- Robert Wynne-Edwards
Infobox Engineer
image_width =
caption =
name = Robert Wynne-Edwards
nationality = English
birth_date =1 May 1897
birth_place =Cheltenham ,Gloucestershire
death_date = Death date and age|1974|6|22|1897|5|1
death_place =Southport ,Lancashire
education =Christ Church, Oxford
spouse = Hope Elizabeth Day Fletcher
parents =
children = One son, three daughters
discipline = Civil
institutions =Institution of Civil Engineers (president),Institution of Structural Engineers (hon member),
American Society of Civil Engineers (hon member)
practice_name =
significant_projects =Detroit-Windsor Tunnel ,William Girling Reservoir
significant_design =
significant_advance =
significant_awards =Sir Robert Meredydd Wynne-Edwards CBE, DSO, MC and bar (
1 May 1897 –22 June 1974 ) was a Britishcivil engineer andarmy officer .cite web|first=Robert|last=Sharp|title=‘Edwards, Sir Robert Meredydd Wynne- (1897–1974)’|work=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2004|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/31862|accessdate=2008-06-07|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/31862] Wynne-Edwards was born inCheltenham and educated atGiggleswick School andLeeds Grammar School before being commissioned into theRoyal Welch Fusiliers at the outbreak of theFirst World War . He served on the Western Front inFrance where he received aMention in Despatches ,Distinguished Service Order and aMilitary Cross and bar for his gallantry and leadership. Following the war he studied engineering atChrist Church, Oxford from which he graduated withsecond class honours in 1921.Wynne-Edwards emigrated to Canada working on several contracts in
Vancouver including theDetroit–Windsor Tunnel . He returned to Britain in 1935 following a slump in the Canadian building industry and joined John Mowlem & Co. where he was given the task of constructing theWilliam Girling Reservoir . The newly constructed dam later collapsed and Wynne-Edwards enlisted the expertise of the Building Research Station andKarl von Terzaghi to prove that he was not at fault. During theSecond World War Wynne-Edwards was seconded to theMinistry of Works where he became their director of plant.After the war Wynne-Edwards was
managing director of Richard Costain Ltd, specialising in pipelaying and also served on several boards and committees for the British Government. For this latter role he was appointedCommander of the Order of the British Empire . Wynne-Edwards was also involved with theInstitution of Civil Engineers serving on many committees and being elected their one hundredth president in 1964. He was knighted in theQueen's Birthday Honours of 1965.Early life
Wynne-Edwards was born on
1 May 1897 inCheltenham toReverend John Rosindale Wynne-Edwards, canon ofRipon Cathedral andschoolmaster (laterheadmaster ) ofLeeds Grammar School , and his wife Lilian Agnes Streatfield Welbank. Robert was the eldest of their four sons and two daughters. Robert was educated atGiggleswick School and Leeds Grammar School.First World War
At the start of the
First World War in July 1914 Wynne-Edwards joined theRoyal Army Medical Corps , obtaining a commission in theRoyal Welch Fusiliers in October 1914. From December 1915 he served on active duty inFrance and wasMentioned in Despatches . Wynn-Edwards was awarded theMilitary Cross on the1 January 1917 . [LondonGazette|issue=29886|startpage=44|supp=yes|date=29 December 1916 |accessdate=2008-06-21] He received theDistinguished Service Order on11 January 1919 for conspicuous gallantry and devotion during an assault in which a neighbouring company was in some difficulty. He reorganised it and captured its objective before returning to his own company of just 35 men and retaking a fortified position from the enemy which had been lost that morning. [LondonGazette|issue=31119|startpage=586|supp=yes|date=11 January 1919 |accessdate=2008-06-21]Wynne-Edwards was awarded a bar to his Military Cross on
15 February 1919 . [LondonGazette|issue=31183|startpage=2370|supp=yes|date=15 February 1919 |accessdate=2008-06-21] The award was made for gallantry on the night ofOctober 7 1918 atNortho Wood . Having located two gaps in the Germanbarbed wire he led his company through them and three belts of uncut wire. The company forced back the enemy and took over a position 400 yards ahead of any other troops on the front. Wynne-Edwards held the position for three hours, though being attacked from all sides. He then single-handedly crawled to an enemy howitzer and removed the sights before returning with some of his men and capturing the gunners. [LondonGazette|issue=31480|startpage=9705|supp=yes|date=30 July 1919 |accessdate=2008-06-21]Wynne-Edwards was seconded from his regiment on
21 December 1918 and attained the rank of temporary major before hisdemobilisation in January 1919. [LondonGazette|issue=31311|startpage=5281|supp=yes|date=25 April 1919 |accessdate=2008-06-21]In Canada
Upon leaving the army Wynne-Edwards became a student of engineering science at
Christ Church, Oxford from which he graduated in 1921 withsecond class honours . In July of that year he moved toCanada where he was apprenticed to Andrew Don Swan, the consulting engineer toVancouver Harbour Board. In 1923 he joined Sydney E. Junkins Ltd, a contracting firm in Vancouver, where he assisted in the construction of areinforced concrete wharf for theCanadian Pacific Railway . Whilst working there Wynne-Edwards trained as a diver so that he could undertakeunderwater inspections of work.In 1924 he married Hope Elizabeth Day Fletcher the daughter of Francis Fletcher, a surveyor from Nelson,
