Sir Arthur Ernest Hawkins (10 June 1913 – 13 January 1999) was an English mechanical and electrical engineer. Born in Lympley Stoke, Bath, Somerset and educated at the

Great Yarmouth High School Great Yarmouth Charter Academy is a coeducational comprehensive school on Salisbury Road in the town of Great Yarmouth in the English county of Norfolk. It educates about 700 11 to 16-year-old pupils, the age of entry having decreased from twelve ...

. He joined the

CEGB The Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) was responsible for electricity generation, transmission and bulk sales in England and Wales from 1958 until privatisation of the electricity industry in the 1990s. It was established on 1 Januar ...

and was heavily involved in the 275 kV and 400 kV Supergrid in the department of the Transmission Project Group. He married Laura Judith Tallent Draper in

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropolitan borough, it m ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbourin ...

1939. At the inception of the first 2000 MW power station West Burton in 1969 Arthur was then in charge of the

Midlands Region based in Shirley, Solihull, West Midlands. He was made chairman of the

in 1972 preceded by Sir Stanley Brown and proceeded by

Glyn England Glyn (Glynne) England (1921-2013) was a British electrical engineer. Early life He attended Penarth County Grammar School (now Stanwell School), then Queen Mary College in London. Career Prior to World War II, he was scientific assistant wi ...

in 1977. In June 1976 he was knighted as Chairman of the

. After retirement he served as a director with the Community of

St Andrew Andrew the Apostle ( grc-koi, Ἀνδρέᾱς, Andréās ; la, Andrēās ; , syc, ܐܰܢܕ݁ܪܶܐܘܳܣ, ʾAnd’reʾwās), also called Saint Andrew, was an apostle of Jesus according to the New Testament. He is the brother of Simon Pete ...

Trust at Lincoln's Inn,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. He was survived by his son Andrew Hawkins and daughter Ruth Hawkins. Lady Hawkins died in 2020 at the age of 104. After privatisation of the industry in 1991 commentators made the link to the lack of British energy policy to the days of the

‘Oh for the glory days of Sir Arthur Hawkins and the

Central Electricity Generating Board The Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) was responsible for electricity generation, transmission and bulk sales in England and Wales from 1958 until privatisation of the electricity industry in the 1990s. It was established on 1 Januar ...

. I never thought I'd say that about an organisation that seemed, at the time, to embody the very worst aspects of post-war corporatism and central government planning. But compared with the abject chaos into which British energy policy has descended since privatisation, the absolute rule of the

seems a paragon of virtue.’

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hawkins, Sir Arthur 1913 births 1999 deaths English electrical engineers Knights Bachelor Officers of the Order of the British Empire