Henry Adolph Salvesen

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

DL JP (5 June 1860–13 May 1924) was a 19th-century Scottish mechanical engineer and naval architect of Norwegian descent.

Life

He was born at Weedingshall in

Polmont Polmont () is a village in the Falkirk council area of Central Scotland. It lies towards the east of the town of Falkirk, north of the Union Canal (Scotland), Union Canal, which runs adjacent to the village. Due to its situation in Central Sco ...

near

Falkirk Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the ...

on 5 June 1860 one of at least nine children of Anna Nathalia and Johannis Theodore Salvesen who had come to Scotland from Norway in 1846. He was educated at Blairlodge School in Polmont the

Stirling Stirling (; ; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Central Belt, central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town#Scotland, market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the roya ...

Collegiate School. He then studied engineering at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

training as a naval architect. He appears to have detached himself wholly from the family firm of

Christian Salvesen Christian Salvesen was a Scottish whaling, transport and logistics company with a long and varied history, employing 13,000 staff and operating in seven countries in western Europe. In December 2007, it was acquired by France, French listed tr ...

but was perhaps involved in ship design for them. From 1882 he joined his father's firm of J T Salvesen & Co, shipowners, timber importers and coal exporters, based in

Grangemouth Grangemouth (; , ) is a town in the Falkirk (council area), Falkirk council area in the central belt of Scotland. Historically part of the Counties of Scotland, county of Stirlingshire, the town lies in the Forth Valley, on the banks of the Firt ...

. He also operated for many years from

Greenock Greenock (; ; , ) is a town in Inverclyde, Scotland, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. The town is the administrative centre of Inverclyde Council. It is a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, and forms ...

. He was a keen car enthusiast, owning a 6 hp

Daimler Daimler is a German surname. It may refer to: People * Gottlieb Daimler (1834–1900), German inventor, industrialist and namesake of a series of automobile companies * Adolf Daimler (1871–1913), engineer and son of Gottlieb Daimler * Paul Da ...

, a 10 hp steam-car of his own design, and a 12 hp Benz. In 1923 (aged 63) he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

. His proposers were Theodore Salvesen, William Archer Tait, Sir

Edmund Taylor Whittaker Sir Edmund Taylor Whittaker (24 October 1873 – 24 March 1956) was a British mathematician, physicist, and historian of science. Whittaker was a leading mathematical scholar of the early 20th century who contributed widely to applied mathemat ...

and Sir

Robert Blyth Greig Sir Robert Blyth Greig (23 March 1874 – 29 November 1947) was a Scottish agriculturalist. He served as Chairman of the Scottish Board of Agriculture from 1921 to 1928 and was Secretary to the Department of Agriculture for all Great Britain fro ...

. He died at Lathallan House near

on 13 May 1924. The company of J T Salvesen & Co was dissolved following his death.London Gazette 7 January 1927

Family

His uncle was

. He was cousin to

Edward Theodore Salvesen Edward Theodore Salvesen, Lord Salvesen, (20 July 1857 – 23 February 1942) was a British lawyer, politician and judge who rose to be a Senator of the College of Justice. Life Edward Theodore Salvesen was the son of Christian Salvesen, Chr ...

and Theodore Emile Salvesen. He married Dagmar Marie Becker around 1880, and they had at least seven children, including Meta Natalie Salvesen (1883-1959).

References

1860 births 1924 deaths People from Polmont Alumni of the University of Edinburgh British naval architects Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Scottish people of Norwegian descent {{UK-engineer-stub