British Columbia . They had one son and three daughters.He became a member of theAmerican Society of Civil Engineers whilst in Canada and an associate member of theInstitution of Civil Engineers (ICE) in 1926. In 1928 he submitted a paper on the wharf at Vancouver to the ICE and was awarded a Telford Medal. From 1929 he maintained his position at Junkins whilst working with the Northern Construction Company on the shield-driven sections of theDetroit–Windsor Tunnel and a water tunnel in Vancouver.Return to UK
Following a downturn in building during a 1934 economic slump in Canada Wynne-Edwards returned to the UK in 1935 where he joined John Mowlem & Co.. He was given the task of building the
William Girling Reservoir nearChingford in Essex, this was constructed using the first fleet of newly developed American earth moving equipment to reach Britain. In 1937 a recently constructed part of the dam embankment collapsed and it was shown by the Building Research Station (BRS) that the fault was due to a patch of soft clay which Wynne-Edwards had asked to be allowed to remove but was over-ruled. When this theory was ignored by more senior consultants Wynne-Edwards tracedKarl von Terzaghi , the famousgeologist andsoil mechanics expert, and persuaded him to represent Mowlem. Terzaghi supported the BRS's theory and redesigned the bank to accommodate his findings. The publicity surrounding this event and Wynne-Edwards lectures at universities led to the popularisation and acceptance of the relatively new science of soil-mechanics in the UK.Second World War
After the outbreak of the
Second World War Wynne-Edwards worked as a deputy agent for Mowlem in the construction of a shell factory inSwynnerton ,Staffordshire . This so impressed theMinistry of Works that he was seconded to it as the director of plant for the remainder of the war. In this role he excelled as a chairman, especially during several difficult Anglo-American committees. In recognition of this fact he was appointed as anofficer of the Order of the British Empire onJune 2 1943 . [LondonGazette|issue=36035|startpage=2492|supp=yes|date=4 June 1943 |accessdate=2008-07-02]Post-War
Following the war's end in 1945 Wynne-Edwards joined Richard Costain Ltd as a director and became
managing director in 1948. Here he concentrated on the oil and chemical industries, in particular pipelaying. This included the laying of a pipeline for theAnglo-Iranian Oil Company from theirAbadan Refinery toTehran at the rate of three miles per day. In 1957 he was elected a first class member of theSmeatonian Society of Civil Engineers [cite book
last = Watson
first = Garth
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = The Smeatonians: The Society of Civil Engineers
publisher = Thomas Telford Ltd
date = 1989
location =
pages = p140
url = http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=ybXHDw8u_VcC&printsec=frontcover
doi =
id =
isbn = 0727715267] Wynne-Edwards served chairman of both theBuilding Research Board and theRoad Research Board from 1960-5, a role for which he was rewarded with his appointment as aCommander of the Order of the British Empire on1 January 1962 . [LondonGazette|issue=42552|startpage=10|endpage=11|date=1 January 1962 |accessdate=2008-07-05] In 1965 he served as a member of the advisory committee toHarold Wilson for theQueen's Award to Industry . [ [http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/written_answers/1965/oct/28/queens-award-to-industry-advisory Hansard record of advisory committee] ]Institutions and honours
Wynne-Edwards was a keen supporter of the
Institution of Civil Engineers and served on many of its committees and being elected to its governing council in 1950. He was elected as president of the Institution in 1964, the 100th president and the first to be elected whilst still working as a contractor.cite book
last = Watson
first = Garth
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = The Civils
publisher = Thomas Telford
date = 1988
location =
pages = p253
url =
doi =
id =
isbn = 0-727-70392-7] He became the founder-chairman of the Council of Engineering Institutions for 1964–6 a role he was rewarded for with a knighthood in theQueen's Birthday Honours on12 June 1965 . [LondonGazette|issue=43667|startpage=5471|endpage=5472|supp=yes|date=12 June 1965 |accessdate=2008-07-07] Wynne-Edwards was also an honorary member of both theInstitution of Structural Engineers and theAmerican Society of Civil Engineers and was made an honorary fellow of theUniversity of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology in 1965. He received an honoraryDoctor of Science degree fromSalford University in 1966 and was elected president of theManchester Technology Association for 1969.Personal life
Wynne-Edwards found time to hold an interest in
natural history ,bee-keeping ,gardening andreading . He also kept horses which he occasionally used forfox-hunting with the Old Surrey andBurstow hunt. He retired toBlandford Forum ,Dorset and died at the Promenade Hospital inSouthport ,Lancashire on22 June 1974 .References
s-start s-npo|pro s-bef|before=
Harold Harding s-ttl|title=President of theInstitution of Civil Engineers
years=November 1964 – November 1965 s-aft|after=James Arthur Banks end
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.