http://kitwithers.fortunecity.com/deacon/gd.txt
formerly at  http://www.geocities.com/kit_withers/deacon/gd.txt
 - yet to proof read!

"BINNIE & PARTNERS 1890 to 1990" ex JD

This article is referred to at
 http://bv.com/news/articles/mar03/singapore_water.htm
I have emailed them for permission to quote. - KW 2005.

  It refers to the careers of 
(10)5(13)1  George Frederick DEACON 1843 Bridgewater,Somerset-1909
  and his nephew 
(10)5(13)2 3  Martin DEACON 1879 Lancs., Liverpool-1936.

For their family see
 http://www.geocities.com/kit_withers/deacon/deacon.html

Chapter 1

THE BEGINNINGS OF THE FIRM 1890-1916

For a number of years the firm of BINNIE & Partners was known as "Sir Alexander
BINNIE, Son & DEACON" because it was formed from two practices Dr G F DEACON's
started in 1890 and Sir Alexander BINNIE's started in 1901. Their offices were
close together opposite the Houses of Parliament in Westminster and, on Dr
DEACON's death in 1909, the two practices merged.

DR DEACON

George DEACON was already an engineer of renown when he opened his offices in
December 1 890Refl , first at 36 Victoria Street, then later at 16 Great George
Street, Westminster. He was aged 47 and had just completed the Vyrnwy water
supply scheme for Liverpool. The scheme included the 44m high Vyrnwy dam which
was the first high masonry dam built in Britain. Although the dam had been
designed by Thomas Hawksley, DEACON had been joint engineer for it and had been
in charge of its construction over which he exercised the most fastidious
care. He had insisted on the use of dry cement mortar, containing very little
water, punned hard home to fill every space between the cyclopean masonry of
which the interior of the dam was formed. He had thus achieved a far sounder
construction than any dam of that type before ~nd it was a great
success. DEACON was rightly proud of his achievement and it was the forerunner
of many other successful dams built in the same manner.  However he was not one
to let his success go unrecorded, and in his paperRef2 describing the project
he remarked, "When the work started in 1881 there was probably no high masonry
dam in Europe so far watertight that an English engineer would take credit for
it." Dr DEACON said he had recorded the beginning of the works and their
completion - "in terse and stately language which will still be read when, in
the nature of things, the principal users of the works though not the works
themselves shall have ceased to be" - by the inscriptions:

on the dam OPVS INCHOA TVM MDCCCLXXX
and on the outlet works OPVS ABSOL VTVM MDCCCXC

The dam still stanps today in good condition serving Liverpool.  DEACON was
largely a self-taught engineer and had remarkable self-assurance. Many
Victorian engineers were self-taught, but DEACON had outstanding abilities.  He
was the son of it Bridgwater solicitor, educated at grammar school until aged
17, and then apprenticed in 1860 to the shipbuilders, Robert Napier & Sons of
Glasgow. Whilst there he attended the classes of Professor W J M Rankine and
Professor William Thomson (later Lord Kelvin) at Glasgow University and, in
that period, his academic powers were developed. He then went on BruneI's ship
the Great Eastern, laying the second Atlantic cable. On his return in 1865 he
set himself up as consulting engineer in Liverpool at the early age of 22. He
became active in the Institution of Civil Engineers and, such was his impact
that, in 1871, he was appointed Borough and Water Engineer to the City of
Liverpool at the astonishingly early age of 28. In this appointment the field
lay open to him to show his innovative powers.  He introduced impervious paving
for roads, destructors for refuse disposal, and hopper barges for sea dumping
of refuse. He laid the inner circle tramway tracks, and reconstructed 70 miles
of sewers.

photo of Dr DEACON
p2 photos of Vymvvy Dam in 1990 & Norton water tower

He invented the DEACON waste-detection meter and, with it, reduced wastage Qf
water from the Borough's distribution system so much that he was able to
restore a 24-hour supply to the City. Both the invention of the waste-meter,
which went into worldwide use for the next hundred years, and its successful
application to Liverpool's leakage problems, are remarkable achievements. The
meter invention involves a knowledge of fundamental hydraulics coupled _.to
practical mechanical ability and inventiveness. Its successful application
involves much organisational ability, as anyone who has attempted to carry out
a waste reduction programme will testify.

