Harold Bethune Williams died suddenly on April 25th, 1921.
He commenced his technical training in 1894 at Mason’s College, Birmingham, studying geology under Professor Lapworth, and he also worked at Hamstead Colliery. In 1895 he entered the Royal School of Mines and obtained his Associateship in July, 1898. During the vacations he worked successively at the East Pool mine, Cornwall, the Foxdale mine, Isle of Man, and the Halkyn mine, North Wales.
On leaving the Royal School of Mines he obtained an appointment with the Dominion Mining and Development Co., British Columbia, in their silver-lead workings at Pitt Lake and Queen Bess mines, and in 1899 he was on the Duncan mine of the Granite Gold Mines, B.C., and in the following year was engaged on the concentration of silver-lead ores at the Highland mine. In 1901, he left British Columbia to join the staff of the Egyptian Mines Exploration Co., at the Fatira mines, Kenah, under the late Mr. Charles J. Alford. A year or two later he was with the Um Rus Gold Mining Co., of Egypt, Ltd., at Kosseir.
In 1907 he was appointed on the staff of the Champion Reef G.M.Co. (of India) where he remained until 1910, when he returned for about two years to British Columbia. In 1912 he joined the Sudan Gold Field Co., with which he was connected for several years, and in 1919 he was on the staff of the Abyssinian Development Syndicate, Ltd. He contributed a paper to the Institution in 1909 on ‘Hammer Drill Work at the Granite Mines, British Columbia’ (Trans., vol. xix).
Mr. Williams was admitted to Studentship of the Institution in 1898, and transferred to Associateship in 1902.
Vol. 31, Trans IMM 1921-23, pp.586-7
