Person Thorneycroft; Sir; John Isaac (1843 - 1928); naval architect Thorneycroft John Isaac Sir naval architect Thornycroft 1843 - 1928 British Male Via Sistina, Rome, Lazio, Italy, Europe 01 February 1843 18430201 Steyne, near Bembridge, Isle of Wight, English Channel 28/06/1928 19280628 Burial: Bembridge, Isle of Wight, English Channel

Eyot Villa, Chiswick Mall, Chiswick, Middlesex, England (1889)

naval architect Education: Studied at the Vatican; Glasgow University; Royal School of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering. Career: Lived with his uncle and his wife in Gawsworth, Cheshire (1851); built the ‘Nautilus’, his first steam launch, in his father’s studio (1860); employed at Palmer’s Shipbuilding Company, Jarrow-on-Tyne, where he gained practical experience; employed at the drawing-office of Messrs. Randolph, Elder and Company under John Elder, the marine engineer; began shipbuilding on the River Thames at Chiswick (1864); Established his shipbuilding business John I. Thornycroft at Chiswick (1866); produced his first vessel for the Royal Navy, a motor torpedo boat (1877); took an interest in motor vehicles, developing steam-powered vans which were first built at the Homefield works near the Chiswick shipyard and later at Basingstoke (1890s); his partner, John Donaldson, died (1899); lack of money forced him to convert the private firm into a public company and bring in outside capital. Registered the new public company, John I. Thornycroft & Co. Ltd (1901); his company adopted the internal combustion engine (1902 onwards); transferred larger shipbuilding to Southampton (1904); set up the Hampton Launch Works on Platts Eyot, an island on the Thames at Hampton, Middlesex (1908); produced ‘pleasure cars’, later concentrating on commercial vehicle (1902-1913); built a craft for the Admiralty who required a fast launch that could skim safely over minefields and carry a torpedo, known as coastal motor boats (CMBs), in great secrecy at Hampton on the Thames (1916); retired to Bembridge on the Isle of Wight; died of myocardial degeneration (1928). Honours: Kt 1902 Memberships: MICE Parents: Thomas Thornycroft (1815–1885) and Mary Thornycroft (1809–1895), daughter of John Francis (1780–1861). Siblings: Sir William Hamo Thornycroft (1850–1925). Spouse: Blanche Ada Coules, daughter of Frederick Coules of Gloucester, tanner and bark merchant (8 October 1870). Children: John Edward Thornycroft; Blanche Thornycroft; Isaac Thomas Thornycroft; Edith Alice Thornycroft; Mary Beatrix Thornycroft; Ada Francis Thornycroft; and Eldred Elizabeth Thornycroft. Remembered for his Hull designs and boiler designs. Fellow 01/06/1893 50 John Perry Samuel Haughton William Cawthorne Unwin William Edward Ayrton Frederick Bramwell Alexanderr Blackie William Kennedy John Marshall James Emerson Reynolds George Salmon George Francis Fitzgerald John Gray McKendrick Robert Grant James Thomson Bottomley James Thomson Sources: Bulloch's Roll; DNB Obituaries: Proc Roy Soc Series A 1928 vol 121 pp xxxv-xxxvii, plate, signed by E H T d'E Thornycroft J I, IM Maull 004593.jpg 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 1 Feb 1843 - 28 Jun 1928 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. NA3693 21/11/2001 Andyg Martind 18/09/2024 RS_NET\VidaM Yes a5fd3e92-a33f-4692-b96b-0457f9c402f2