form the wider Metropolitan Borough of...
. Kennedy was contracted to build two hydroelectric stations
Hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy...
for the British Aluminium Company, their first at the Falls of Foyers
Falls of Foyers
The Fall of Foyers is a waterfall on the River Foyers, which feeds Loch Ness, in Highland, Scotland, United Kingdom....
in 1896 and a second at Kinlochleven
Kinlochleven
Kinlochleven is a village in Lochaber, in the Scottish Highlands and lies at the eastern end of Loch Leven, a sea loch cutting into the western Scottish Highlands. To the north lie the Mamores ridge; to the south lie the mountains flanking Glen Coe...
in 1909.
Kennedy also acted as a consultant to several railway companies in the London area, particularly in regard to electrification
Railway electrification system
A railway electrification system supplies electrical energy to railway locomotives and multiple units as well as trams so that they can operate without having an on-board prime mover. There are several different electrification systems in use throughout the world...
and tram systems
Tram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
. He advised the London County Council
London County Council
London County Council was the principal local government body for the County of London, throughout its 1889–1965 existence, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today known as Inner London and was replaced by the Greater London Council...
with regard to their tram network
Trams in London
There have been two separate generations of trams in London, from 1860 to 1952 and from 2000. Between 1952 and 2000, no trams ran at all in London.- Horse trams :...
and instigated their use of unusual underground conduits
Electrical conduit
An electrical conduit is an electrical piping system used for protection and routing of electrical wiring. Electrical conduit may be made of metal, plastic, fiber, or fired clay. Flexible conduit is available for special purposes....
for their electricity supply. In 1896 he was appointed engineer to the Waterloo and City Railway and the electrical systems were designed to his specifications. He held consultancy contracts with the London and Home Counties Electricity Authority
SEEBOARD
SEEBOARD, formerly South Eastern Electricity Board , was a British electricity company. The electrical power industry in the United Kingdom was nationalised by the Electricity Act 1947, when over 600 electric power companies were merged into twelve Area Boards, one of which was the South Eastern...
, London Power Company
London Power Company
The London Power Company was an electricity generating and supply company in London, England. The LPC was formed in 1925 by the merger of 10 smaller electricity companies...
, Edinburgh Corporation and the Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation
Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation
The Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation or CESC supplies electricity to area under the Kolkata municipal corporation in the city of Kolkata, India, mainly but also few areas of Howrah, Hooghly, 24 Parganas and 24 Parganas districts of West Bengal, India.-History:On 7 January 1897 Kilburn & Co...
.
Kennedy hired as his Assistant Engineer at the firm another climber, Sydney Donkin
Sydney Donkin
Sydney Bryan Donkin was a British civil engineer. Donkin was educated at University College, London before beginning work for Sulzer Brothers, mechanical engineers, later the Sulzer company. Whilst based at this company's headquarters in Switzerland he became interested in Alpine climbing and...
, who was made a partner in the business in 1908 and became senior partner in 1934 upon the retirement of the son of the founder.
In 1932 the London Power Company commemorated Kennedy by naming a new 1,315 GRT
Gross Register Tonnage
Gross register tonnage a ship's total internal volume expressed in "register tons", one of which equals to a volume of . It is calculated from the total permanently enclosed capacity of the vessel. The ship's net register tonnage is obtained by reducing the volume of non-revenue-earning spaces i.e...
coastal
Coastal trading vessel
Coastal trading vessels, also known as coasters, are shallow-hulled ships used for trade between locations on the same island or continent. Their shallow hulls mean that they can get through reefs where deeper-hulled sea-going ships usually cannot....
collier
Collier (ship type)
Collier is a historical term used to describe a bulk cargo ship designed to carry coal, especially for naval use by coal-fired warships. In the late 18th century a number of wooden-hulled sailing colliers gained fame after being adapted for use in voyages of exploration in the South Pacific, for...
SS Alexander Kennedy.
Admiralty work
In 1900 Kennedy was asked by The Admiralty to serve as a member of the Belleville Boiler Committee to investigate the installation of French designed Belleville boilers on Diadem class cruiserDiadem class cruiser
The Diadem class cruiser was a class of "First-Class" protected cruiser built for the Royal Navy during the 1890s that served in the First World War...
s. This was the first in a long line of Admiralty commissions that he undertook which included work behind the front line
Front line
A front line is the farthest-most forward position of an armed force's personnel and equipment - generally in respect of maritime or land forces. Forward Line of Own Troops , or Forward Edge of Battle Area are technical terms used by all branches of the armed services...
s in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
during the First World War. There followed several more admiralty appointments, serving on the Machine Design Committee from 1900 to 1906, the Ordnance Board in 1909 and on the government committee for wireless telegraphy
Wireless telegraphy
Wireless telegraphy is a historical term used today to apply to early radio telegraph communications techniques and practices, particularly those used during the first three decades of radio before the term radio came into use....
in 1913. During the First World War his skills were in great demand and he served on many committees including the Panel of the Munitions Inventions Department; as Chair of the Committee on Gunsights and Rangefinders; Vice Chairman of the Committee on Ordnance and Ammunition and as Vice-Chairman of the Anti-Aircraft Sub-Committee. After the war he was employed by the Ministry of Transport
Department for Transport
In the United Kingdom, the Department for Transport is the government department responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland which are not devolved...
as chairman of the Electric Railway Advisory Committee.
Photography, the Alps & Petra
Kennedy had many hobbies and pastimes including photography, he was a member of The Camera Club and served as their president in 1890. As part of his duties on the Committee on Ordnance and Ammunition and the Anti-Aircraft Sub-Committee during World War I he was required to visit the Western FrontWestern Front (World War I)
Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne...
where he took many photographs of the effects of the war and later published these in his account of the war, Ypres to Verdun, in 1921. He also maintained a keen interest in mountaineering, in particular the Alps
Alps
The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....
mountain range, and was a member of the Alpine Club
Alpine Club (UK)
The Alpine Club was founded in London in 1857 and was probably the world's first mountaineering club. It is UK mountaineering's acknowledged 'senior club'.-History:...
