Edgar Philip Rathbone died in June, 1924, in his 68th year.
After serving a five years’ apprenticeship as a mining engineer with the late Emerson Bainbridge, of Sheffield, he went to the Royal School of Mines, afterwards passing through Freiberg and the Liége School of Mines. In conjunction with Emerson Bainbridge and the late George Seymour he founded the firm of Bainbridge Seymour & Co., in which he was a partner for about seven years. On leaving the firm he went to South Africa for Messrs. Bewick, Moreing & Alford, and was one of the pioneers on the Rand.
He subsequently started in practice as a consulting mining engineer in Johannesburg, and was for some time editor and part proprietor of The South African Mining Journal and Financial News. He was elected, an honorary member of the Chamber of Mines, Johannesburg, and was appointed Government Inspector of Mines under the Boer regime, in which capacity he took a prominent part in the drafting of the mining regulations of the Transvaal.
In 1906 he returned to England and established himself as a consulting engineer in London. He took part in discussion at meetings of the Institution for many years, and contributed two papers to the Transactions, on ‘Economic Features in connexion with Mining on the Witwatersrand’ (vol. v, 1896-7), and ‘Visit to the De Beers Consolidated Diamond Mines’ (vol. xvi, 1906-7).
Mr. Rathbone was elected a Member of the Institution in 1892.
Vol. 34, Trans I.M.M., 1924-25, pp.572-3
