William Henry Johnson died on March 6th, 1945, at the age of 59.
He served his apprenticeship with the Whitehaven Colliery Co., Ltd., and Messrs. James Bain & Co. from 1903 to 1906. In September of that year he became assistant engineer to the late Mr. Edmund Jackson, mining engineer in general practice at Whitehaven, and two years later was appointed surveyor at the collieries of the Moresby Coal Co. Ltd. In 1910 he took up the position of chief surveyor at the Harrington collieries of the Workington Iron and Steel Co., Ltd., where he remained for four years. He returned to Whitehaven Colliery Co., Ltd., in March, 1914, as chief surveyor, subsequently holding the positions of colliery manager and mining engineer, and in September, 1924, he was promoted general manager and mining engineer, being in charge of four collieries and sixty-nine by-product coke ovens.
Nine years later he set up in private practice as a consultant, his work including the development of quartz mines for refractory brick making, and later conducting a survey of the abandoned West Cumberland haematite iron ore mines. This survey was initiated by the Cumberland Development Council, Ltd., with the support of the Commissioner for the Special Areas, and Mr. Johnson’s detailed report, privately printed by the Development Council, will be of permanent value for information and reference in the future development of the iron ore resources of West Cumberland.
Mr. Johnson was elected an Associate of the Institution in 1913, and was transferred to Membership in 1937. He was also a Member of the Institution of Mining Engineers.
Vol. 55, Trans IMM 1945-6, p.570.
