Record

Authorised form of name	Ricardo; Sir; Harry Ralph (1885 - 1974); mechanical engineer
Dates	1885 - 1974
Nationality	British
Place of birth	13 Bedford Square, London, England, United Kingdom
Date of birth	26 January 1885
Place of death	King Edward VII Hospital, Midhurst, Sussex, England, United Kingdom
Date of death	18 May 1974
Occupation	Mechanical engineer
Research field	Mechanical engineering
Research field	Engineering
Activity	Education: Rugby School (1898–1903); Trinity College, Cambridge BA (Cantab ) (1903–7) Career: Gained his first patent, for a 2-stroke engine, "Improvements in or relating to Internal Combustion Engines" (1906); joined Rendel and Robertson (later Rendel, Palmer, and Tritton), his grandfather's firm as an inspector of machinery (1907); then head of a department for designing the specialised mechanical equipment needed for large civil engineering projects; classified in a reserved occupation (1914); designed aero-engines made by Brotherhood and Beardmore (1915); consulting engineer to the mechanical warfare department (1916); on the death of his grandfather, he launched his own company with the help of a three-year contract from the Asiatic Petroleum Company for research on fuels and detonation (1917); consulting engineer in aero-engines to the Air Ministry (1918); the company was named Ricardo Company (1920); pioneered four-valve high-performance combustion systems in a Triumph motorcycle (1921); formed Ricardo Consulting Engineers in Shoreham-by-Sea (1927); designed the prototype Rolls-Royce Crecy engine, seen as the peak of aircraft piston engine development (1940); hired by the US Department of Energy to research the Stirling engine as a car engine (1978). Honours: Kt 1948 Memberships: AMICE MIAE Institution of Mechanical Engineers (President 1944–5)
Membership category	Fellow
Date of election	02/05/1929
Age at election	44
Proposer	William Henry Eccles
	Arthur Smithells
	Richard Threlfall
	Thomas Henry Holland
	Frederick Edwin Smith
	Richard Tetley Glazebrook
	William Ernest Dalby
	Robert Robertson
	Thomas Henry Tizard
	Ernest George Coker
	Albert George Hadcock
	Alan Archibald Campbell Swinton
	Charles Algernon Parsons
	Dugald Clerk
RSActivity	Medals and prizes: Rumford Medal 1944 Lectures: Bakerian 1947
Relationships	Parents: Halsey Ralph Ricardo (1854–1928), architect, descendant of the brother of David Ricardo, economist, and Catherine Jane, daughter of Sir Alexander Meadows Rendel, civil engineer. Spouse: (m. 1911) Beatrice Bertha (d. 1975), daughter of Charles Bowdich Hale, their family doctor. Children: Three daughters.
PublishedWorks	RCN 20285 RCN 20286
OtherInfo	Investigated fuels, liquid and gaseous as affecting performance of high speed Internal Combustion Engines, for which he invented variable compression engines. Applied discoveries to motor, aero and tank engines.
Royal Society Obituary or Memoir	Click to view (may be contained within a meeting notice, presidential address or list of death notices)
Related images	Discover a selection of related images in our picture library
Source	Sources: Bulloch's Roll; DNB Obituaries: Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society 1976 vol 22 pp 359-380, plate, by Sir William Hawthorne
Code	NA704

Archives associated with this Fellow

RefNo	Title	Date
EC/1929/13	Ricardo, Sir Harry Ralph: certificate of election to the Royal Society
IM/GA/WS/1269	Ricardo, Sir Harry Ralph	nd
RR/65/147	Referee's report by Harry Ralph Ricardo, on a paper 'The two-stage auto-ignition of hydrocarbons and "Knock"' by G P Kane	March 1938
RSC/5/13/44	Copy letter from [Harry Ralph Ricardo], 26A Norham Gardens, Oxford, to Sir [Edward] John Russell, Rothamsted Experimental Station, Harpenden, Hertfordshire	22 April 1942
