Harold Abbot Titcomb died on 26th November, 1953, at his home in Farmington, Maine, U.S.A. He was 79 years of age.
An American citizen by birth, of British ancestry, he was educated at Shurtleff College, Illinois, graduating in 1894 with an A.B. degree, and subsequently took a four years’ course at Columbia University, New York City, receiving the degree of Engineer of Mines in 1898. From July to November, 1898, during the Spanish American war, he was a sergeant in the 201st Regiment, New York Volunteer Infantry.
His professional career began in 1899 when he was placed in charge of lead-zinc mine examinations in Missouri and Arkansas, and in the following year he worked at Carisa gold mine in Wyoming, becoming assistant manager. He joined Federal Gold Mining Co., Wyoming, in 1900 as assistant manager and in November, 1901, began examination and development work in the United States, Mexico, Nicaragua, South America and Russia, in association with Mr. John Hayes Hammond and Mr. A. Chester Beatty.
When an English Syndicate took over Camp Bird mine at Ouray, Colorado, in 1902, Mr. Titcomb acted as general manager for the new owners, but in September of that year he re-joined Mr. Chester Beatty and Mr. Hammond and examined mines in the United States and Mexico. During 1905-6 he developed and managed the Leonesa mine in Nicaragua, and in October, 1906, did consulting work in London and St. Petersburg, the following year making an examination at Braden Copper Co., Chile. In 1908 he set up in practice in London as a consulting mining engineer and from 1910 to 1919 was in partnership with Mr. R.M. Geppert.
During the 1914-19 war he volunteered and served as a warrant officer in the Independent Force of the Royal Air Force in Britain, and in 1917 he prepared and submitted to the British Government a detailed report of the iron and steel works in the Ruhr.
From 1914 he and Mr. Geppert were consulting engineers to Esperanza, Ltd., at El Oro, Mexico. Mr. Titcomb established connexions with Selection Trust, Ltd., in London, in association with Mr. A. Chester Beatty. In 1927 he re-opened the lead-zinc silver property in Serbia which had not been worked since the fifteenth century and which, in 1931, was incorporated as Trepca Mines, Ltd. The Order of St. Sava (Grand Officer) was conferred upon him by King Alexander of Yugoslavia for his services. He remained consulting engineer to the company for fifteen years until the early part of the second world war.
He retired from active work some time before 1939, but at the request of the British Government he prepared a second ‘iron report’ on the Ruhr before leaving for America. After Dunkirk he became a member of the National Committee for the Defense of British Homes which, during 1940, sent gifts of arms and ammunition to the Home Guard. During the war he gave substantial monetary assistance to badly bombed cities in Britain, and after the war was engaged on relief work sending food parcels to England, which he visited nearly every year.
He was a keen archer and in 1939 was elected an honorary member of the United Bowmen of Philadelphia. In 1943 he was elected President of the Royal Toxophilite Society, London, the first and only American to receive that honour.
He was elected to Membership of the Institution in 1908 and was a Member of the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers and a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. He was a Member of the Mayflower Society, the English-speaking Union and Columbia University Club.
Vol. 63, Trans IMM 1953-54, p.540