. He used his inaugural presidential address to the Institution of Civil Engineers
Institution of Civil Engineers
Founded on 2 January 1818, the Institution of Civil Engineers is an independent professional association, based in central London, representing civil engineering. Like its early membership, the majority of its current members are British engineers, but it also has members in more than 150...
to highlight the impact the profession had upon the environment. Kennedy edited a revised edition of A.W. Moore's Alps in 1864: A Private Journal in 1902, illustrated with photographs he had taken of the area.
In 1922, at the age of 75, he visited the ruins of Petra
Petra
Petra is a historical and archaeological city in the Jordanian governorate of Ma'an that is famous for its rock cut architecture and water conduits system. Established sometime around the 6th century BC as the capital city of the Nabataeans, it is a symbol of Jordan as well as its most visited...
in Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
, then under British mandate
League of Nations mandate
A League of Nations mandate was a legal status for certain territories transferred from the control of one country to another following World War I, or the legal instruments that contained the internationally agreed-upon terms for administering the territory on behalf of the League...
, which had become much safer to visit after the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire
Partitioning of the Ottoman Empire
The Partitioning of the Ottoman Empire was a political event that occurred after World War I. The huge conglomeration of territories and peoples formerly ruled by the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire was divided into several new nations.The partitioning was planned from the early days of the war,...
following the First World War. The ruins fascinated him as an engineer and he returned the next year as the guest of Emir Abdullah
Abdullah I of Jordan
Abdullah I bin al-Hussein, King of Jordan [‘Abd Allāh ibn al-Husayn] عبد الله الأول بن الحسين born in Mecca, Second Saudi State, was the second of three sons of Sherif Hussein bin Ali, Sharif and Emir of Mecca and his first wife Abdiyya bint Abdullah...
. He returned for a third and final time in 1924 and was made a Pasha
Pasha
Pasha or pascha, formerly bashaw, was a high rank in the Ottoman Empire political system, typically granted to governors, generals and dignitaries. As an honorary title, Pasha, in one of its various ranks, is equivalent to the British title of Lord, and was also one of the highest titles in...
by the Emir. These excursions did, however, take their toll on his physical and mental health and Kennedy resigned himself to not to visit again. He published an account of the history of the area in his book Petra: its history and monuments published in 1925.
Personal life
Kennedy married Elizabeth Verralls Smith on 8 September 1874 in Cromdale, Inverallan and Advie, InvernessInverness
Inverness is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for the Highland council area, and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands of Scotland...
, Scotland. Together they had one daughter and two sons, one of whom, John MacFarlane, became a full partner of his father's firm, Kennedy & Jenkin, in 1908. He was widowed in 1911 and died at his home at 7a The Albany
The Albany
The Albany or Albany is an apartment complex in Piccadilly, London.-Building:...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
on 1 November 1928.
Societies and institutions
1878 - Member of Council of the Physical Society of LondonPhysical Society of London
The Physical Society of London, England, existed from 1874 to 1921. It was a scientific society and produced the Proceedings of the Physical Society of London...
1879 - Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers
Institution of Civil Engineers
Founded on 2 January 1818, the Institution of Civil Engineers is an independent professional association, based in central London, representing civil engineering. Like its early membership, the majority of its current members are British engineers, but it also has members in more than 150...
, member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers
Institution of Mechanical Engineers
The Institution of Mechanical Engineers is the British engineering society based in central London, representing mechanical engineering. It is licensed by the Engineering Council UK to assess candidates for inclusion on ECUK's Register of professional Engineers...
1887 - Fellow of the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
1890 - President of The Camera Club
1890 - Member of the Institution of Electrical Engineers
Institution of Electrical Engineers
The Institution of Electrical Engineers was a British professional organisation of electronics, electrical, manufacturing, and Information Technology professionals, especially electrical engineers. The I.E.E...
1894 - President of the engineering section of the British Association
1894 - President of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers
Institution of Mechanical Engineers
The Institution of Mechanical Engineers is the British engineering society based in central London, representing mechanical engineering. It is licensed by the Engineering Council UK to assess candidates for inclusion on ECUK's Register of professional Engineers...
1907 - President of the Institution of Civil Engineers
Institution of Civil Engineers
Founded on 2 January 1818, the Institution of Civil Engineers is an independent professional association, based in central London, representing civil engineering. Like its early membership, the majority of its current members are British engineers, but it also has members in more than 150...
Honorary awards
Doctor of Laws, Glasgow UniversityDoctor of Laws, Birmingham University
Doctor of Engineering
Doctor of Engineering
The Doctor of Engineering is an academic degree awarded on the basis of advanced study and research in engineering or applied sciences...
, Liverpool University
Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
Royal Society of Edinburgh
The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity, operating on a wholly independent and non-party-political basis and providing public benefit throughout Scotland...
Fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales
Royal Society of New South Wales
The Royal Society of New South Wales is a learned society based in Sydney, Australia. It was established as the Philosophical Society of Australasia on 27 June 1821...
External links
- The Kinematics of Machinery: Outlines of a Theory of Machines (1876) at Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
- The Mechanics of Machinery (1886) at Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
- Notes on a Course of Lectures in Kinematics (1890) at Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
- The Alps in 1864: a private journal (1902) at Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
- Compressed Air: Experiments Upon the Transmission of Power by Compressed Air in Paris (1903) at Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
- Ypres to Verdun; A Collection of Photographs of the War Areas in France & Flanders (1921) at Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...