RR/48/51	Referee's report by Harry Ralph Ricardo, on a paper 'The mean effective pressure in reciprocating engines as influenced by considerations of the kinetic theory of gases' by Henry Homan Jeffcott	nd [August 1933]
RSC/5/13/42	Letter from E J [Edward John] Russell, Rothamsted Experimental Station, Harpenden, Hertfordshire, to Harry R [Ralph] Ricardo, 26A Norham Gardens, Oxford	17 April 1942
RSC/5/13/43	Letter from E J [Edward John] Russell, Rothamsted Experimental Station, Harpenden, Hertfordshire, to Harry R [Ralph] Ricardo, 26A Norham Gardens, Oxford	18 April 1942
ACS/1/2/4/561	Letter from [Alan Archibald Campbell] Swinton, to E. H. R. Trenow [Esquire]	7 January 1930
P/0245	Study of Harry Ralph Ricardo	c.1955
ACS/1/2/4/590	Letter from [Alan Archibald Campbell] Swinton, to Sir Dugald [Clerk]	4 February 1930
ACS/1/1/439/54	Letter from Harry [Ralph] Ricardo, Penstone, Lancing, Sussex, to [Alan Archibald Campbell] Swinton	22 February 1929
RSC/5/11/24	Letter from Harry R [Ralph] Ricardo, Penstone, Lancing, Sussex, to 'Dear Sir' [Gilbert Thomas Morgan]	21 February 1933
ACS/1/2/4/555	Letter from [Alan Archibald Campbell] Swinton, to [Harry Raplh] Ricardo	2 January 1930
RSC/5/12/30	Copy letter from [Henry Thomas Tizard], to [Harry Ralph] Ricardo	22 June 1937
RSC/5/13/19	Letter from N R [Nicholas Robin] Udal, The Athenaeum, Pall Mall, to H R [Harry Ralph] Ricardo, 26A Norham Gardens, Oxford	4 April 1941
RSC/5/13/29	Letter from E J [Edward James] Salisbury, Willow Pool, Radlett, Hertfordshire, to [Harry Ralph] Ricardo	10 January 1942
RSC/5/13/16	Letter from E J [Edwin John] Butler, 34 Glazbury Road, Baron's Court, London, to [Harry Ralph] Ricardo	25 October 1940
RSC/5/13/28	Copy letter from [Harry Ralph Ricardo], to E J [Edward James] Salisbury, Willow Pool, Gill's Hill Lane, Radlett, Hertfordshire	8 January 1942
RSC/5/13/30	Copy letter from [Harry Ralph Ricardo], to F G [Frederick George] Donnan, Hartlip House, near Sittingbourne, Kent	8 January 1942
RSC/5/13/18	Letter from Arthur Smith Woodward, Hill Place, Haywards Heath, Sussex, to [Harry Ralph] Ricardo	29 March 1941
RSC/5/13/22	Letter from N R [Nicholas Robin] Udal, The Athenaeum, Pall Mall, to H R [Harry Ralph] Ricardo, 21 Suffolk Street, Pall Mall, London	15 October 1941
RSC/5/13/21	Letter from E J [Edwin John] Butler, Woodlands, Clapham, Bedford, to [Harry Ralph] Ricardo	25 April 1941
RSC/5/13/23	Copy letter from [Harry Ralph Ricardo], to N R [Nicholas Robin] Udal, The Athenaeum, Pall Mall	17 October 1941
RSC/5/13/26	Inventory of the Royal Society Club records, by [Harry Ralph Ricardo?]	October 1941 [?]
RSC/5/13/24	Copy letter from [Harry Ralph Ricardo], to Sir E J [Edward John] Russell, Rothamsted Station, Harpenden, Hertfordshire	20 October 1941
RSC/5/13/25	Draft minutes of a meeting of the Royal Society Club, by [Harry Ralph Ricardo]	12 December 1941
RSC/5/13/27	Circular letter from H R [Harry Ralph] Ricardo, 26A Norham Gardens, Oxford, to members of the Royal Society Club	1 January 1942
RSC/5/13/31	Copy letter from [Harry Ralph Ricardo], to E J [Edward James] Salisbury, Willow Pool, Gill's Hill Lane, Radlett, Hertfordshire	14 January 1942
RSC/5/13/32	Copy letter from [Harry Ralph Ricardo], to C G [Charles Galton] Darwin, Bushy House, Teddington, Middlesex,	14 January 1942
RSC/5/13/34	Copy letter from [Harry Ralph Ricardo], to Sir Edwin J [John] Butler, 34 Glazbury Road	14 January 1942
RSC/5/13/35	Letter from E J [Edwin John] Butler, 22 Newnham Avenue, Bedford, to [Harry Ralph] Ricardo	18 January 1942
RSC/5/13/33	Letter from F G [Frederick George] Donnan, to H R [Harry Ralph] Ricardo], 21 Suffolk Street, Pall Mall, London	14 January 1942
RSC/5/13/38	Copy letter from [Harry Ralph Ricardo], to Sir Edwin J [John] Butler, 34 Glazbury Road	27 January 1942
RSC/5/13/39	Letter from F W [Francis William] Aston, Trinity College, Cambridge, to [Harry Ralph] Ricardo	24 January 1942
