Sir Robert McLean (3 February 1884 – 9 April 1964) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

industrialist A business magnate, also known as a tycoon, is a person who has achieved immense wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term characteristically refers to a powerful entrepreneur or investor who controls, through perso ...

and

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

. He was General Manager of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway and later Chairman of Vickers Aviation Limited.

Early life

McLean was born in Lanarkshire, Scotland on 3 February 1883 the son of The Reverend D McLean. He was educated at the

Edinburgh Academy The Edinburgh Academy is an independent day school in Edinburgh, Scotland, which was opened in 1824. The original building, on Henderson Row in the city's New Town, is now part of the Senior School. The Junior School is located on Arboretum Roa ...

and he took a Science Degree in Engineering at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

Indian Railways and First World War

From 1905 he was an Assistant Engineer in the Indian Public Works Department, his duties included the operation and maintenance of the railways and he was also involved in surveying and building new railways line. From 1915 to 1916 he served in the British Expeditionary Force in Aden, he also served in Mesopotamia and on the Western Front. After the war when he returned to India he became the Assistant Secretary of the Railway Board, in 1919 he was promoted to Secretary. In 1920 he was loaned to the Great Indian Peninsula Railway Board as a deputy agent and later General Manager. McLean was responsible for starting the first railway electrification scheme in India, at first the Bombay surburban lines and later the electrification of the over 240 miles of main lines. In 1926 he was Knighted and he retired from India in 1927.

Vickers

On his return to the United Kingdom McLean was elected to the board of Vickers Limited. By 1928 he was responsible for the aviation interests of the company. Vickers purchased the Supermarine Company and McLean encouraged both R J Mitchell and Barnes Wallis in the development of new aircraft. The work of Mitchell lead to the design and production of the

Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allies of World War II, Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 ...

single-seat fighter and Wallis was involved in geodetic construction system. The geodetic system lead to the

Vickers Wellesley The Vickers Wellesley was a medium bomber that was designed and produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Vickers-Armstrongs at Brooklands near Weybridge, Surrey. It was one of two aircraft to be named after Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of W ...

and later the

Vickers Wellington The Vickers Wellington was a British twin-engined, long-range medium bomber. It was designed during the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey. Led by Vickers-Armstrongs' chief designer Rex Pierson; a key feature of the aircraft is it ...

twin-engined bombers. McLean was managing director of Vickers (Aviation) until 1939.

Music

When McLean left Vickers he was elected to the board of Electrical and Musical Industries (EMI) in February 1939. In May 1939 he was appointed managing director of the

Gramophone Company The Gramophone Company Limited (The Gramophone Co. Ltd.), based in the United Kingdom and founded by Emil Berliner, was one of the early recording companies, the parent organisation for the '' His Master's Voice (HMV)'' label, and the Europe ...

Spitfire

As Chairman of Vickers (Aviation), he was responsible for buying Supermarine in 1928. He gave his eldest daughter born 3 July 1911 in

Knutsford Knutsford () is a market town in the borough of Cheshire East, in Cheshire, England. Knutsford is south-west of Manchester, north-west of Macclesfield and 12.5 miles (20 km) south-east of Warrington. The population at the 2011 Census was ...

, later Annie Penrose, the nickname a ''little spitfire''; which is where the Spitfire aircraft took its name from. The ''Spitfire'' had also been given to the Supermarine Type 224 in 1934. It was not just the name that he gave to the Spitfire; with

Arthur Sidgreaves Sir Arthur Frederick Sidgreaves (12 June 1882 – 7 June 1948) was a British businessman who was head of Rolls-Royce, notably during World War II. Early life He was born 12 June 1882 in the Malay States, the son of Sir Thomas Sidgreaves, Chief ...

he had decided to start the project that led to the, known initially as the Supermarine Type 300.Spitfire history
/ref> The Air Ministry placed a contract for the aircraft on 1 December 1934 for £10,000. On 3 June 1936, Supermarine received an order for 310 Spitfires for £1.25m. The Spitfire name was confirmed by the Air Ministry on 10 June 1936. The first production Spitfire ''K9787'' flew on 15 May 1938 from Eastleigh.

Family life

McLean Married Evelyn Noel Girard in India in 1908, they had two daughters. He died on 9 April 1964 in Edinburgh, Scotland, aged 80.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McLean, Robert 1884 births 1964 deaths Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Knights Bachelor People educated at Edinburgh Academy Scottish industrialists 20th-century Scottish engineers Supermarine Spitfire Vickers Indian Engineering Service officers 20th-century Scottish businesspeople