Thomas Orr Leith

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

, FRAE (23 March 1926 – 7 November 2005) was a Scottish mechanical engineer and industrialist.

Biography

Thomas Orr Leith was born on 23 March 1926 in

Cathcart Cathcart (; , )
is an area of

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, youngest son in a family with seven brothers and sisters. He attended

Holmlea Primary School Holmlea Primary School is a Category B listed former school in Glasgow. It was built in 1908 and closed in 2005. The building lay empty for several years after the school's closure but has now been renovated and converted into affordable housin ...

in Cathcart (now closed) before being evacuated to

Troon Troon (Scottish Gaelic: ''An Truthail'') is a town and sea port in South Ayrshire, situated on the west coast of Ayrshire in Scotland, about north of Ayr and northwest of Glasgow Prestwick Airport. Troon has a port with ferry and freight serv ...

in 1939 at the start of the

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. In 1942 he returned to Glasgow to join Weir Pumps Ltd in Cathcart, Glasgow (then called G. and J. Weir Ltd) as an Apprentice Marine Engineer. While an apprentice he also studied for the

Higher National Certificate A Higher National Certificate (HNC), part of the Higher Nationals suite of qualifications, is a higher education/ further education qualification in the United Kingdom. Overview In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the HNC is a BTEC qualifica ...

exams at

Langside College Langside College was a List of further and higher education colleges in Scotland, further and higher education college located in the Mount Florida / Battlefield, Glasgow, Battlefield region of Glasgow. History It was established in 1947 and in t ...

Mount Florida Mount Florida () is an area in the south-east of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. Origins The Glasgow district of Mount Florida originated on the "Lands of Mount Floridon", which were described in detail when offered for sale at auction on 21 ...

and, following this, left Weirs to study full-time at the

Royal Technical College The Royal College of Science and Technology was a higher education college that existed in Glasgow, Scotland between 1887 and 1964. Tracing its history back to the Andersonian Institute (founded in 1796), it is the direct predecessor instituti ...

, Glasgow (now the

University of Strathclyde The University of Strathclyde () is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal charter in 1964 as the first techn ...

). He graduated with a BSc in

Mechanical Engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...

in 1950, and was winner of the Montgomerie Neilson Gold Medal and Prize (awarded to the first ranked graduating student in Mechanical Engineering). He rejoined Weir Pumps and in 1954 he became Head of Steam Turbine and Gearing Design, in 1962 was made Chief Designer and in 1966 Director and General Manager of the Pump and Turbine Division (later renamed the Energy Division). In 1980 he became Director, Contracts Division at Weir Pumps before moving in 1988 to take up the Managing Director role at Weir Westgarth Ltd until his retirement in 1991. He was Chairman of Clairmont Plc from 1992 to 1994. He was an inventor or co-inventor of a number of improvements to centrifugal pumps and level control, during the period 1956 to 1962 at G. and J. Weir Ltd. He was a

Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng) is an award and Scholarship, fellowship for engineers who are recognised by the Royal Academy of Engineering as being the best and brightest engineers, inventors and technologists in United K ...

, President of the

Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland The Institution of Engineers in Scotland (IES) is a multi-disciplinary professional body and learned society, founded in Scotland, for professional engineers in all disciplines and for those associated with or taking an interest in their work. I ...

from 1987 to 1989, Fellow of the

Institution of Mechanical Engineers The Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) is an independent professional association and learned society headquartered in London, United Kingdom, that represents mechanical engineers and the engineering profession. With over 110,000 member ...

and Fellow of the Institution of Marine Engineers. He was conferred Honorary Fellowship of the

in 200

img title="ThomasLeithPlaque"; style="text-decoration: none; height:150px;float: left; padding: 0px 3px 0px 0px;"src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/ThomasLeithPlaque.JPG" > Thomas Leith was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire

in the 1988 New Year's Honours for Services to Export. Thomas Leith was active in the local community. He was Chairman of the Community Council in

Newton Mearns Newton Mearns ( ) is a suburban town and the largest settlement in East Renfrewshire, Scotland. It lies southwest of Glasgow City Centre on the A77 road, main road to Ayrshire, above sea level. It has a population of approximately 26,993, stre ...

and, following a move to

Strathaven Strathaven ( ; from ) is a historic market town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland and is the largest settlement in Avondale. It is south of Hamilton. The Powmillon Burn runs through the town centre, and joins the Avon Water to the east of the to ...

Lanarkshire Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark (; ), is a Counties of Scotland, historic county, Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and registration county in the Central Lowlands and Southern Uplands of Scotland. The county is no l ...

on his retirement in 1991, was actively involved in the Avondale Civic Society of which he was chairman from 1998 to 2004. A plaque near

Strathaven Castle Strathaven Castle is located in the centre of the small town of Strathaven, in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. The ruin is closed to the public and has been for 5 years. A Friends of Strathaven Castle Group was set up in February 2023 to promote the ...

was raised by Avondale Civic Society to commemorate his contribution.

Selected papers

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References

External links

Thomas Leith Engineer who bridged gap between experience and modernism, Obituary, The Herald, 7 November 2005

Weir Westgarth Ltd

Weir Pumps Ltd
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leith, Thomas 1926 births Officers of the Order of the British Empire Presidents of the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering Scottish mechanical engineers 20th-century Scottish inventors Engineers from Glasgow 2005 deaths Alumni of the University of Strathclyde Scottish industrial designers 20th-century Scottish businesspeople