Kenelm Edgcumbe, 6th Earl of Mount Edgcumbe

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Kenelm William Edward Edgcumbe, 6th Earl of Mount Edgcumbe (born October 9, 1873 in Vienna , † February 3 or February 10, 1965 in Mount Edgcumbe House ) was a British nobleman, businessman and politician.

Origin and education

Kenelm Edgcumbe came from a sideline of the British Edgcumbe family . He was the only son of Richard Edgcumbe and his first wife Mary Monck . After attending Harrow School , he studied electrical engineering at the University of Dresden and University College London in London . After completing his degree, he trained at Crompton and Co in Chelmsford .

Activity as engineer and entrepreneur

From 1897 Edgcumbe was an employee at the Northampton Polytechnic Institute in London. In 1900 he became a partner in Everett and Co , founded by Edgar Isaac Everett in 1884 , which then traded as Everett, Edgcumbe and Co and was based in Hendon near London. Edgcumbe and his co-partner were pioneers of the still young electrical engineering. Her company manufactured, among other things, electrical measuring devices and components for alternators. Due to his innovations and publications, Edgcumbe was internationally recognized as a professional. He was a Fellow of University College London, a member of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers and the Institution of Civil Engineers , Honorary Secretary of the International Electrotechnical Commission , Vice President of the International Commission on Illumination and Vice President of the British Electrical and Allied Manufacturers' Association . From 1925 he was Vice President and then from 1928 to 1929 President of the Institution of Electrical Engineers . In this office he campaigned for the establishment of a section for measuring instruments in society. The company Everett, Edgcumbe and Co was sold in 1957, but still exists despite several changes of ownership (as of 2020). Samples of the products made under Edgcumbe's direction can be found in the holdings of the Science Museum in London.

Military activity

From 1900 Edgcumbe served as a reserve officer with the London Electrical Engineers , a unit of the Royal Engineers that belonged to the Territorial Army . During the First World War his company supplied the British Army and he himself served as the commander of a battalion that operated searchlights guarding the Naval Base at Dockyard Devonport . He was awarded the Territorial Decoration for his service . After the war he retired from the army in 1925 with the rank of lieutenant colonel .

Kenelm Edgcumbe had Mount Edgcumbe House, which was destroyed in World War II, rebuilt

Heir to the title Earl of Mount Edgcumbe

When Kenelm's great cousin Piers Edgcumbe, 5th Earl of Mount Edgcumbe died childless in 1944, he inherited the title of Earl of Mount Edgcumbe and the family estates at the age of 70 . He became a member of the House of Lords , and in 1961 he was Deputy Lieutenant of Cornwall . Edgcumbe came into a difficult inheritance. The family estate of Mount Edgcumbe House was completely destroyed by a German bombing in 1941, but it was supposed to pay high inheritance taxes. He and his family first moved to the old Cotehele family home . After lengthy negotiations, he managed to hand over Cotehele to the National Trust in 1947 instead of paying inheritance taxes . This was the first major property to be given to the National Trust in lieu of inheritance tax payments. Despite his age and knowing that his daughters would not inherit the property after his death, Edgcumbe decided to have Mount Edgcumbe House rebuilt. Reconstruction began in 1958 according to plans by Adrian Gilbert Scott . Edgcumbe and his wife moved into a small apartment in the property's former stables to supervise the construction work. He died a year after the reconstruction was completed.

Family and offspring

On July 19, 1906 Edgcumbe had married Lillian Agnes Arkwright († 1964), a daughter of Arthur Chandos Arkwright and his wife Agnes Tufnell from Hatfield Place in Essex . With her he had a son and three daughters:

  • Hilaria Agnes Edgcumbe (1908-2009)
  • Katherine Lilian Edgcumbe (1910-1999)
  • Margaret Louisa Edgcumbe (1912–1988)
  • Piers Richard Edgcumbe (1914-1940)

Since his only son Piers had died on May 27, 1940 at the Battle of Dunkirk , his distant New Zealand cousin Edward Edgcumbe inherited Mount Edgcumbe House and the title after his death .

Works

  • Industrial electrical measuring instruments . Constable, London 1918.

Edgcumbe published several articles in professional journals and was the editor of several editions of Whittaker's electrical engineers' pocket-book .

literature

  • MOUNT EDGCUMBE, Kenelm, 6th Earl of. In: Who Was Who, online edn , Oxford University Press, 2014

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Grace's Guide to Industrial British History: Lieut-Col. Kenelm William Edward Edgcumbe of Everett, Edgcumbe and Co (1873-1965). Retrieved June 22, 2020 .
  2. ↑ Kenelm William Edward Edgcumbe, 6th Earl of Mount Edgcumbe on thepeerage.com
  3. ^ High Voltage Instruments Limited: About us. Retrieved June 22, 2020 .
  4. ^ Science Museum Group: Edgcumbe and Company Limited Everett. Retrieved June 25, 2020 .
  5. ↑ Rachel Hunt: Cotehele, Cornwall. A souvenir guide . National Trust, Swindon, ISBN 978-1-84359-428-4 , p. 32
  6. ^ Cornwall Calling: Cotehele House & Gardens. Retrieved March 6, 2013 .
  7. ↑ Cynthia Gaskell Brown: Mount Edgcumbe House and Country Park: Guidebook , Mount Edgcumbe House and Country Park, Torpoint 2003, p. 39
predecessor Office successor
Piers Edgcumbe Earl of Mount Edgcumbe
1944-1965 		Edward Edgcumbe
personal data
SURNAME Edgcumbe, Kenelm, 6th Earl of Mount Edgcumbe
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Edgcumbe, Kenelm; Edgcumbe, Kenelm William Edward, 6th Earl of Mount Edgcumbe (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British nobleman, businessman and politician
DATE OF BIRTH October 9, 1873
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna
DATE OF DEATH February 3, 1965 or February 10, 1965
Place of death Mount Edgcumbe House