Leonard John Rowe Hawkey died on 19th August, 1963, at the age of 73.
Mr. Hawkey studied at Penzance School of Mines from 1906 to 1910, when he gained the School’s Diploma. He then took up the post of assayer and surveyor with St. Ives Consolidated Mines, Ltd. In 1911 he left the United Kingdom to join Taquah Central Mines, Ltd., Gold Coast Colony, as assayer and surveyor. In 1913 he moved to Budurua Tin Mines in Northern Nigeria. From 1914 to 1918 he was surveyor to Ashanti Goldfields Corporation, Ltd., followed by two years as assistant manager to Jantar Nigeria Co., Ltd., Jos, Northern Nigeria.
In 1921 Mr. Hawkey was appointed assistant manager to Ashanti-Obuasi Reefs, Ltd., and in the following year was promoted manager. He then joined Champion Tin Fields, Northern Nigeria, as assistant manager and from 1927-28 worked as an independent consultant in Nigeria.
In 1928 and 1929 Mr. Hawkey was employed for two tours in West Africa with Morkwa, Ltd., on prospecting and legal problems, and then returned to the United Kingdom as manager of Hythe End Gravel Co., Ltd., Wraysbury. In 1932 he returned to the Gold Coast as an independent consultant, but then joined Bewick Moreing and Co., London, and undertook professional visits to Czechoslovakia and the Argentine on their behalf. From 1935 to 1938 he was joint general manager with Van Emden Gold Mines, Ltd., in Dutch Guiana.
In 1940 Mr. Hawkey joined the department of the civil engineer-in-chief at the Admiralty, remaining there until 1954. He was then appointed agent for Cementation Co., Ltd., for the Cornwall, Devon and Somerset areas, where he was concerned with the promotion of the company’s specialist processes, as well as with civil engineering and building. He was still with the company when he died.
Mr. Hawkey was elected to Associate Membership of the Institution in 1935.
Vol. 74, Trans IMM 1964-65, p.897
