Harry Scriven
SCRIVEN, Harry Edward Bennett, BE Qld FIEAustE (1893 - 1969)
SCRIVEN, HARRY EDWARD BENNETT, engineer and manager, the son of Ernest George Edward Scriven, Under Secretary for Agriculture in Queensland, and Helen Edith (nee Bennett), was one of four children born at Shottery Street, Yeronga, in Brisbane on 6 March 1893. His primary schooling was at the Normal School, Brisbane from which he entered Brisbane Grammar School, attending from 1907 to 1909 and from where he passed the then Sydney Junior Public Examination.
In 1909 Scriven was apprenticed in fitting and turning to Walkers Ltd, Maryborough, and completed his indentures in 1913. In the same year he matriculated and entered the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Queensland where he completed the degree course in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering and graduated in 1917. The degree was awarded in absentia as he had secured employment in the southern states by the time of the ceremony.
Although Scriven attempted to enlist in the AIF he was apparently rejected and found employment in munitions manufacture in Britain and in Australia. He was Assistant Engineer at the Commonwealth Arsenal in 1917 and gained experience in the installation and operation of production equipment in various munition factories in the UK. After the War he was employed for ·some years by William Adams and Co. Ltd in Melbourne but in 1927 he returned to Brisbane and worked for the Engineering Supply Co. of Australia Ltd.
In 1930 Scriven rejoined Walkers Ltd in order to further their interest in diesel engines (on which he had had considerable experience in the southern states), supervising the manufacture of engines under licence from Mirlees Bickerton & Day Ltd of the UK. He also invented a machine for the mechanical charging of horizontal retorts in gasworks which was supplied in large numers to gas-making plants throughout the eastern states of Australia. He was closely associated with the manufacture of sugar-milling machinery and was responsible for all cost estimation and drawing-office work, leading to Walkers' successful participation in this field.
During World War II Scriven ·was Chief Draughtsman responsible for all drawing-office work connected with the machinery side of Walkers' extensive shipbuilding programme. He held various responsible senior positions in the organization, culminating in his appointment as General Manager in June 1952 on the retirement of H.S. Goldsmith. This was a time of intense activity when the company was engaged in the production of ships, locomotives and a great amount of sugar-mill plant.
Scriven made three overseas trips on behalf of his employers. In 1954 he journeyed to the Caribbean to examine the sugar industry and to promote sales of Queensland-built machinery. In 1956 he was a delegate to the conference of the International Society of Sugar Technologists held in India, and in 1968, as the representative of Associated Engineering Manufacturers of Australia Ltd, he made a tour of South Africa and Mauritius to promote the interest of member companies with particular reference to sugar-milling machinery. The member companies were Walkers Ltd, Bundaberg Foundry and Morrison and Bearby Ltd of New South Wales. He retired in September 1961 but was retained by Walkers in a consulting capacity to ensure that his experience and expertise were still available to the company.
In 1919 Scriven was elected an Associate Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, but he resigned in 1932 after rejoining Walkers. He became an Associate Member of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, in 1920, gaining the status of Member in 1943 (which was equivalent to the status of Fellow after 1968).
In 1921 he married Hilda Blair Whitehall in Brisbane and they had a family of two daughters and one son; Scriven died in Brisbane on 8 March 1969.
References:
Eminent Queensland Engineers Vol 1 is available here.
Maryborough Chronicle, 19 June 1952 and 14 June 1956;
Information from Dr W.L. Hughes and staff of Walkers Ltd, Mary borough, Mrs B.N. Farmer, New South Wales, the Librarian, I.E. Aust., Canberra, and the University of Qld Archives.
