Bill Hamilton (engineer)
Sir William Hamilton OBE | |
---|---|
Born | Charles William Feilden Hamilton 26 July 1899 Ashwick Station, Fairlie, New Zealand |
Died | 30 March 1978 Fairlie, New Zealand | (aged 78)
Other names | Bill Hamilton |
Education | Waihi Preparatory School Christ's College |
Parent(s) | William Feilden Hamilton Cora Blakeney (née Cannon) |
Sir Charles William Feilden Hamilton
Hamilton never claimed to have invented the jet boat. He once said "I do not claim to have invented marine jet propulsion. The honour belongs to a gentleman named Archimedes, who lived some years ago." What he did was refine the design enough to produce the first useful modern jet boat.
Early life
Hamilton was born at Ashwick Station near Fairlie, New Zealand.[1]
Hamilton survived an airplane accident returning to
At the age of 21 he bought the 'Irishman Creek' sheep station in South Canterbury. After a trip to England became fascinated with motor cars and raced a Bentley. He decided to develop his own heavy machinery. He built a workshop, developed an excavator with an earth scoop and built a dam to supply water for a hydroelectric plant to supply power for domestic use and for his engineering projects, and started a manufacturing business.[4]
Ski tows
In 1947 tourism pioneer
Christchurch
The main manufacturing business, which had started in the workshop at Irishman Creek in 1939, moved to
Jet boats
In the 1950s Hamilton set out to try to build a boat that could navigate the shallow fast flowing rivers where he lived. The rivers were too shallow for propeller driven boats to navigate as the propeller would hit the river bottom.
He investigated the American Hanley Hydro-Jet, a model which drew in water and fired it out through a steerable nozzle underneath the boat. Even when further adapted it did not work well. An employee suggested moving the nozzle to just above the waterline.
When he took one of his early demonstration jet boats to the United States, the media scoffed when he said he planned to take it up the
CWF Hamilton & Co Ltd
The engineering company Hamilton founded, CWF Hamilton & Co Ltd, is now the holding company for two companies, Hamilton Jet and Hamilton Marine, that are focused on the production of waterjet propulsion systems. The company has divested itself of its other engineering activities.[11]
Honours and awards
In the 1961 New Year Honours, Hamilton was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, for services to engineering.[12] In the 1974 Queen's Birthday Honours, he was appointed a Knight Bachelor, for services to manufacturing.[13]
In 2004, Hamilton was posthumously inducted into the New Zealand Business Hall of Fame.[14]
Books
- "Wild Irishman", 1969, Lady Peggy Hamilton, (Publisher A.H. & A.W. Reed)
- "Hamilton Jet: The biography of an icon", 2014, John Walsh, ISBN 9780473289904(Publisher: CWF Hamilton and Co)
References
- ^ Bloxham, Les. "Hamilton, Charles William Feilden". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 4 June 2013.
- ^ The Evening Post 20 February 1936. Pilot and Union Airways director, Squadron-Leader McGregor, dies later; only passenger, C W F Hamilton, escapes serious injury
- ISBN 1-86934-042-6.
- ^ "The Shed at Irishman's Creek" Archived September 14, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, Brad Mills
- NZ Historic Places Trust
- ^ "Ski runners on Mt Ruapehu" Archived 2010-11-28 at the Wayback Machine, www.mtruapehu.com
- ^ "Australian ski lift directory: 2.3 Surface lifts"
- ^ "Business Of The Month", nzine.com
- YouTube
- ISBN 978-0-9795055-6-0
- ^ "75 years of innovation". Hamilton Jet. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
- ^ "Honours granted on the advice of New Zealand ministers". The London Gazette (3rd supplement). No. 42233. 31 December 1960. p. 8928.
- ^ "No. 46312". The London Gazette (3rd supplement). 15 June 1974. p. 6829.
- ^ "Past laureates". Business Hall of Fame. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
External links
- William Hamilton biography at Hamilton Jet's website at the Wayback Machine (archived 13 May 2015)
- William Hamilton at the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame