Stuart Sidney Webb-Bowen died in January, 1958, at the age of 73.
Mr. Webb-Bowen was at Dulwich College from 1896 to 1901 and received his professional training at the Royal School of Mines between 1901 and 1904, graduating with the Associateship of the School in mining. He underwent a two-year postgraduate course in many branches of mining practice at mines in Western of Messrs. Bewick Moreing and Co., and in 1906 was appointed chief surveyor at the Sons of Gwalia mine.
Mr. Webb-Bowen left in 1908 for Central America to accompany the late C.S. Herzig on an examination of properties in Nicaragua for H.C. Hoover, and on his return to London a year later, continued to assist Mr. Herzig for a few months. In January, he left for the Gold Coast, where he was in charge of re-sampling and estimation of ore reserves at Prestea Block ‘A’ and Prestea Mines. After reporting on alluvial gold properties in the Dutch East Indies and on gold in Korea, he visited Malaya and Banka.
From November, 1911, to February, 1913, Mr. Webb-Bowen managed Alluvial Tin Co., Ltd., Nigeria, and then joined Naraguta (Nigeria) Tin Mines, Ltd., as field engineer, manager and relieving general manager, remaining there until 1919.
Between 1920 and 1921, he took a year’s course in petroleum technology at the Royal School of Mines, then spent a year in the British West Indies reporting on Barrackpore oilfield for ‘Trinidad Leaseholds, Ltd.; and in 1922 was appointed Oilfields manager.
Mr. Webb-Bowen was engaged on consulting and reporting work in Colombia; South America, from 1925 to 1927 for various companies interested in petroleum, gold and platinum deposits, and from 1928 to 1929 was technical adviser to the Swazi Tin Syndicate. He was in partnership for a few years with the late Mr. P.A. Ivanoff, M.I.M.M., reporting and advising on various mining and metallurgical projects. He visited the U.S.A. in connexion with a patented process for production of white lead from galena, and reported on mines in Greece for Thracian Syndicate.
From 1932 to 1937 he was consulting engineer to Thracian Trust, Ltd., and Thracian Galena Products, Ltd. (of which he was also a director). He was also general manager to Thracian Mineral Products, Ltd., a group of companies operating lead and zinc mines in Greece.
In 1938 Mr. Webb-Bowen began private consulting work and reported on a pyrites and gold mine in Cyprus, and in 1939 became a director and consulting engineer to a company in Colombia which the outbreak of war prevented from operating.
During the war Mr. Webb-Bowen‘ worked first as consulting engineer to Wm. Foden and associated companies concerned with fuel economies and then between 1943 and 1947 as an Area Prospecting Officer for the Directorate of Opencast Coal Production. He lived subsequently in semi-retirement only, and at the time of his death had been acting as a consultant in connexion with opencast sites for William Wood and Sons, Huddersfield.
Mr. Webb-Bowen was elected an Associate Member of the Institution in 1909 and transferred to Membership in 1933. He was also an Associate Member of the Institute of Petroleum.
Vol. 68, Trans IMM 1958-59, pp.227-28
