Richard Stanfield (23 June 1863 – 10 October 1950) was a British civil engineer active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Early life

Born in England on 23 June 1863, Stanfield was educated at the

Manchester Grammar School The Manchester Grammar School (MGS) is a highly Selective school, selective Private_schools_in_the_United_Kingdom, private day school for boys aged 7-18 in Manchester, England, which was founded in 1515 by Hugh Oldham (then Bishop of Exeter). ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

. In around 1877 he began an apprenticeship with the firm John Chadwick and Sons. In 1883, he won a Senior Whitworth Scholarship and then studied mine engineering at the

Royal School of Mines The Royal School of Mines comprises the departments of Earth Science and Engineering, and Materials at Imperial College London. The Centre for Advanced Structural Ceramics and parts of the London Centre for Nanotechnology and Department of Bioe ...

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 ...

under Professor Thomas Minchin Goodeve. He also studied

metallurgy Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the ...

and

assay An assay is an investigative (analytic) procedure in laboratory medicine, mining, pharmacology, environmental biology and molecular biology for qualitatively assessing or quantitatively measuring the presence, amount, or functional activity ...

ing under Professor Sir William Roberts-Austen. He won the

Bessemer Gold Medal The Bessemer Gold Medal is awarded annually by the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3) "for outstanding services to the steel industry, to the inventor or designer of any significant innovation in the process employed in the manufact ...

for his class.

Career

He became Professor of

Mechanics Mechanics () is the area of physics concerned with the relationships between force, matter, and motion among Physical object, physical objects. Forces applied to objects may result in Displacement (vector), displacements, which are changes of ...

and

Engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

Heriot-Watt College Heriot-Watt University () is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and was subsequently granted univers ...

in 1889. In 1908 he helped to design the new laboratories for his department, under the sponsorship of

Lord Rosebery Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, 1st Earl of Midlothian (7 May 1847 – 21 May 1929) was a British Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from March 1894 to June 1895. Between the death of h ...

. He was consultant to the

Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland The Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland (RHASS) was founded in Edinburgh in 1784 as the Highland Society of Edinburgh. The society is responsible for organising the annual Royal Highland Show. History The society had its root i ...

from 1900 to 1930. In 1906 he helped to organise the Motor Reliability Trials for the Scottish Automobile Club in which 84 cars took place: this was one of the first organised shows of vehicles in Britain. In 1891 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 F. Grant Ogilvie,

William Henry Perkin Sir William Henry Perkin (12 March 1838 – 14 July 1907) was a British chemist and entrepreneur best known for his serendipitous discovery of the first commercial synthetic organic dye, mauveine, made from aniline. Though he failed in trying ...

, Alexander Bruce and Sir Byrom Bramwell. In the same year he was elected a fellow of the

Royal Scottish Society of Arts The Royal Scottish Society of Arts is a learned society in Scotland, dedicated to the study of science and technology. It was founded as The Society for the Encouragement of the Useful Arts in Scotland by Sir David Brewster in 1821 and dedicate ...

. He served as its president from 1921 to 1923. He lived at 19 Queen's Crescent in the Blacket district. He later moved to 24 Mayfield Gardens. In the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

he was Engineer and Secretary to the Board of Management to the Munitions Committee for south Scotland. He retired in 1930 and died on 19 October 1950.

Selected publications

* ''The Campbell Oil Engine'' (1900)

References

1863 births 1950 deaths People educated at Manchester Grammar School Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh British mining engineers Engineers from Manchester {{UK-engineer-stub