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Edwar
Page 54
Page 55
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wis Oglethorpe THE success story of Mr. Oglethorpe, managing director of the Duramin Engineering Co., Ltd.. is of the kind that most fathers would recommend to their teen-age sons. An acknowledged leader in the field of bodybuilding in light alloy, he reached the top by sheer hard work, complete confidence in his own ability and a little bit of luck when most needed.
Edward Lewis Oglethorpe was born 72 years ago, at Millom, in Cumberland. He was one of seven children of a local bank manager, and the only member of the family to show any interest in engineering. At a tender age he was intrigued by the vagaries of the doctor's Stanley steam car and later, at Lancaster Royal Grammar School, he displayed an aptitude for the science subjects, though none for the arts. Lest it be thought, however, that he was all set to become an egg-headed boffin, let it be said that he also demonstrated remarkable proficiency as a wing threequarter. • ' On leaving school, he was apprenticed to Vickers, Sons and Maxims, at Barrow, where he was taught fitting and draughtsmanship to a high standard. For most of his time with the company he worked on submarines; then, as now a perfectionist's dream. Later, he completed the honours engineering course at Manchester University and went on to the Staveley Iron and Steel Co. as a draughtsman.
Draughtsmanship in the steel-producing industry seemed to hold but a bleak future at the time, and young Oglethorpe
began to think in terms of making his fortune in the Empire. He sold his motorcycle, made a parcel of his certificates and sailed full of a slightly starry-eyed confidence forNew Zealand. Arriving with the minimum flO in his pocket (the Government would not tolerate " poor whites" even then), he found that there was not the brisk demand for young engineers that he had expected.
For a fortnight he worked as a cargo-hand in the docks at Napier, and at half a crown an hour he found himself richer than he had ever been. Then he landed a job in an engineering shop and had a notable success with a refractory marine engine, the timing of which had been upset by a disgruntled officer as a paying-off gesture. This triumph was followed by a highly satisfactory strip-and-rebuild job on the boss's car, and the shortage of trained motor mechanics gave Mr. Oglethorpe the idea of starting up in business on his own.
With the financial help of a friend, he established a garage and car import agency which prospered until the outbreak of the 1914-18 war, when petrol for the public ceased to exist. Medically unfit for the New Zealand Forces, Mr. Oglethorpe signed on as second refrigeration engineer of a meat ship and worked his passage home to Tilbury.
It would seem that one had to be very unfit to be rejected for the British Army and he had little difficulty in joining the Army Service Corps. He was posted to heavy repair workshops in France, and, in charge of an engine recoil ditioning unit at Rouen, raised output from. 30 to more than 100 per week at a time when every wagon was vital.
After the war, he was persuaded to accept the management of a motor repair and sales business which, in 1920, became the Dartford Engineering Co., Ltd. An early contract was for tea containers in wood for 1. Lyons and Co. These weighed more than a ton empty and, at the suggestion of one of the executives of the customer, Mr. Oglethorpe built four containers in duralumin. Because the sheets corrugated badly round the cut edges and doubleskin construction was used to eliminate moisture from the tea, the finished job proved extremely expensive and wildly unprofitable. They were, however, efficient; and Duramin have been building modernized versions of those containers for Lyons, among other customers, ever since.
Since 1922, the financial affairs of the company have been controlled by Mr. P. A. Bristow, the present chairman. It was largely Mr. Oglethorpe, however, who designed, built and sold the bodies, containers, bulk transporters and cabs that the company have produced in ever-increasing numbers. In 1927, the name was changed to the Duramin Engineering Co., Ltd., which operated from premises at Willesden and Park Royal, London, before finally establishing itself in modern works at Ruislip, Middx, and Lydney Glos.
Although he is no longer a young man, Mr. Oglethorpe has lost nothing of the alert, forward-thinking attitude of the progressive engineer. He remains today very much in charge of the engineering side of the business. A comfortably large, cheerfully avuncular man, he reminisces engagingly on a lifetime of experience, if some of it has been gained the hard way, he recalls the incident with a rueful chuckle, but, in the main, his geese have become swans.
Like many another sound engineer, he has always been able to translate a hunch into a practical reality. From his earliest days, improvizatian and adaptation have gone hand in hand with invention, and a well-finished "engineer's
job is his criterion. He is still a Vickers man. T.W.