Donald Enock c1895
Vera Cargill Enock (née Clulee) (1882-1976). |
Date of marriage: Thursday, 2nd November, 1905.
Place of marriage: St. Cyprian's Church, 603 Umbilo Road, Glenwood, Durban, South Africa.
1868-1871 - 13, Balsall Heath Road, Balsall Heath, Birmingham, England.
Approximate location.
1872-1874 - 62 (now 121) "Florence Villa", Pershore Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham, England.
1875-1877 - Middleton Villas, Middleton Hall Road, Kings Norton, Birmingham, England.
Demolished in the 1960s/1970s.
1877-1879 - 10, Noel Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham, England.
1879-1883 - "1, Park Place" (now 104), Alcester Road, Moseley, Birmingham, England.
1883-1888 - "Hill Crest" (No. 28), Lickey Square, Lickey Rednal, Worcestershire, England.
1889-1890 - "Inglewood", Lower Contour Road, Kingswear, Dartmouth, Devon, England.
1891 - "Coombeside", Castle Road, Kingswear, Dartmouth, Devon, England.
1893-1895 - "Dimora" (now Tudor Lodge), Higher Erith Road, Torquay, Devon, England.
1896-1900 - "Kingston Lodge", Victoria Road, Dartmouth, Devon, England.
Demolished by 1936.
1905-1908 - Durban, Natal, South Africa.
1905-1910 - Durban, Natal, South Africa.
1910-1912 - Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.
?-1932 - Frere Road/Grimsby Road, Sea Point, Cape Town, South Africa.
General Education
1877-1882 - King Edwards School, New Street, Birmingham, England.
"Plus extra tuition in Spanish, French and Mechanical Drawing."
Technical Education
1882-1890 - Birmingham Mechanical Institute.
"This was continuous and simultaneous with latter half of school life and apprenticeship - approx 1882 to 1890, during which I passed the S. Kensington exams then necessary in machine design, mech drawing, applied mechanices and elementary science."
Apprenticeship
January 1883 - December 1887 - Atlas Engine Co., Atlas Works, Oozells Street, Ladywood, Birmingham, England.
"Apprenticed to the Atlas Engine Co., Birmingham, S. P (?) manager, I went through all shops, 1885 to 1891, and from 1891 to 1894 was with them as improver, working especially on refrigeration plants - being sent out on erection and latterly in charge."
January 1888 - February 1889 - Birmingham Refrigeration Co. Ltd, Birmingham, England.
Draughtsman.
March 1889 - July 1890 - Messrs. Alldays and Onions, Great Western Works, Sydenham Road, Small Heath, Birmingham, England.
Second Draughtsman.
August 1890 - February 1891 - Atlas Engine Co., Atlas Works, Oozells Street, Ladywood, Birmingham, England.
"Superintended, August 1890 to February 1891, special experiments on feed and air pumps for small-speed engines for a flying machine which Mr. Alexander Liwentaal, a Swiss engineer, was constructing."
1891 - April 1894 - Messrs. Philip and Son, Sandquay, Dartmouth, Devon, England.
“Works Manager, 1891 to April 1894, of the engineering portion of the yard of Messrs. Philip and Son, shipbuilders and engineers, Dartmouth.”
1895-1896 - Simpson, Strickland and Co., Noss Works, Bridge Road, Dartmouth, Devon, England.
"(14 months) With Simpson, Strickland & Co., Dartmouth, England, testing high speed engines and vedette boats."
1896-June 1898 - "Enock Bros", Coombe Works, Sandquay, Dartmouth, Devon, England.
In partnership with brother Eric Cuthbert Enock. Bought out by W. Ball & Co. of Torquay in January 1899.
"In business at Dartmouth as Enock Bros., yacht & launch builders and engineers. Built deep sea fishing steamer for Duke of Leeds, 220 passenger 8" draft boat for Rusden of Falmouth, & many others till June 1898."
“From May 1894 to the present time has been partner in the firm Messrs. Enock Brothers, steam launch builders, Dartmouth, and during the last two years has been almost solely engaged with experiments on water-tube boilers and noiseless petroleum burners for light high-speed machinery.”
July 1898 - Transvaalsche Koelkamers Beperkt of Durban, Johannesburg, Pretoria and Delagoa Bay.
"Chief Engineer to Transvaal Cold Stores of Durban, Johannesburg, Pretoria and Delagoa Bay, designing their several premises and going New York to supervise construction of machinery."
