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Authorised form of nameSiemens; Sir; Charles William (1823 - 1883)
Other forms of nameCarl Wilhelm
Dates1823 - 1883
NationalityGerman
Place of birthLenthe, Hanover, Germany
Date of birth04 April 1823
Place of deathLondon
Date of death18 or 19 November 1883
DatesAndPlacesBurial:
Kensal Green cemetery, London
OccupationCivil engineer
Research fieldEngineering
ActivityEducation:
Lubeck; Gottingen
Career:
Introduced his brother's process for electro gilding into England (1843); patented his own Differential Governor (1845); naturalised British (1859); London agent for Siemens and Halske, establishing works at Charlton; laid the Atlantic cable and designed the cable ship Faraday (1874); promoted electric lighting; constructed the Portrush Electric Railway (1883); took out 113 patents; President, British Association (1882)
Honours:
Kt 1883
Memberships:
MICE
Membership categoryFellow
Date of election05/06/1862
RSActivityLectures:
Bakerian 1871
RelationshipsFourth son of C Ferdinand Siemens and his wife Eleonore Deichmann; baptised Carl Wilhelm, but known as Wilhelm; married (1859) Anne, daughter of Joseph Gordon of Edinburgh (she died 1901)
SourceSources:
Bulloch's Roll; DNB; DSB
Obituaries:
Proc Roy Soc 1884 vol 37 pp i-x
References:
Otto Mayr, 'Victorian Physicists and Speed Regulation: An Encounter Between Science and Technology' in NR 1971 vol 26 pp 205-228
Notes:
Boase gives date of death as 19 November 1883.
Virtual International Authority Filehttp://viaf.org/viaf/80398392
CodeNA6256
Archives associated with this Fellow
RefNoTitleDate
MS/769/94Letter from Charles William Siemens, 3 Palace Houses, Kensington Gardens18 May 1882
IM/004182Siemens, Sir Charles Williamnd
MS/427/151Copy letter from Walter White, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to [Charles William] Siemens Esq.10 December 1881
NLB/2/50Copy letter from Herbert Rix, to the Executors of the late Sir William Siemens20 December 1887
RR/6/271Referee's report by Robert Willis, on a paper 'On uniform rotation' by Charles William Siemens26 May 1866
RR/8/258Referee's report by John Hopkinson, on a paper 'On the dynamo-electric current, and on certain means to improve its steadiness' by Charles William Siemens1 April 1880
RR/7/484Referee's report by William Froude, on a paper 'On determining the depth of the sea without the use of the sounding-line' by Charles William Siemens20 April 1876
RR/7/483Referee's report by William Thomson, Lord Kelvin, on a paper 'On determining the depth of the sea without the use of the sounding-line' by Charles William Siemens8 March 1876
MC/12/130Letter from E F Bember, 12 Queen Anne's Gate, Westminster, to Walter White, [Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society]7 December 1880
MC/13/52Letter from Johnson, Budd & Johnson, 20 Austin Friars, London, to [John Evans], Treasurer of the Royal Society27 May 1884
RR/8/259Referee's report by George Carey Foster, on a paper 'On the dynamo-electric current, and on certain means to improve its steadiness' by Charles William Siemens4 October 1880
EC/1862/10Siemens, Sir Charles William: certificate of election to the Royal Society
MC/9/117Letter from C W [Carl Wilhelm] Siemens, Kurhaus, St Morits [Moritz], Engadin, to Dr [William] Sharpey, [Secretary of the Royal Society]16 August 1870
MC/9/194Letter from C [Charles] William Siemens, 3 Great George Street, Westminster, to Walter White, [Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society]14 April 1871
MC/9/482Letter from C [Charles] William Siemens, 3 Great George Street, Westminster, to Professor G G [George Gabriel] Stokes, [Secretary of the Royal Society]29 January 1873
MC/9Volume 9 of miscellaneous correspondence regarding business matters, sent to the Royal Society1870-June 1873
MC/10/41Letter from C [Charles] William Siemens, 3 Palace Houses, Kensington Gardens, to Professor G G [George Gabriel] Stokes, Secretary of the Royal Society22 November 1873
