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- Vickers, Thomas Edward [Tom] (1833- 1915), steel maker and armaments manufacturer, was born on 9 July 1833 in Sheffield, the son of Edward Vickers (1804- 1897) and his wife, Anne, n?e Naylor.
1854 Age 21. Tom (usually known as Colonel Tom because of his association with the local militia) had joined the business by the age of twenty-one. By then the family firm, known as Naylor, Vickers and Co, was one of the leading crucible steel makers in Sheffield
1860 Age 27. Tom Vickers married Frances Mary Douglas (1841- 1904), the only child of Joseph Douglas, a London surgeon; they had two sons and four daughters
1875 Age 42. He married secondly Edith Foster (d. 1909), daughter of John Foster of Maltby, near Sheffield; they had a son and two daughters.
1909 Age 76. Tom Vickers resigned as chairman, handing over to his brother Albert Vickers, who held the post until 1918.
1915 Age 82. Tom Vickers died at his home, 12 Stanhope Place, Hyde Park, London, on 19 October 1915 and was cremated at Golders Green, Middlesex.
- (Research):Note different father of his bride in this obituary
Colonel THOMAS EDWARD VICKERS, C.B., formerly Chairman and Managing Director of Vickers, Limited, died in London on the 19th October, 1915, aged 82 years.
Born on the 9th July, 1833, he was the second son of the late Mr. Edward Vickers, a partner in the steelmaking firm of Naylor, Vickers and Company, of Sheffield.
After being educated at ShefIield Collegiate School and at Neuwied in Germany, the subject of this notice entered the Vickers works in 1850, and at the age of 21 was entrusted with the principal manufacturing control of the business.
In 1867 he became senior partner, and from 1873 onwards was Chairman and managing Director of the firm. The River Don works were established in 1866, since which date the original enterprise has undergone continuous development and extension, taking up in succession the manufacture of heavy forgings, armour-plate, guns, shipbuilding and other subsidiary industries, and attaining at length its present position among the great industrial establishments of the world.
To this development, Colonel Vickers's administmtive energy and foresight, and great inventive ability, largely contributed. He early prosecuted, with vigour and success, the investigation of processes of steel manufacture, introducing into this country a new method of making steel castings and tires, inventing the double rolling-mill for the latter, and making numerous important experiments and improvements in the openhearth process.
In 1907 he was awarded the Howard Quinquennial Prize of The Institution 'in recognition of the part taken during his career in developing and improving the production of steel for important engineering purposes.'
He resigned the chairmanship of Vickers in 1909, but continued to take a keen interest in the business until his death.
Colonel Vickers was a member of the Cutler's Company and served as Master Cutler in 1872-3, was a Justice of the Peace, and rendered vduable service on several technical committees.
He was also a member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and the Iron and Steel Institute. He was among the first to join actively in the Volunteer movement, becoming a Captain, and eventually honorary Colonel of the Hallamshire Rifles.
In 1898 he was made a C.B. in recognition of his public services.
He married, in 1860, Frances Mary, daughter of the late Mr. John Douglas, and had issue two sons and four daughters.
Colonel Vickers was elected a Member of The Institution on the 5th February, 1889
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