Vincent Douglas Soar died on 18th December, 1952, at the age of 62.
He was educated at City of London School, and from 1907 to 1910 was an apprentice at underground railway works in London, at the same time studying engineering at South Western Polytechnic, Chelsea. He left England in 1910 to work as sampler, assayer and surveyor at Randfontein Central and Durban Roodepoort Deep gold mines, and in 1913 took up the position of assistant engineer to Kano (Nigeria) Tin Mines, Ltd., Northern Nigeria.
He joined H.M. Forces in September, 1914, serving first in the infantry and then with commissioned rank in 181 Tunnelling Coy., R.E., in France.
He was demobilized with the rank of captain in April, 1919, and took a refresher course at Camborne School of Mines until September, leaving England in December, 1919, to join the Shaw Duncan expedition to Northern Nigeria as surveyor and prospector. On his return to England in 1922 Mr. Soar was for nine months engineer-in-charge of road improvements under the North Riding of Yorkshire County Council, but in February, 1923, went again to Nigeria. For two years he was engineer-in-charge, Dome Areas, for Mongu (Nigeria) Tin Mines, Ltd, and from 1925 to 1929 manager of Anglo-Nigerian Tin Mines, United Tin Areas, Ltd., (Gurum River Areas), and Rayfield Delimi Tin Mines.
In December, 1929, he was appointed manager of Tanganyika Properties, Ltd, and worked gold alluvials in Tanganyika for that company until 1932, mining independently during the following year. From 1934 to 1936 he held the position of deputy general manager, National Mining Corporation, Ltd. He managed Jack tin mines in Southern Rhodesia in 1937 and 1938, at the same time practising in Salisbury as consulting engineer. He changed residence to Nairobi on taking up the position of engineer-in-charge, Kenya Reefs, Ltd., in 1938.
He returned to England in 1939 and joined the Ministry of Fuel and Power Directorate of Opencast Coal Production in Staffordshire, becoming Regional Prospecting Officer in January, 1943. He left that post in 1949 on his appointment as deputy assistant director of the Opencast Coal Division of the National Coal Board, but had to resign in January, 1951, owing to ill-health.
He was elected to Associate Membership of the Institution in 1917.
Vol. 64, Trans I.M.M., 1954-55, p.420
