Personakt Antavla

Oscar Theodor Gnosspelius

Mining and railway constructor. Blev 75 år.

Far:Adolphus Jonathan Gnosspelius (1807 - 1883)
Mor:Amalia Townsend (1844 - 1930)

Född:1878-03-10 Maghull, Lancashire, England. [1]Brookfield House
Döpt:1878-04-21 Aughton, Lancashire, England. [2]St. Michael's Church
Död:1953-03-17 Coniston, Lancashire, England. [3]

Barn med Barbara Crystal Collingwood (1887 - 1961)

Barn:
Janet Barbara Gnosspelius (1926 - 2010)

Noteringar

Oscar, Swedish by origin, worked in mining and railway construction in southern Africa before returning to the Lake District, where he designed and built seaplanes and where Janet was born, in Kendal. Between the wars, Oscar prospected on the Coniston fells with Collingwood, mining for copper and later slate. Ransome drew on Oscar's mining expertise in his 1936 book Pigeon Post; Oscar was the model for Timothy (Squashy Hat) and Janet modelled for the drawing of Nancy.

Major Oscar Theodor Gnosspelius (10 March 1878 – 17 February 1953) was an English civil engineer and pioneer seaplane builder.

Gnosspelius was born at Brookfield House, Lydiate[1][2] on 18 March 1878 the only son of Adolf Jonathan Gnosspelius.[3] He was educated in Bedford and later was to study civil engineering at the City and Guilds Central Technical College in South Kensington.[3] Between 1899 and 1902 he was an apprentice to civil engineer Sir Douglas Fox.[3] After working at a quarry in Sweden he spent time in Transvaal and Brazil carrying out land surveys, by 1908 was in Angola working on a railway survey.[3]

In 1910 he had a monoplane floatplane similar to the Bleriot XI and powered by a 20 hp (15 kW) Alveston engine built by Borwick and Sons of Bowness-on-Windemere.[4] This failed to fly, but a second floatplane built in 1911 was successfully flown on 13 February 1912.[4] In 1911 he designed the Lakes Waterhen for the Lakes Flying School.[5]

During the first world war he was commissioned in the Royal Naval Air Service, later Royal Air Force and was employed on the inspection staff. Between 1918 and 1925 he worked in the test department at Rochester for Short Brothers the seaplane builders.[3][6] During his time at Shorts he designed an ultralight monoplane the Gnosspelius Gull.

In 1925 he married the artist and sculptor Barbara Collingwood.[3] She was the daughter of the author W. G. Collingwood[7] and her family's friend Arthur Ransome, author of the Swallows and Amazons books, had proposed to her earlier.[8]

Following his marriage, Gnosspelius was involved in prospecting in the Lake District for copper and other minerals. Ransome used the mining and prospecting knowledge of Oscar Gnosspelius featuring him in the 1936 book Pigeon Post as "Squashy Hat" and dedicated the book to him. His daughter modelled for a drawing of Nancy Blackett in the same book.[8]

Gnosspelius died on 17 February 1953.[3]

Notes
^ Census in the United Kingdom, United States Census, 1881; Lydiate; page 1,, Family History film 1341896.
^ "Side by side georeferenced maps viewer - Map images - National Library of Scotland". Maps.nls.uk. Retrieved 2015-12-30.
^ a b c d e f g Oscar Theodor Gnosspelius
^ a b Lewis 1962 , p.272
^ Lewis 1962 p.330
^ Flying Empires
^ Flight 8 June 1925
^ a b Obituary of Janet Gnosspelius, Guardian, 1 October 2010


Personhistoria

ÅrtalÅlderHändelse
1878 Födelse 1878-03-10 Maghull, Lancashire, England [1]
1878 1 mån Dop 1878-04-21 Aughton, Lancashire, England [2]
1883 5 år Fadern Adolphus Jonathan Gnosspelius dör 1883-11-27 Lancaster, England
1887 Partnern Barbara Crystal Collingwood föds 1887-09 Ulverston, Cumbria, Lancashire, England [3]
1926 48 år Dottern Janet Barbara Gnosspelius föds 1926-07-29 Coniston?, Lancashire, England [3]
1930 51 år Modern Amalia Townsend dör 1930-01-18 Lancashire, England [4]
1930 51 år Halvsystern Ada Margaret Gnosspelius dör 1930-02-01
1939 61 år Halvsystern Ada Margaret Gnosspelius dör 1939-11-27 [3]
1939 61 år Systern Hilda Townsend Gnosspelius dör 1939-11-27 Westmorland, England [3]
1953 75 år Död 1953-03-17 Coniston, Lancashire, England [3]

Källor

[1]Eric Marshall
  
[2]Eric Marshall, Lancashire OnLine Parish Clerk Project
  
[3]Richard Gnospelius
  
[4]England och Wales, National Probate Calendar (register över testamenten och testamentsbevakningar), 1858-1966, 1973-1995