Alexander Kennedy
| Alexander Kennedy | |
|---|---|
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| Born |
Alexander Blackie William Kennedy 17 March 1847 |
| Died | 1 November 1928 (aged 81) |
| Nationality | United Kingdom |
| Education | City of London School and the Royal School of Mines |
| Engineering career | |
| Discipline | Civil, Electrical |
| Institutions |
Institution of Civil Engineers (president), Institution of Mechanical Engineers (president), Royal Society (fellow), Institution of Electrical Engineers (member), Physical Society of London (council member), British Association for the Advancement of Science (president of engineering) |
Sir Alexander Blackie William Kennedy, LLD, FRS,FRGS (17 March 1847 – 1 November 1928), better known simply as Alexander Kennedy, was a leading British civil and electrical engineer and academic. A member of many institutions and the recipient of three honorary doctorates, Kennedy was also an avid mountaineer and a keen amateur photographer being one of the first to document the archaeological site of Petra in Jordan following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.
Kennedy was born in Stepney, London to Rev. John Kennedy, MA, and Helen Stodart Blackie, both from Aberdeen. His maternal uncle was John Stuart Blackie the Scottish scholar. He received his early education at the City of London School, before taking a short course at the Royal School of Mines, Jermyn Street to give him a basic grounding in engineering. In 1864, he was apprenticed into the shipbuilding firm of J & W Dudgeon of Cubitt Town. He spent the next four years there working as a draughtsman and had a hand in the construction of the first ships with compound engines and twin screws. By the time he left in 1868 he was one of a few draughtsmen in the country with a thorough understanding of the workings of both systems. He put this understanding to good use when he joined Palmers' Engine Works of Jarrow on Tyne upon completion of his apprenticeship, he became the leading draughtsman and designed the first compound engine to be built in the north. Having spent three years with Palmers he worked for a short time for T.M. Tennant and Company of Leith as their chief draughtsman.
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