RSC/5/13/37	Copy letter from [Harry Ralph Ricardo], to F W [Francis William] Aston, Trinity College, Cambridge	23 January 1942
RSC/5/13/36	Copy letter from [Harry Ralph Ricardo], to C [Charles] Tate Regan, 8 Carlton Avenue, Feltham, Middlesex	23 January 1942
RSC/5/13/40	Letter from C [Charles] Tate Regan, 8 Carlton Avenue, Feltham, Middlesex, to [Harry Ralph] Ricardo	27 January 1942
RSC/5/13/48	Postcard from John Graham Kerr, House of Commons, to Harry R [Ralph] Ricardo, Woodside, Graffham, Petworth, Sussex	15 May 1942
RSC/5/13/46	Copy letter from [Harry Ralph Ricardo], 26A Norham Gardens, Oxford, to Sir Chrales [Scott] Sherrington, Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge	22 April 1942
RSC/5/13/20	Letter from E J [Edward John] Russell, Rothamsted Experimental Station, Harpenden, Hertfordshire, to Harry R [Ralph] Ricardo, 26A Norham Gardens, Oxford	19 April 1941
RSC/5/13/45	Copy letter from [Harry Ralph Ricardo], 26A Norham Gardens, Oxford, to Sir Henry [Hallett] Dale, Mount Vernon House, Hampstead, London	22 April 1942
RSC/5/13/47	Letter from John Graham Kerr, House of Commons, to [Harry Ralph] Ricardo	13 May 1942
RSC/5/13/51	Copy letter from [Harry Ralph Ricardo], to A V [Archibald Vivian] Hill, 16 Bishopswood Road	29 June 1942
RSC/5/13/50	Copy letter from [Harry Ralph Ricardo], to Sir Henry H [Hallett] Dale, Mount Vernon House	29 June 1942
RSC/5/13/52	Letter from H H [Henry Hallett] Dale, 2 Hampstead Hill Mansions, Devonshire Hill, to [Harry Ralph Ricardo]	July 1942 [?]
RSC/5/13/55	Inventory of the Royal Society Club records, by [Harry Ralph Ricardo?]	16 July 1942
RSC/5/13/58	Letter from [Maurice Pascal Alers] Hankey, Privy Council Office, Whitehall, to Harry R [Ralph] Ricardo, 21 Suffold Street, Pall Mall	22 July 1942
RSC/5/13/57	Letter from E N da C [Edward Neville da Costa] Andrade, 28 Woronzow Road, St John's Wood, London, to 'Dear Sir' [Harry Ralph Ricardo]	21 July 1942
RSC/5/13/56	Letter from Harry R [Ralph] Ricardo, 21 Suffolk Street, Pall Mall, London, to E [Edward] John Russell, Rothamsted Experimental Station, Harpenden, Hertfordshire	20 July 1942
RSC/5/13/59	Letter from [Edward John Russell], to H R [Harry Ralph] Ricardo, 21 Suffolk Street, Pall Mall, London	23 July 1942
RSC/5/13/60	Letter from J D [John David] Griffith Davies, The Royal Society, Burlington House, London, to H R [Harry Ralph] Ricardo, 26A Norham Gardens	18 July 1942
RSC/5/13/61	Letter from Harry R [Ralph] Ricardo, 21 Suffolk Street, Pall Mall, London, to Sir E [Edward] John Russell, Rothamsted Experimental Station, Harpenden, Hertfordshire	16 October 1942
RSC/5/13/41	Letter from E J [Edward John] Russell, Rothamsted Experimental Station, Harpenden, Hertfordshire, to Harry R [Ralph] Ricardo, 26A Norham Gardens, Oxford	24 March 1942
RSC/5/13/96	Letter from Harry R [Ralph] Ricardo, 26A Norham Gardens, Oxford, to [Frederick George] Donnan	1 February [1944]
RSC/5/13/95	Copy letter from [Frederick George Donnan], to [Harry Ralph] Ricardo	31 January 1944
ACS/1/2/4/224	Letter from [Alan Archibald Campbell] Swinton, to [Harry Ralph] Ricardo	20 April 1929
ACS/1/2/4/233	Letter from [Alan Archibald Campbell] Swinton, to [Harry Ralph] Ricardo [Esquire]	26 April 1929
ACS/1/2/4/314	Letter from [Alan Archibald Campbell] Swinton, to Harry [Ralph] Ricardo [Esquire], F. R. S., 13 Bedford Square, W. C. 1.	31 May 1929
ACS/1/2/4/370	Letter from [Alan Archibald Campbell] Swinton, to Professor[William Ernest] Dalby, F. R. S., Senior Treasurer, The Royal Society Club	26 June 1929
RSC/5/13/62	Letter from E J [Edward John] Russell, Rothamsted Experimental Station, Harpenden, Hertfordshire, to Harry R [Ralph] Ricardo, 21 Suffolk Street, Pall Mall, London	17 October 1942

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