User:Overtype/Jack Hampshire

Jack Hampshire.

Engineer and author. Born in June 1899, Cowes, [Isle of Wight]. Died in April 1982, [Arundel], [Sussex].

Jack Hampshire grew up in his family's business, which ran a fleet of steam vehicles based in [Alfold] in [Surrey]. He completed an apprenticeship, as a [Steam] and [General Engineer], with the firm of [Carter Brothers] at [New Pound], [Billingshurst]. From here he joined the [Royal Navy] at the later part of [The Great War], as an [engineer], serving from 1917 to 1919. After leaving the [Royal Navy], apart from one year working as a representative for the [Edison Steam Rolling Co]. he then worked within the family firm untill its closure, in 1929, partly due to the economic situation prevailing at that time, partly due to a serious fire which fataly undermined the business.

Through the 1930's he worked in the [mechant marine] as a [steam engineer], but at the outbreak of the [Second World War] he became involved in operating [steam saw-mills] for [timber production]. He was also involved with the [D-day] [PLUTO operation], where, incidently, he met his future wife, Peggy Phillips.

From 1945 to 1965 he returned to the sea, working in [steam tugs] until his retirement.

With time on his hands, he became once again involved with [steam road vehicles] as the [preservation movement] developed in the 1960's. Eventualy, in 1962 he acquired a derelict 6 ton [Foden] [steam wagon], Reg no. RP 9208, originaly built in 1930 and carrying works no. 13716. After 3 years rebuilding the wagon, he named it Peg o'my Heart, in honour of his wife, then spent many summers taking it around the country to [steam engine rallies].

A great raconteur and wit by nature, he was prevailed upon by several notables in the steam engine world to record his experiences for posterity. Consequently, his first book, '[I Worked With Traction Engines'] was published by [J. H. Lake and Co]. of [Falmouth] in [Cornwall] in 1967. It sold for the sum of 8/6 (42.5p).

The book uses the development of the family business to relate many tales of the trials and tribulations involved in running [steam engines] on the roads around southern England, during the early years of the C20th. The opening chapter gives a brief rundown on how a steam road engine works and defines the various categories of steam vehicle to be found running on our roads. This is purely to give the lay person sufficient background to appreciate the stories which follow. The subsequent chapters are filled with colouful anecdotes and stories which are told with humour, veracity and are incredibly atmospheric. They illuminate the epoch better than dry history can. The dialogue of the characters involved in the incidents and adventures being written in a dialect style which well conveys their local accents. As well as furnishing us with tales of the family firm, we are also taken through his father's atempts to learn how to master a motor car and Jack's own troubles when he tried his hand working with [steam rollers], 'for a change'. Woven in with the stories are many details of life as lived by country characters at that time, these include pastimes, living conditions, working methods, and attitudes. Jobs or trades described include; Threshing, Saw-milling, Haulage, and Furniture removal. The pen-ultimate chapter includes the unfortunate events which led to the closure of the family business. We are then taken forward to the preservation era with the last chapter, in which Jack relates the buying of his Foden steam Wagon, the restoration, and its first journey to appear at a steam rally, at [Redruth] in [Cornwall].

The forward to the book was written by [John H. Trounson], well known in [Cornwall] for his work on [metalliferous mining] history and his work to preserve the [industrial heritage] of the area. Mr. Trounson was also heavily involved in the [traction engine] [preservation movement].

The success of this volume led, in 1969, for the same publisher to release, ['Apprenticeship in Steam'], which retailed at 11/6 (57.5p).

This second book opens with a chapter that deals in greater depth with his childhood in a small village and details his earliest involvement with the motive power that would shape his life. The following chapters then take the reader through his apprenticehip days at [Carter Brothers]. (Renamed as Carrs for the purposes of the anecdotes.) Again the stories are rich with atmosphere and humour as tales are told of rescuing broken down [engines] and the numerous pranks in which the apprentices indulged. Some of the social attitudes of the day as held by, apprentices, senior craftsmen and management are revealed in the unfolding of the stories. Where engineering is mentioned, for the development of the tale, it is explained with clarity and simplicity and does not detract or break the flow of the anecdotes but leaves one with the feeling of having gained knowledge without having undergone the arduous process that the engineers of the time endured on a daily basis. Insights into skills such as boiler-making, black-smithing fitting and shaping are smoothly absorbed as are details of running and using various machines that are now long obsolete. As well as describing the steam powered machines Jack also tells of operating and working with the earliest forms of the [internal combustion engines], including the [hit and miss oil engine], early [farm tractors] and the [model T Ford]. The later chapters reflect the effect on the firm and the workforce of the ongoing [First World War] across the channel, inexorably draining away the manpower. The pen-ultimate chapter sees Jack leave the firm, having completed his apprenticeship, to sign on with the Royal Navy as a fully qualified steam engineer. The concluding chapter describes his return to the locality of his youth where he tracks down some of his former colleagues after a 50 year gap.

In this volume, the forward was penned by [John Arlott], the celebrated [cricket] commentator, the preface by [W. Michael Salmon], archivist of the [Road Locomotive Society]. This book was also made available in a hardback format by [Traction Engine Enterprises} also known as [TEE Publishing]. It is a great loss that further experiences were not recorded before his demise, though he was working on a third book, 'Memories of Steam Rallying', at the time of his death. Though doubtless full of anecdote and humour it would not contain, to this generation at least, the flavour of history that his two published works contain. A book of his second world war experiences or even of his life in the navy would have been an invaluable record for future generations.

An obituary was published in ['Steaming'], the magazine of [The National Traction Engine Trust] in the summer of 1982. (Vol. 25 No. 3).

There is a work entitled ['Prams, Mailcarts and Bassinets'],published by ['Jeremy Mills publishing'] as a reprint. I have seen that this book is available online via [Amazon] by a ['J. Hampshire'], but as yet I can not attribute this work to the same J. Hampshire. It seems to be a well regarded and sought after volume and as Jack hampshire had many wide and varied interests I can well believe it was penned by him.