Person Shaw; Henry Selby Hele- (1854 - 1941); mechanical and automobile engineer Shaw Henry Selby Hele- mechanical and automobile engineer Henry Selby Hele-Shaw 1854 - 1941 British Male Billericay, Essex, England 29 July 1854 18540729 Cottage Hospital, Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, England 30/01/1941 19410130

2 Pembroke Vale, Clifton, England (1881) Toxteth Park, Lancashire, England (1891)

Engineer Hydraulics Engineering Cat-breeding Education: Pivately educated at a young age; University College, Bristol (1880); LLD (St And) Career: Apprenticed at 17 to Messrs Rouch and Leaker, and the Mardyke engineering works of Rouch and Leaker in Bristol (until 1876); lecturer in mathematics and engineering, Bristol (1880); first professor of engineering, Bristol (1881); first occupant of the chair of engineering at the University College of Liverpool (1885); accepted the invitation to initiate a college of engineering at the Transvaal Technical Institute, of which he became principal within a year (1904-05); founded the Whitworth Society and was the Society's first President (1923). Memberships: MICE; MIMechE; FRMet Parents: Henry Shaw, a solicitor, and Marion, daughter of Henry Selby Hele, vicar of Grays, Essex. Siblings: Three brothers. Spouse: Ella Marion (d. 1947), daughter of Samuel Greg Rathbone, of the famous Liverpool family (1890). Children: Onse son, killed in the Frist World Wat, and one daughter. Invented the variable-pitch propeller, contributing to British success in the Battle of Britain in 1940. Investigated the flow of liquid between parallel glass plates (Hele-Shaw flow). Invented instruments for recording of wind velocities. Invented the streamline filter; hydraulic transmission gear; the hydraulic steering gear for ships; pumps and hydraulic motors. Introduced the first practical automatic variable pitch airscrew in 1924, which twenty years later became essential for almost all fast aircraft. Fellow 01/06/1899 45 William Mitchinson Hicks James Alfred Ewing William Henry White Richard Tetley Glazebrook Oliver Joseph Lodge Francis Elgar Alfred George Greenhill George Gabriel Stokes Kelvin [William Thomson] Sources: Bulloch's Roll; DNB Obituaries: Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society 1939-1941 vol 3 pp 791-811, plate, by H L Guy International Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families - ISAAR(CPF) - Ottawa 1996 ISBN 0-9696035-3-3 National Council on Archives, Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997 Anglo American Cataloguing Rules (second edition) rules for double barrelled and compound surnames https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbm.1941.0035 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/action/doSearch?ContribAuthorRaw=Hele-Shaw%2C+Henry+Selby 29 Jul 1854 - 30 Jan 1941 The past Fellows entries are under continuous revision. If you have queries or additional information to contribute, please contact Library@royalsociety.org. Content in external sources is not controlled by the Royal Society and historical sources may include content that is now unacceptable. Reviewed on 18/09/2024 as part of the Name Authority Project update. NA1726 21/11/2001 Andyg Pmab 08/09/2025 RS_NET\VirginiaM Yes 83acda1b-7d82-4026-b4e3-1fc4df103ccc