Person May; Charles (1801 - 1860); British civil engineer May Charles British civil engineer 1801 - 1860 British Male Alton, Hampshire, England, United Kingdom 4 May 1801 18010504 King's Road Clapham Park, South London, England, United Kingdom 10 August 1860 18600810 Burial: (13 August 1860)

3 Great George Street, Westminster, London, England, United Kingdom (1854)

Civil engineer Mechanics Chemistry Astronomy Civil engineering Career: Articled to a Ollive Sims, chemist in Stockport; set up in business as a chemist and druggist in Ampthill, Bedfordshire; became a partner in Ransomes and May, Ipswich, Manufacturing Engineers (1836); under superitendence of George Biddell Airy (FRS 1836) constructed, with an accuracy never seen before, the great transit circle and the altazimuth, at the Greenwich Observatory; entered partnership with Mr. Hawksley (1851); Local Secretary to the British Association (1851). Memberships: FRAS; MICE Parents: Samuel May, draper, and Ann May, both members of the Society of Friends. Spouse: (m. 24 April 1824) Ann Simms (d. 12 December 1860), daughter of Ollive Sims. Children: Robert Charles (5 April 1829); Walter (1831) Distinguished for having successfully carried out the ideas of the Astronomer Royal, in the construction of the Altazimuth and Meridional Circle Instruments, in the Royal Observatory. Advocate of high-pressure steam and for the use of the 'steam jacket'. Invented the method of compressing the wooden treenails used as fastenings for railway chairs, a system which has been all but universally adopted, on both British and foreign lines. Fellow 01/06/1854 54 George Witt John Gould William Brockedon Baden Powell John George Appold Richard Sheepshanks Charles Brooke John Percy Henry Thomas De la Beche John Frederick William Herschel James Meadows Rendel George Rennie Joseph Locke Isambard Kingdom Brunel Joshua Field William Cubitt George Biddell Airy Sources: Bulloch's Roll Grace's Guide to British Industrial History, Charles May, [URL: https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Charles_May; last accessed: 17/02/2026] Obituaries: Proc Roy Soc 1860-1862 vol 11 pp x-xi 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 1801 - 10 Aug 1860 NA2178 21/11/2001 Andyg Pmab 02/04/2026 RS_NET\VidaM Yes 1d0e5331-daf8-492f-87e5-e0b5f6e865ee