Charles Algernon Parsons
Sir Charles Algernon Parsons, OM, KCB, FRS (13 June 1854 – 11 February 1931) was a British engineer, best known for his invention of the compound steam turbine,[1] and as the eponym of C. A. Parsons and Company. He worked as an engineer on dynamo and turbine design, and power generation, with great influence on the naval and electrical engineering fields. He also developed optical equipment for searchlights and telescopes.
The Honourable SirCharles Algernon Parsons
13 June 1854
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
11 February 1931 (aged 76)
Katharine Parsons (née Bethell) (m. 1883) (d. 1933)
Rachel Mary Parsons (1885–1956)
Algernon George Parsons (b. 1886–1918)
Rumford Medal (1902)
Albert Medal (1911)
Franklin Medal (1920)
Faraday Medal (1923)
Copley Medal (1928)
Bessemer Gold Medal (1929)
Personal life and death[edit]
In 1883, Parsons married Katharine Bethell, the daughter of William F. Bethell. They had two children: the engineer and campaigner Rachel Mary Parsons (b. 1885), and Algernon George "Tommy" Parsons (b. 1886), who was killed in action during World War I in 1918, aged 31.[27]
They had a London home at 1 Upper Brook Street, Mayfair, from 1918 to 1931.[28]
Sir Charles Algernon Parsons died on 11 February 1931, on board the steamship Duchess of Richmond while on a cruise with his wife. The cause of death was given as neuritis.[29] A memorial service was held at Westminster Abbey on 3 March 1931.[30] Parsons was buried in the parish church of St Bartholomew's in Kirkwhelpington in Northumberland.[31]
His widow, Katharine, died at her home in Ray Demesne, Kirkwhelpington, Northumberland in 1933.[32] Rachel Parsons died in 1956; stableman Denis James Pratt was convicted of her manslaughter.[33]
In 1919, Katharine and her daughter Rachel co-founded the Women's Engineering Society with Eleanor Shelley-Rolls, Margaret, Lady Moir, Laura Annie Willson, Margaret Rowbotham and Janetta Mary Ornsby, which is still in existence today. Sir Charles was initially a supportive member of the organisation until his wife's resignation.[34][27]