Capt. Cecil Clement Longridge Esq (1852-1939)
Cecil Clement Longridge was born on 6 September 1852, the fourth son of James Atkinson Longridge and . He was baptised on 18 January 1853 at St. John’s Church, Newcastle upon Tyne.
He spent his early years in London, and by the 1861 Census was living with his family in Kensington, in the parish of St. Mary Abbot’s. He was educated at Radley College, leaving in 1858, and went on to train at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, where he prepared for service in the armed forces.
In 1873, Longridge was commissioned into the Royal Artillery (RA). His career combined both military and technical pursuits. In 1885, he was awarded a Doctorate in Universal Philosophy and Natural Science. His service took him abroad: by 1889, he had become Chief Instructor at the Royal Military College in Bangkok, Thailand, and held the rank of Captain in the Staff Corps.
In 1890, he became Managing Director of the Patent Axle Box & Foundry Company Ltd of Birmingham. He was elected an Associate Member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (AMIMechE) in 1894, and held numerous patents for mechanical inventions. These included several improved cast-iron and cast-steel rail and tramway axle boxes, the Longridge-Turnbarrow pressed steel weldless axlebox, the Drop Bulkhead, a stockless anchor, and collapsible mooring buoys—many of which were exhibited at the Yachting Exhibitions in London and Norwich in 1894.
He was a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers (AICivilE) and served on the Dartmouth Committee of Technical Education. He was also a director of Daimler Motors and was involved in the Roman Catholic Seminary (context unclear, possibly honorary or consultative).
Longridge married Florence Rogers, likely in 1886 at Stoke Damerel, Devon. She was the daughter of a physician from Saltash, Cornwall. The 1891 Census records the couple living in Amlwch, Anglesey, and by 1901, they had moved to Long Ditton, Surrey.
After his wife's death (believed to have occurred before 1910), Longridge lived a reclusive life in the West Indies, possibly in Bermuda. He appears to have returned to England aboard the Port Kingston (Imperial Direct West India Mail Service), arriving in Bristol on 24 August 1910. In his later years, he lived with his younger sister, Adelaide Josephine Longridge, at Painswick, Gloucestershire, where he was known to attend the local Roman Catholic chapel. Unusually, it was said he removed his shoes in Oriental fashion before entering the church.
A prolific author and inventor, Longridge wrote extensively on mining engineering, mechanical processes, and transport. His major published works include:
The Holloway-Longridge Process for Extracting Gold from Auriferous Antimony Ores and The Longridge-Holloway System of Smelting Antimony Ores (1896)- A Glossary of Mining Terms (1897)
- Hydraulic Mining (1899; expanded in 1902)
- Gold Dredging (1905, 1907; enlarged in 1914)
- Hydraulic Mining: Classification, Test and Valuation of Alluvials (1910), with supplements on roads and motor traction
- Gold and Tin Dredging and Mechanical Excavators (1910)
He also contributed technical articles to The Engineer, including pieces on blast furnace smelting by water gas, alcohol motors, and wheel and pack transport for mines, and published papers in the proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) and the Institution of Civil Engineers, covering subjects such as separation of dredged gold, dredging machinery, and roads for mining operations.
