George Bertram Cockburn
|
---|
1911, Rheims.
|
Born
| (
1872-01-08
)
8 January 1872
|
---|
Died
| 25 February 1931
(1931-02-25)
(aged 59)
|
---|
Nationality
| British
|
---|
Occupation(s)
| Research chemist
aviator
|
---|
Known for
| Aviation Pioneer
|
---|
George Bertram Cockburn
OBE
(8 January 1872 ? 25 February 1931) was a research chemist who became an aviation pioneer. He represented Great Britain in the first international air race at
Rheims
and co-founded the first aerodrome for the army at
Larkhill
. He also trained the first four pilots of what was to become the
Fleet Air Arm
. During
World War I
he worked as a Government Inspector of Aeroplanes for the
Royal Flying Corps
at
Farnborough
and subsequently became Head of the
Accidents Branch
of the Department of the Controller-General of
Civil Aviation
at the
Air Ministry
.
[1]
Early life
[
edit
]
Bertram Cockburn was the youngest child of George Cockburn, a
Liverpool
provisions merchant, and his second wife Katherine Jessie Stitt (nee Bertram). Both his parents having previously been widowed, he had four older half siblings from his parents' first marriages ? John Scott Cockburn, Ada Cockburn, Mary Cockburn and Katie Stitt.
[2]
[3]
The family lived across the
River Mersey
at Lingdale Lodge, Shrewsbury Road in
Oxton
,
Birkenhead
.
[4]
Several earlier generations of the Cockburn family had lived in
Inveresk
south east of
Edinburgh
.
[5]
However, George Cockburn (Senior), who had travelled south to seek his fortune, had become sufficiently prosperous to be able to send both his sons to be educated at fee paying schools in
Scotland
. John, who became a
Presbyterian
minister,
[6]
attended
Edinburgh Academy
then
Glasgow University
[7]
and George (Junior) was sent to
Loretto School
in
Musselburgh
from 1887 until 1892.
[8]
In October 1892 Bertram Cockburn entered
New College, Oxford
to read
Natural Sciences
specialising in
Chemistry
. He graduated in 1895.
[9]
Career
[
edit
]
Research chemist
[
edit
]
On leaving
Oxford
he went to the Chemistry Laboratory of
St George's Hospital
in London to work with John Addyman Gardner
[10]
on the study of fenchones. Between 1897 and 1898 they jointly published four papers in the
Journal of the Chemical Society
.
[11]
[12]
[13]
[14]
In 1899 Bertram Cockburn published a fifth paper on fencholenic acids independently of Gardner. By this time, he had received his BSc.
[15]
His father died in 1893 while he was at Oxford
[16]
and, by 1901, he had returned to Birkenhead to live with his widowed mother and unmarried sister Mary.
[17]
Following the death of his mother in 1903,
[18]
they sold the family home and moved to Taynton in
Gloucestershire
.
[19]
Pioneer Aviator
[
edit
]
In February 1909 Bertram Cockburn was elected to membership of the
Royal Aero Club
[20]
and, later that year, travelled to France to become the first pupil in
Henri Farman
's flying school at
Chalons-sur-Marne
.
[21]
He made his first flight in June of that year
[22]
and took part in the
Grande Semaine d'Aviation
at Rheims in August.
[23]
He represented Great Britain in the competition for the
Gordon Bennett Cup
but unfortunately crashed into a haystack and was unable to complete the course.
[24]
He returned to Britain with a
Farman III
biplane and, on 26 April the following year, he received
Royal Aero Club
certificate number 5. By this time he was resident at
St Mary Bourne
near
Andover, Hampshire
.
[25]
In June 1910, he won a prize of £100 in the 'Quick Starting' Competition at the
Wolverhampton
Air Meet .
[26]
Although he actively promoted air races as an incentive to develop improvements in aircraft performance,
[27]
he never flew competitively again following the death of his friend
Charles Rolls
at
Bournemouth
. In 1912 he became a founder member of the Royal Aero Club's Public Safety and Accidents Investigation Committee.
[28]
Trainer of Pilots
[
edit
]
On returning from France, Bertram Cockburn devoted himself to the training of other pilots.
[29]
He obtained permission from the army to rent a shed at Larkhill adjacent to
Salisbury Plain
.
[30]
From here he and other aviators gave private instruction in flying to army officers. By 1910, he and
Captain JBD Fulton
had founded the first aerodrome for the army.
[31]
In 1911, following the death of
Cecil Grace
in a flying accident, he volunteered to train the first four naval pilots at
Eastchurch
on the
Isle of Sheppey
.
