Eric Tonks (17 July 1914 – 26 December 1994) was an English writer and historian of British

industrial railway An industrial railway is a type of railway (usually private) that is not available for public transportation and is used exclusively to serve a particular industrial, logistics, or military site. In regions of the world influenced by British r ...

s. He is regarded as one of the pioneers of the

industrial archaeology Industrial archaeology (IA) is the systematic study of material evidence associated with the Industry (manufacturing), industrial past. This evidence, collectively referred to as industrial heritage, includes buildings, machinery, artifacts, si ...

of railways and quarrying. He was also a noted

Jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

discographer.

Industrial railways

In 1949, Tonks was one of the founders of the Birmingham Locomotive Club and he was the club's president for 25 years. He also set up the club's Industrial Locomotive Section, which later became the

Industrial Railway Society The Industrial Railway Society was founded in the United Kingdom in 1949 as the "Birmingham Locomotive Club – Industrial Locomotive Information Section". It is devoted to the study of all aspects, and all gauges, of privately owned industrial ...

. He compiled a well-regarded study of the development of British preserved railways.

Author

Tonks was a prolific author on the related subjects of industrial history and industrial railways. He began his writing career with a book on the

Edge Hill Light Railway The Edge Hill Light Railway was a standard-gauge light railway in Warwickshire, England. It was designed to carry ironstone from Edge Hill Quarries to Burton Dassett, where a junction was made with the Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction R ...

, and he was an acknowledged expert in the history of that railway. He is particularly known for his "magnum opus" 9-volume series of books on the

ironstone Ironstone is a sedimentary rock, either deposited directly as a ferruginous sediment or created by chemical replacement, that contains a substantial proportion of an iron ore compound from which iron (Fe) can be smelted commercially. Not to be c ...

industry of

The Midlands The Midlands is the central region of England, to the south of Northern England, to the north of southern England, to the east of Wales, and to the west of the North Sea. The Midlands comprises the ceremonial counties of Derbyshire, Herefords ...

, which is considered the standard work on the subject. Tonks began work on this series with the publication of a single volume in 1959. This was expanded into 9 volumes in the 1980s and 1990s. These books are acknowledged, as a "great work...on industrial infrastructure" and the 1959 edition was one of the first books to integrate the study of industrial railway history with the wider historical and social aspects of the industries they served.

Other interests

Tonks was a founding member of the Motor Registration Circuit, a club based in the Midlands for car

license plate A vehicle registration plate, also known as a number plate (British, Indian and Australian English), license plate (American English) or licence plate (Canadian English), is a metal or plastic plate attached to a motor vehicle or trailer for ...

spotting enthusiasts. He was considered an expert in this field. He was also a well-known Jazz aficionado, who wrote a regular column for ''Discography'' magazine and was considered an expert in the field of Jazz discographies.

Works

Ironstone Quarries

Originally published as: * Full series: * * * * * * * * *

Other books

* * * * * * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tonks, Eric 1914 births 1995 deaths British rail transport writers Railway historians English male non-fiction writers 20th-century English male writers 20th-century English non-fiction writers