Sir Denis Eric Rooke (2 April 1924 – 2 September 2008) was an English industrialist and engineer.

Early life

Denis Eric Rooke was born in

New Cross New Cross is an area in south-east London, England, south-east of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Lewisham and the London_postal_district#List_of_London_postal_districts, SE14 postcode district. New Cross is near St Johns, London, St Jo ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, the younger son of Frederick George Rooke, a printer and travelling salesman, and his wife Ada Emily née Brown. He attended

Westminster City School Westminster City School is a state-funded secondary Academy (English school), academy for boys, with a mixed sixth form, in City of Westminster, Westminster, London. The school educates over 800 students, with links to more than 100 different c ...

and

Addey and Stanhope School Addey and Stanhope School is a voluntary-aided, co-educational secondary school, located in Lewisham, London, England. It is a former grammar school with origins dating to 1606. The headmistress is currently Jan Shapiro. History The Addey Scho ...

before studying

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 ...

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

, taking a first-class degree in 1944. He then served in

REME The Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME ) is the maintenance arm of the British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full ...

in Britain and India until 1949, attaining the rank of major. He studied for a postgraduate diploma in

chemical engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of the operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials ...

at University College which he was awarded in 1949. He married Elizabeth Brenda Evans (1922-2017?) on 22 January 1949 in Deptford, London.She was an investigator providing research services, and they had a daughter, Diana.

Career

From 1949 he worked in the gas industry, first on

coal tar Coal tar is a thick dark liquid which is a by-product of the production of coke and coal gas from coal. It is a type of creosote. It has both medical and industrial uses. Medicinally it is a topical medication applied to skin to treat psoria ...

by-products at the South Metropolitan Gas works where he was appointed deputy manager of the tar works in 1954. He was seconded to North Thames Gas in 1957 to work on reforming processes for producing town gas from natural gas and oil. He also worked on

liquefied natural gas Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is natural gas (predominantly methane, CH4, with some mixture of ethane, C2H6) that has been cooled to liquid form for ease and safety of non-pressurized storage or transport. It takes up about 1/600th the volume o ...

(LNG), pioneering the sea transport of LNG. He was aboard the ship, the '' Methane Pioneer'', making the first delivery to

Canvey Island Canvey Island is a town, civil parish and reclaimed island in the Thames Estuary, near Southend-on-Sea, in the Castle Point district, in the county of Essex, England. It has an area of and a population of 38,170.Office for National Statistics. ...

of LNG to the UK in 1959. Rooke joined the board of the

Gas Council The Gas Council was a UK government body that provided strategic oversight of the gas industry in England, Wales and Scotland between 1949 and 1972. The British gas industry was nationalised under the provisions of the Gas Act 1948 ( 11 & 12 Geo ...

in 1966 as the member for production and supplies, with responsibility for developing gas fields. His greatest achievement was to help to bring

natural gas Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...

from the North Sea to domestic, commercial and industrial premises across Britain. This entailed the conversion of all gas appliance and the construction of a network of high pressure pipelines. He claimed this was "perhaps the biggest peacetime operation in the nation's history". He became deputy chairman of the Gas Council in 1972 and, along with the chairman, Sir Henry Jones, and Sir Arthur Hetherington, he was responsible for combining the Gas Council and 12 separate

gas board The area gas boards were created under the provisions of the Gas Act 1948 enacted by Clement Attlee's post-war Labour government. The Act nationalised the British gas industry and also created the Gas Council. History From the early 19th century ...

s into the

British Gas Corporation British Gas (trading as Scottish Gas in Scotland) is an energy and home services provider in the United Kingdom. It is the trading name of British Gas Services Limited and British Gas New Heating Limited, both subsidiaries of Centrica. Serving ...

in 1973. Rooke was appointed chairman of the British Gas Corporation in 1976. He was involved in several controversies. The Gas Council had formed a consortium to search for, and produce, offshore gas. At the same time, it was responsible for buying gas produced by other companies. The companies insisted on a market value approach to prices whereas the Gas Council purchased, more cheaply, gas priced on cost. The incoming Conservative government in 1979 wished to reform the nationalised industries. The government insisted that British Gas divest itself of oil exploration and production interests. This was achieved through the establishment of Enterprise Oil. In 1986, British Gas was floated on the stock market; Rooke had insisted that British Gas should be privatised as an integrated entity. However, it was soon divided into three parts:

Centrica Centrica plc is a British  multinational energy and services company with its headquarters in Windsor, Berkshire, England. It is the largest supplier of gas to domestic customers in the United Kingdom, and one of the largest suppliers ...

BG Group BG Group plc was a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in Reading, United Kingdom. On 8 April 2015, Royal Dutch Shell announced that it had reached an agreement to acquire BG Group for $70 billion, subject to regulatory an ...

and Lattice. Rooke remained chairman until he retired in 1989.

Honours and appointments

* Appointed a

CBE 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 ...

in 1970, and

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

in 1977. * Appointed to the

Order of Merit The Order of Merit () is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by Edward VII, admission into the order r ...

in 1997. * Fellow of University College London 1972. * Chancellor of

Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public university, public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university sinc ...

from 1989 to 2003 and a building was named after him. * Awarded in 1987 an honorary degree (Doctor of Laws) from the

University of Bath The University of Bath is a public research university in Bath, England. Bath received its royal charter in 1966 as Bath University of Technology, along with a number of other institutions following the Robbins Report. Like the University ...

. * Fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

1978. Awarded

Rumford Medal The Rumford Medal is an award bestowed by the Royal Society for "outstanding contributions in the field of physics". The award is named in honour of British scientist Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford, who is noted for his works on thermody ...

1986. * Chairman of the

Council for National Academic Awards The Council for National Academic Awards (CNAA) was the national degree-awarding authority in the United Kingdom from 1965 until its dissolution on 20 April 1993. Background The establishment followed the recommendation of the UK government Com ...

1978 to 1983. * President

Royal Academy of Engineering The Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) is the United Kingdom's national academy of engineering. The Academy was founded in June 1976 as the Fellowship of Engineering with support from Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who became the first senio ...

1986 to 1991. Awarded

Prince Philip Medal The Prince Philip Medal is named after Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who was the Senior Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAE). In 1989 Prince Philip agreed to the commissioning of solid gold medals to be "awarded periodically to a ...

1992. * President,

British Association for the Advancement of Science The British Science Association (BSA) is a Charitable organization, charity and learned society founded in 1831 to aid in the promotion and development of science. Until 2009 it was known as the British Association for the Advancement of Scienc ...

, 1990-1991 * Trustee of the

Science Museum A science museum is a museum devoted primarily to science. Older science museums tended to concentrate on static displays of objects related to natural history, paleontology, geology, Industry (manufacturing), industry and Outline of industrial ...

1983 to 1995, Chairman 1995.

Death

Denis Rooke died of cancer on 2 September 2008. Lady Rooke died in 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rooke, Denis 1924 births 2008 deaths British chief executives in the energy industry People from New Cross People educated at Addey and Stanhope School Alumni of University College London Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers officers British Army personnel of World War II Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering People educated at Westminster City School Presidents of the Royal Academy of Engineering Members of the Order of Merit Knights Bachelor Businesspeople awarded knighthoods Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Chancellors of Loughborough University People associated with the Science Museum, London Presidents of the British Science Association 20th-century English businesspeople Masters of the Worshipful Company of Engineers Military personnel from the London Borough of Lewisham Deaths from cancer in England