[32]
This he did free of charge
[33]
while lodging with
Maurice Egerton
[34]
after which he returned to Larkhill.
Aircraft Inspector
[
edit
]
In 1913, as war approached, Bertram Cockburn resigned his Fellowship of the
Chemical Society
[35]
and in 1914 was appointed to be an Inspector of Aeroplanes for the Aeronautical Inspection Directorate (AID) of the
Royal Flying Corps
at
Farnborough
. In the
1918 New Year Honours
, he was awarded an
OBE
for his services.
[36]
Shortly afterwards, he became Head of the newly established
Accidents Branch
of the Department of the Controller-General of Civil Aviation, Air Ministry.
[37]
[38]
Family
[
edit
]
On 12 February 1913 he married Lilian Woodhouse, daughter of a sugar broker. They had one daughter, Joan, who was born in 1914. He died at Larksborough near
Whitchurch
in
Hampshire
in 1931, aged 59.
[39]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Raleigh, Sir Walter, (1922),
The War in the Air
, page 143, Hamish Hamilton SBN 241 01805 6
- ^
BMD Records England and Scotland
- ^
"Taynton Memorial Inscriptions"
. Archived from
the original
on 12 June 2011
. Retrieved
11 May
2010
.
- ^
1871,1881,1901 Census Records
- ^
Registers of Inveresk Parish Kirk
- ^
Records of St. Paul's United Reformed Church (formerly Presbyterian) Harrogate
- ^
Records of Edinburgh Academy
- ^
"George Bertram Cockburn"
. Early Aviators
. Retrieved
24 September
2018
.
- ^
Register of New College, Oxford
- ^
Obituary Notice, John Addyman Gardner
- ^
John Addyman Gardner M.A. and George Bertram Cockburn B.A.
Action of Phosphorus Pentachloride on Fenchone
, (1897) Journal of the Chemical Society Transactions
- ^
John Addyman Gardner M.A. and George Bertram Cockburn B.A.
Researches on the terpenes. II. On the oxidation of fenchene
, (1898) Journal of the Chemical Society Transactions
- ^
John Addyman Gardner M.A. and George Bertram Cockburn B.A.
Researches on the terpenes. III. Halogen derivatives of fenchone and their reactions
, (1898) Journal of the Chemical Society Transactions
- ^
John Addyman Gardner M.A. and George Bertram Cockburn B.A.
Researches on the terpenes. IV. On the oxidation of fenchone
, (1898) Journal of the Chemical Society Transactions
- ^
George Bertram Cockburn B.A., B.Sc.,
Isomeric fencholenic acids
, (1898) Journal of the Chemical Society Transactions
- ^
BMD Records England
- ^
1901 Census Records
- ^
BMD Records England
- ^
Kelly's Directory, (1910) Gloucestershire
- ^
Flight Magazine
, 27 February 1909
- ^
Villard, Henry(1987)
Contact! The Story of the Early Aviators
, page 76, Smithsonian Institution Press,
ISBN
0-486-42327-1
- ^
Flight Magazine
, 19 June 1909
- ^
Events 1909 Rheims, Grande Semaine D'Aviation de la Champagne
- ^
"University of Liverpool, Flight Science and Technology, The Reims Air Meeting 1909"
. Archived from
the original
on 10 December 2009
. Retrieved
11 May
2010
.
- ^
Records of the Royal Aero Club
- ^
Flight Magazine
, 2 July 1910
- ^
New York Times
, 19 July 1910
- ^
Flight Magazine
, 26 October 1912
- ^
Turner ,Charles Cyril, (1972),
The Old Flying Days
, page 200, Arno Press,
ISBN
0-405-03783-X
,
- ^
Alfred Gollin
,
The Impact of Air Power on the British People and their Government (1909?1914)
, pages 92 & 93, Stanford University Press,
ISBN
0-8047-1591-2
- ^
"Aviation on Salisbury Plain"
. Archived from
the original
on 31 May 2009
. Retrieved
11 May
2010
.
- ^
Flight Magazine
, 13 May 1911
- ^
Turner, Charles Cyril, (1972)
The Old Flying Days
, page 19, Arno Press,
ISBN
0-405-03783-X
- ^
1911 Census Records
- ^
Chemical Society Annual General Meeting, 14 May 1913
- ^
Supplement to the London Gazette
, 7 January 1918
- ^
Turner ,Charles Cyril (1972)
The Old Flying Days
, page 72, Arno Press,
ISBN
0-405-03783-X
- ^
Route to Egypt Losses Enquiry
, Hansard, 30 October 1919 vol 120 cc914-5W
- ^
BMD Records England
External links
[
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]