William Menelaus
| William Menelaus | |
|---|---|
| Born |
10 March 1818 East Lothian, Scotland |
| Died | 30 March 1882 (aged 64) Tenby, Pembrokeshire, Wales |
| Resting place | Penderyn churchyard, Rhondda Cynon Taf |
| Nationality | Scottish |
| Citizenship | British |
| Spouse(s) | Margaret Janet Rhys (26 August 1852 – her death 10 weeks later) |
| Engineering career | |
| Discipline | Mechanical engineering, Ironmaster |
| Institutions |
Institute of Civil Engineers Iron and Steel Institute |
| Employer(s) |
Rowland Fothergill Sir John Guest |
| Projects | Dowlais Ironworks |
| Awards | 1881: Bessemer medal |
William Menelaus (10 March 1818 – 30 March 1882) was a Scottish-born mechanical engineer, who made his name and fortune as the works manager at the Dowlais Ironworks in South Wales.
Born in East Lothian on 10 March 1818, his father was a writer to the Society of Writers to Her Majesty's Signet in Edinburgh. Educated locally, he was an apprenticed millwright to a group of engineers at Haddington.
In 1844 Rowland Fothergill of Hensol Castle engaged Menelaus to remodel a corn mill. Persuading him to stay, Menelaus rose to manage Fothergill's Aberdare Ironworks at Llwydcoed.
After the death of Thomas Guest died in 1807, his son John Josiah Guest became sole manager of the Dowlais Ironworks, by 1815 owning nine of the sixteen shares. His brother Thomas Revel Guest owned one and Whyndham Lewis, the remaining six. In 1835 Guest made the acquaintance of engineer G. T. Clark, who had both had been involved in the Taff Vale Railway. In 1850, Clark married Ann Price Lewis (died 1885), a descendant of Thomas Lewis. Ann's brother had sold her family's last remaining interests in the firm that year, to Guest.
Having become sole owner, in 1851 Guest offered to double Menelaus's salary to £600pa to join the new management team. However, Guest died in 1852, and was buried at St. John's church in Dowlais. Guest named Clark, his widow Lady Charlotte Guest and Edward Divett as executors and trustees. Lady Guest would be sole trustee while a widow but she remarried in 1855 and de facto control fell to Clark.Henry Bruce, later to become Lord Aberdare, replaced Divett.
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