James Andrew
ANDREW, James MIEAust (1870-1946)
James Andrew was born in Oldham, Lancashire on August 26, 1870, the second son of Herbert Andrew and his wife Martha Andrew, nee Mitchell. His father was the Superintendent of the Oldham Gas and Water Works. James was educated at Oldham Grammar School and then worked under his father. By 1891 James was the Assistant Gas Engineer at the Oldham Water and Gas Works, with his older brother John being the Assistant Water Engineer.
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In 1906, James came to Western Australia to take up the position of Manager and Gas Engineer at the Perth Gas Company. The company was a significant enterprise generating electrical power as well as producing gas with 120 men employed. In 1906 it used over 12,000 tons of coal and had 3,000 gas and electric meters. It managed 43 miles of gas mains and had 69 miles of electric cables. When the company was taken over by the City of Perth, in 1912, James Andrew continued as Gas Engineer until his retirement in 1940. He was involved in the development of the 1,000,000 cubic feet per day gas plant that was opened at East Perth on April 9, 1924.
On December 10, 1906 James married Mabel Liddelow at St Georges Cathedral, Perth. They had one son, Herbert Ross Andrew, born in 1908.
James was very active with both the WA Institution of Engineers and the Institution of Engineers Australia, being a founding member of both. He was also an auditor of the WA Institution of Engineers from 1917 to 1920, and Treasurer of the WA Division of the Institution of Engineers from 1921 to 1925. In 1926, James was elected Chairman of the WA Division and continued with committee roles including Secretary, into the 1930’s. He presented a technical paper in 1925 on “Perth Gas Supply”.
After retirement from the City of Perth, James Andrew was a director of Yellow Cabs Pty Ltd from 1941 to 1946. He died at St John of God Hospital, Subiaco on June 26, 1946, and was survived by his wife and son.
References:
West Australian, 29.6.1946, p10
Cumming Papers
Western Mail, 7.7.1906, p15
