William Maw

William Maw
A caricature of Maw byHarry Furniss
Born	6 December 1838 Scarborough,North Yorkshire
Died	19 March 1924(1924-03-19)(aged 85)
Nationality	English
Education	Syke's School,Mechanics' Institute
Occupation	Engineer
Engineering career
Discipline	Civil
Institutions	Institution of Civil Engineers(president), Institution of Mechanical Engineers(president), Civil and Mechanical Engineers' Society(president), British Astronomical Association(president)

William Henry Maw(6 December 1838 – 19 March 1924) was a Britishcivil engineerandastronomer.Born into aseafaringfamily and orphaned at age 16, Maw was taken into the workshops of theEastern Counties Railwayas an assistant before progressing to the design office as adraughtsman.He was made the head of the office and designed the first outside cylinder locomotive for use in India. In 1865 he founded the journalEngineeringand remained an editor for the rest of his life. He left the railway and became a consulting engineer his many works including printing presses for several newspapers and magazines. He was president of theCivil and Mechanical Engineers' Society,theInstitution of Mechanical Engineersand theInstitution of Civil Engineers.

Maw was also a keen astronomer and was aFellowof theRoyal Astronomical Society(RAS) with a particular interest indouble stars.He co-founded theBritish Astronomical Associationfor amateur astronomers and served as its treasurer and president. He later became a council member, treasurer and president of the RAS. During theFirst World Warhe served his country as a committee member for theMinistry of Munitionsand upon the board of theNational Physical Laboratory.

Early life

Maw was born inScarboroughon 6 December 1838 into a seafaring family, his father was acaptainof theMerchant navyand both of his grandfathers werecaptainsof theRoyal Navy.He was privately educated at Syke's School in his hometown and it was there that he befriendedEdward Harlandwho would later co-found theHarland and Wolffshipbuilding company. In 1853 his father was lost at sea, leaving the family without an income, his mother died shortly afterwards, leaving William an orphan at age 16.

Engineer

In March 1855 he was taken on as an assistant first in thecarriageand then thelocomotiveworkshops of theEastern Counties RailwayatStratford Works.During this period he studied drawing at theMechanics' Institute,later to becomeBirkbeck College,as a result of this he was occasionally requested to work in the drawing office. He was so talented at drawing that in 1859, at the age of 21, he was made head of the office. In this period he designed locomotives for theEast Indian Railway Company,his design being the first outside cylinder engine in use in the country, thevalve gearsused in these locomotives was the subject of a report to the1862 International Exhibition.

In 1865 he left Eastern Counties and, withZerah Colburn,founded the journalEngineering.He would remain an editor of the journal for the rest of his life. Around this time he set up a private engineering consultancy which specialised in workshop and factory design and notably he was responsible for the lay out printing presses of theDaily Telegraph,The FieldandThe Queen.He was honoured by several professional institutions for his contributions and was made president of theCivil and Mechanical Engineers' Societyin 1863, of theInstitution of Mechanical Engineersin 1901 and of theInstitution of Civil Engineersin 1922.When he presented his inaugural address to the members of the latter institution he demonstrated full knowledge of recent developments in the industry, includingX-raytechnology; new metal alloys and renovations in turbines and gearing systems; despite being 83 years old at this time.

Astronomer

Maw was a keen astronomer keeping two observatories at his house which he used to record measurements ofdouble starsover a period of twenty years, the results of which were published in theRoyal Astronomical Society(RAS) journal. He was made afellowof the RAS on 14 December 1888. He co-founded theBritish Astronomical Association,an amateur astronomy association, and served as its treasurer from 1890 to 1913 and its president from 1898 to 1900. In 1892 he was elected as a member of the council of the RAS, serving as treasurer from 1900 to 1905 and as president from 1905 to 1907.

Later life

Maw was created an honoraryDoctor of Lawsby theUniversity of Glasgowin 1909 for his contributions to mechanical engineering. He served upon the board of theNational Physical Laboratoryand on several committees for theMinistry of Munitionsduring theFirst World War.He died at home on 19 March 1924 and was survived by his wife, three sons and six daughters.

External links

• Portrait of William H. Maw from the Lick Observatory Records Digital Archive, UC Santa Cruz Library's Digital Collections