National Portrait Gallery Arthur Edward Hadley (1870-1954), Assistant Controller of Inspection Dept, Ministry of Munitions Sitter associated with 4 portraits Arthur Edward Hadley by Bassano Ltd half-plate glass negative, 8 November 1935 NPG x179541 NPG x179542 NPG x179543 NPG x179544 Obituary ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?arnumber=5321257 ARTHUR EDWARD HADLEY Arthur Edward Hadley, C.B.E., died on the 8th April, 1954,at Darsham, Suffolk, at the age of 83. He was educated at Charterhouse, and on leaving in 1887, although coming from a legal family, he decided to pursue the then young profession of electrical engineering. After taking a course at the City and Guilds College, South Kensington, he became one of a group of young students and engineers who were associated with Dr. S. Z. de Ferranti in his early pioneer work, many of whom, like Hadley, subsequently attained considerable eminence. Amongst other things he was in the Drawing Office with H. H. Baker and was for a period in charge of the Transformer Test Department. When they moved to Hollinwood in 1897, Hadley was left in charge at Charterhouse Square. Sir Vincent de Ferranti still has a photograph of him presiding over his staff, which included H. W. Clothier and Hubert Sparks. He became a Director of Ferranti's, but resigned in 1902 to take up the position of Manager of the London office of the A.E.G. In 1905 this firm obtained large contracts with the County of Durham Electric Power Distribution Co. for 20-kV cables, switchgear and transformers for an extensive network designed to supply the Durham collieries, this being the first use of such a high voltage in this country. In the course of this work Hadley, and Dr. Klingenberg of Berlin, saw a great deal of Bernard Price, who was responsible to Charles Merz for the engineering of the Durham system. The A.E.G. having at that time acquired considerable interests in the Victoria Falls and Transvaal Power Co., of which in 1909 Hadley had become a Director, Bernard Price was offered and accepted the position of Chief Engineer in South Africa (later becoming also General Manager there and subsequently Resident Director). Hadley, who was always at the Company's head office in London, was made Managing Director in 1910 and succeeded the Marquis of Winchester in 1930 as Chairman, a position he retained until the company was acquired by the Electricity Supply Commission of South Africa in 1948. The German influence had disappeared after the 1914-18 War, and thereafter Hadley in London, and Bernard Price in Johannesburg, were primarily responsible for the spectacular development and financial success of the next thirty years. Both men were naturally cautious, and Hadley in particular always stressed the wasting character of gold mining. In consequence the engineering was developed on a relatively low cost basis, designed for a limited life. The constant growth of the Rand gold mining industry was therefore a pleasant and continuing surprise to them both. Although in his later life he was accustomed to preface his remarks on any engineering matters by saying although I am not now an engineer, he always contributed a very sensible and logical view and he took a personal interest in his company's power station design organization, which he retained under his control in London. He had a natural flair for management and finance, and not only became Deputy Chairman of the City of London Electric Lighting Co., but took an active part on the boards of many other companies outside the electrical industry, particularly those with interests in Central Africa; he was Chairman of the Rhodesia Railways and a Director of the British South Africa Company. In all his business activities he had the facility of inspiring loyalty and keenness from those who worked with and under him. Another valuable quality was his remarkable selfcontrol and his power to concentrate on one thing at a time. Apart from his business interests he was an interesting conversationalist with an amusing turn of cynicism; he was also a painter of no mean order. In sport he was an accomplished lawn tennis player and ice skater; he continued to skate until quite late in life and was the author of a well-known book on the subject. He joined The Institution as an Associate in 1895 and was elected a Member in 1912. During the 1914-18 War he worked as an Assistant Controller of the Inspection Department of the Ministry of Munitions, and was made a C.B.E. in 1918. His paper on Power Supply on the Rand, for which he received an Institution Premium, was published in the Journal in 1913. J. R. B.