Edward Hume
HUME, Edward Shotton, MIME AMIEAust MARMMA MABBA (1857-1946)
Edward Shotton Hume was born in Broughty Ferry, near Monifieth, Dundee, Scotland on August 9, 1857. He was the son of professional phrenologist and mesmerist, James Hill Hume and his wife, Margaret Hume (nee Shotton). He attended the high school in Dundee and then studied in a lawyer’s office but preferred more practical work. He then entered the Tay Foundry as an engineering apprentice.
Going to sea as a ship’s engineer Hume delivered the Rosedale to the Gippsland Steam Navigation Company of Melbourne in 1877 before working as an engineer for the Chiltern Valley Gold Mining Company. He then joined the New South Wales Railways at the Everleigh Workshops being subsequently made Foreman of the Junee Junction Workshop.
In 1882, Hume married Elizabeth Ewells in Victoria.
In 1884, Hume joined Messrs Logan and Co, railway contractors in the Illawarra, NSW. He then joined Millar Brothers, in Western Australia, on the construction of the Albany to Beverley rail line. In 1886 he was involved in the construction of the Clackline to Newcastle (Toodyay) rail line. He then returned to New South Wales to operate his own farming implement business, and won first prize for his plough at the 1888 Junee Show.
From 1893 to 1896 Hume lived with his wife and four daughters in Bayview Street, Bexley, NSW. His only son, Edward, died in infancy at Bexley in 1894.
Resuming employment with Millar Brothers, Hume was involved in the construction of the railway between Palmerston (Darwin) and Pine Creek in the Northern Territory. He then took charge of the Millar Brothers workshop in Western Australia.
In February 1900, Hume joined the WA Government Railways as Works Manager, Fremantle, and then was appointed Chief Mechanical Engineer on July 1, 1904. During his employment with WA Government Railways he acted for extended periods as the Commissioner of Railways. On December 20, 1907, he was praised for his role in supervising the construction of the first locomotive at the Midland Workshops.
With James Thompson, Hume was a member of the Board inquiring into corrosion of the Goldfields pipeline from 1909 to July 1910, when the final report was presented. He supported the formation of the WA Institution of Engineers and was a member of the inaugural committee. He was Vice President in 1913/14 and President in 1914/15. In 1916, he was involved in the Collie Coal Commission.
In 1919, his first wife Elizabeth died in Perth. He subsequently remarried Jane (Jessie) Tomlinson in Kew, Victoria in 1920.
In 1920 Edward Hume retired from the WA Government Railways and became a consulting engineer for the Hume Pipe Company, founded by his two half brothers. In 1923 he was a major shareholder in the formation of Hume Steel Limited. He applied for patents on behalf of the company around the world for manufacturing spun concrete pipe. The applications for patent in Australia and America credit him as being the inventor. He was also involved in investment activity such as being part of the Eurythmic gold mining syndicate in 1931.
Edward Hume died on September 30, 1946, and was survived by his second wife, Jessie, and three married daughters. He left an estate valued at £20,235.
References:
J. S. Battye (ed), Cyclopedia of Western Australia, vol 1 (Adel, 1912)
Swan Express, 4.1.1908, p4
http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/hume-walter-reginald-6764 accessed November 4, 2019
Swan Express, 20.2.1920, p5
West Australian, 2.1.10.1946, p8
