Obituary notices of fellows deceased

Abstract

Prof. Ayrton was born in London on September 14, 1847, and he died November 8, 1908. He was elected to the Royal Society in 1881, and he was awarded a Royal Medal in 1901. He was the son of an able barrister, Edward Nugent Ayrton, and the nephew of the Right Hon. Acton Ayrton, who was a member of Mr. Gladstone’s Government from 1869 to 1874. He belonged to a family which for three hundred years had been represented by lawyers, musicians, surgeons, clergymen, university dons, and schoolmasters. He distinguished himself at University College School, and later at the College; he gained the Andrews Exhibition in 1865, and the Andrews Scholarship in 1866. In 1867 he passed with honours the first B. A. examination in the University of London; in the same year he came out first in the examination for the Indian Government Telegraph Service, and in preparation for India he became a pupil of Lord Kelvin in Glasgow. In India, after acting as assistant to Mr. Schwendler, he succeeded him as Electrical Superintendent of the Telegraph Department; these two men revolutionised the Indian telegraph system. In 1872-73 he was on special duty in England, and assisted Lord Kelvin and Prof. Jenkin, the engineers for the Great Western Telegraph Cable. From 1873 to 1878 he was Professor of Natural Philosophy and Instructor in Telegraphy in the Imperial College of Engineering, Tokio, Japan. From 1879 to 1884 he was Professor of Applied Physics at the City and Guilds Technical College, Finsbury, and at the same time he had much practice as an engineer. From 1884 till he died he was Professor of Applied Physics and Electrical Engineering at the City Guilds Central Technical College, Kensington. An active member of the Institution of Electrical Engineers almost from the beginning, a diligent member of Council and of the Committees of the Council, he became President in 1892. He was President of the Physical Society of London in 1890 and 1891, and President of Section A of the British Association in 1898. He served on Juries at various exhibitions, and as a member of various Congresses dealing with international electrical questions.