MC/10Volume 10 of miscellaneous correspondence regarding business matters, sent to the Royal SocietyJuly 1873-1876
MC/11/175Letter from C [Charles] William Siemens, President of the Society of Telegraph Engineers, 4 Broad Sanctuary, London, to Professor [George Gabriel] Stokes, Secretary of the Royal Society, Burlington HouseFebruary 1878
MC/11Volume 11 of miscellaneous correspondence regarding business matters, sent to the Royal Society1877-1879
MC/13/4Letter from Johnson, Budd & Johnson, 20 Austin Friars, London, to the Secretary of the Royal Society14 January 1884
MC/13Volume 13 of miscellaneous correspondence regarding business matters, sent to the Royal Society1884
RR/7/385Referee's report by Charles William Siemens, on a paper 'On the origin and mechanism of production of the prismatic (or columnar) structure of basalt' by Robert Mallet20 May 1875
RR/7/208Letter from Charles William Siemens, on his paper 'The Bakerian lecture on the increase of electrical resistance in conductors with rise of temperature, and its application to the measure of ordinary and furnace temperatures; also on a simple method of measuring electrical resistances' to the Secretary of the Royal Society18 June 1872
AP/53/8Unpublished paper, 'The Bakerian Lecture: On the increase of electrical resistance in conductors with rise of temperature, and its application to the measure of ordinary and furnace temperatures; also on a simple method of measuring electrical resistances' by C W [Charles William] Siemens1871
RR/8/54Referee's report by Charles William Siemens, on a paper 'On certain molecular changes which occur in iron and steel during the separate acts of heating and cooling' by Professor Norris1 August 1877
PP/1/31Paper, 'On the conservation of solar energy' by C W [Charles William] Siemens1881
PP/2/12Paper, 'On a deep sea electrical thermometer' by C W [Charles William] Siemens1882
PP/2/12/1Manuscript, 'On a deep sea electrical thermometer' by C W [Charles William] Siemens1882
PP/2/12/2Diagram, circuit diagram by C W [Charles William] Siemens1882
PP/3/17Paper, 'On the dependence of radiation on temperature' by [Charles] William Siemens1883
PP/3/17/1Manuscript, 'On the dependence of radiation on temperature' by [Charles] William Siemens1883
PP/3/17/2Diagrams, experimental equipment and results by [Charles] William Siemens1883
MS/257/4/195Letter from Charles William Siemens, 3 St George Street to Edward Sabine3 December 1868
MS/257/4/194Letter from Charles William Siemens, 3 St George Street to Edward Sabine1 December 1868
RR/6/276Letter from Charles William Siemens, to George Gabriel Stokes, regarding a paper 'On uniform rotation' by Charles William Siemens17 October 1866
RR/6/272Referee's report by George Biddell Airy, on a paper 'On uniform rotation' by Charles William Siemens29 May 1866
RR/7/328Referee's report by Charles William Siemens, on a paper 'On the alleged expansion in volume of various substances in passing by refrigeration from the state of liquid fusion to that of solidification' by Robert Mallet17 June 1874
RR/7/329Referee's report by Charles William Siemens, on a paper 'On the alleged expansion in volume of various substances in passing by refrigeration from the state of liquid fusion to that of solidification' by Robert Mallet25 June 1874
RR/8/131Referee's report by Charles William Siemens, on a paper 'On a method of using the balance with great delicacy, and on its employment to determine the mean density of the Earth' by John Henry Poynting22 July 1878
MC/14/268Letter from the Executors of the late Sir [Charles] William Siemens, 12 Queen Anne's Gate, Westminster, to the Secretary of the Royal Society22 November 1887
MC/14Volume 14 of miscellaneous correspondence regarding business matters, sent to the Royal Society1885-1888
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