“At the beginning of April 1898 I severed my connection with the firm Messrs. Enock Brothers, Dartmouth, and on 28 April 1898 took the position of Chief Engineer to the Transvaalsche Koelkamers Beperkt of South Africa, who are erecting three large refrigerating works, for ice making and cold storage, at Durban, Johannesburg, and Pretoria. I supervised the whole of the plans, and made the constructional drawings for the buildings, and designed all mechanical details for same, including special elevators for carcases, methods of freezing, railway tracks, &c, and designed the installations of separate condensing plants, and water cooling towers. I also carried out experiments, with regard to the values of charcoal v. silicate of cotton for insulation. Whilst in the States I was elected a Member of the American Institute of Engineers, and I am next week going to Durban to superintend the erection of the first plant there.”
1899-1901 - South Africa.
"Came South Africa and erected some of the premises and machinery and operated them - entire charge - till end 1901."
1902-1905 - Own business.
"Designed, contracted for and erected cold stores for Durban Borough Market, Arctic Co., Canterbury Co. - total value £16,400. Also installed a Parsons Turbines for Natal govt., and portion of cooling plant for National Harbour till 1905."
1905-1908 - General Electric Co., South Africa.
"In the drawing office and erecting plants."
1909-1915 - Johnson & Fletcher Ltd, Rhodesia, South Africa.
"In entire charge of drawing office and workshops; designing and constructing on their behalf, the B.S.A Governments' oil Factory, bacon factory and creameries and mining machinery and pumping plants."
1916-1923 - Own Business.
"Designed, manufactured and installed special crushing and grading machines for asbestos mines, for Mr. Ackerman, government mining engineer, and rebuiltand overhanded the 50 bag per (?) hull of the Farmers Co-op. Also constructed a double set of 6" pumps in series and pipe line for B.S.A Co. cities estate."
"Jan 1923 to March 1925, supervising engineers in charge steel masts and bridgings (35 white steel erectors 100 natives) for the Pietermaritzburg-Glencoe railway electrification."
October 1925-? - Van Breda and Enock, Caledon, Cape Town, South Africa.
"Entered into partnership with Charles E. Van Breda as Van Breda & Enock. Consulting and contracting civil and mechanical engineers."
"In charge of mechanical portion of businessand of drawing office, designing and tendering on and constructing small water schemes, pumping plants, refrigeration schemes, and lighting and sewerage schemes for various small townships."
Associate Member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
"Have heard from Don, acknowledging my letters about the dear dad's death. He takes it "philosophically," perhaps he does not feel it as I do. Dear old dad! Donald very bitter against Guy over some old patent question I gather and intends to "show him up". I have written him tonight advising him to let it rest: that life is too short."
"Too sad - I heard the death of Donald, a letter came to Eric's son Ronald & cable, and Guy wrote me about it, as did Eric: my heart has been very heavy since, poor Don, and how I prayed for him continually - perhaps it helped him, surely it did dear God. I can scarcely feel it true. Well, he is with the dear Dad and Mother, all at rest in paradise." - Taken from Charles Reginald Enock's diaries which are held by the Imperial War Museum.
"My father's engineering life took us to many parts of southern Africa, including Durban, Cape Town, Bulawayo and Salisbury." - Kenneth Cargill Enock
“My father never spoke about his dad much, largely I believe because he didn’t know him well. I understand that Donald visited the home infrequently, enough to initiate the advent of another child, sent occasional support to Vera, and roamed freely in Africa on a variety of different engineering pursuits. The dates you have seem to correlate with the legend I have in my memory, which places Vera in Rhodesia within 15 years of the first colonisation (1890ish) by Cecil Rhodes so it was a wild frontier environment. At this time she would have had Peggy, her first child. She travelled all the way from Norton to Nottingham Road in Natal for the birth of my father [Kenneth Cargill Enock], much of it by wagon. She lived on a farm near Norton owned by Trevor Fletcher (there might nave been some connection there through Vera’s family) and was supported largely by him in the role of housekeeper and mother figure to his two boys, Peter and Martin, the latter for whom I was named. Donald visited there on occasion.
We all believed that Donald came to SA at the request of a brother to assist with a refrigeration plant in Natal. Your details are very interesting and perhaps he was recruited on his own merits. He was reputed to have had some association with the construction of the Victoria Falls Bridge as well –on the numerous occasions I visited the Falls we often referred to it as Grandad’s bridge. I was going to inherit from my father Donald’s personal sidearm – a 0.32 calibre automatic Browning or Beretta with holster and spare magazines by recollection. He used to sleep with it under his pillow while out in the bush and on one occasion was awakened by an intruder. In the pitch black of his mud hut he fired in the general direction of the departing thief and shot off 2 of his fingers. Which made it a relatively simple job of identification of the culprit the following day!” - Martin Enock
Donald was a member of the United Grand Lodge of England Freemason (Torbay Lodge) between 1895 and 1897.
Page updated 26th July, 2024.