DEACON AND HAWKSLEY

DEACON conceived the Vyrnwy project and, when Liverpool obtained powers to
construct it in 1880, he resigned his post as borough engineer and continued
solely as water engineer so that he could devote his whole time to the project
for which he was appointed joint engineer with Thomas Hawksley. It was at
DEACON's insistence that the project was carried out by direct labour in order
to ensure the high quality of construction which DEACON realised was the secret
of success.  Both DEACON and Hawksley were strong-minded engineers and, not
unexpectedly, they did not agree on everything. Although the original drawings
for the Vyrnwy dam were signed by both engineers on 1 June 1881, the profile of
the dam was later thickened by Hawksley. DEACON did not agree this was
necessary, and later admitted that, though he acquiesced at the time, "there
were no conceivable circumstances in which the uplift could approach that
assumed." Probably Hawksley, having greater experience of dams, was more
cautious than DEACON and not completely convinced DEACON could achieve the
quality of work he intended. But Hawksley retired in 1885 so that DEACON from
then on was in sole charge. ReO "It was then too late to change the base up to
the level of the cuI vert," DEACON is reported as saying, "however as soon as
possible the section of the main work was reduced and the superstructure was
entirely altered." Thus did the younger engineer take over from the older.  The
Norton water tower on the Vynrwy aqueduct is, however, wholly DEACON's work. It
is an architectural and engineering triumph standing on high ground a few miles
south of Warrington. This is still visible to all passengers on the
London-Liverpool railway line. It is one of the largest water towers ever
built, 2 000m3 capacity with a top water level 34m above ground. It shows
DEACON's astonishing inventive powers and great self-confidence because the
tank, 24m in diameter and 9.5m maximum depth, is made of steel plate shaped in
the form of a catenary bowl, the whole being suspended from a massive steel
ring beam supported on masonry pillars.

Like many civil engineers of that period, DEACON had a wide diversity of
engineering interests. He wrote many papers, the first being on "The Aesthetics
of Construction" to the Liverpool Architectural & Archeological Society in
1869; his next being on "The Efficiency of Furnaces" in 1870. In 1875 he
presented a paper "On the Constant and Intermittent Supply of Water" to the
ICERef4 which won him a Telford Medal and Premium. His paper on roads to the
ICE in 1879 won him the Watt Medal and Telford Premium.RefS In 1878 he was
elected Presid~"fiC of 'the Liverpoo'f Polytechnic Society; in .l879',President
of the Incorporated Association Of the Municipal and County Engineers; and in
1900 he was elected to the ICE Council. .  In 1902 he published 'the DEACON
Diagram' in the

p3
Diagrams of Upper Neuadd dam 1902, & Carno dam 1911.

10th edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica - a diagram showIng the yield to be
expected from any reservoir in England and Wales, given the reservoir capacity,
mean annual rainfall and estimated losses. This remarkable diagram was used by
all water engineers for 50 years to estimate the three-dry year yield of an
impounding reservoir, for which it is still correct. In the same year he
received an honorary doctorate from Glasgow University; and hence became known
to all as Dr DEACON. In 1908 he became President of the Smeatonian Society.

DR DEACON'S PRACTICE

Dr DEACON's practice flourished. He was soon engaged on the design of the 20m
high Upper Neuadd masonry dam for Merthyr Tydfil which was completed in
1902. He also undertook the 30m Carno earth dam for Ebbw Vale, and produced the
parliamentary plans for the Alwen impounding scheme for Birkenhead, and the Taf
Fechan scheme for Merthyr Tydfil.  The work involved in these parliamentary
plans was extensive, as that for the Alwen scheme shows.  There were 41
'double-elephant' sized plans, 85 copies of each being required. Vacher & Sons
of Great Smith Street, Westminster printed them: tenders were also received
from Waterlow & Sons, Kell & Sons, and Cook & Hammond - all firms still well
known and serving the firm 70 years later.  Later, an immense cartoon of the
whole scheme was required comprising well over 40 ordnance sheets - probably
100 or more, because Vacher complained they were "then sent 40 more sheets to
add in". It was hung in Vacher's 'motor house' for inspection. "This was very
troublesome to do," they complained, "and took the whole of one afternoon. It
was then found that the whole of the plan had warped across the centre where
the colouring and wetting took place; consequently the cartoon had to be placed
on the wall, with the face thereto, completely soaked all over and stretched."
Vacher alleged 500 hours of work was involved, at 1/6d per hour, and proposed a
£35 charge, but later reduced it to £25 because DEACON's staff complaineq of
the number of errors on it.  . He undertook ground water schemes for Bedford
and Biggleswade councils and reported on the water supply for Londonderry. He
was a member of the three-man commission to advise on the design of the 560km
long pipeline to supply water to the Coolgardie goldfields in Western
Australia. By the early 1900s he was able to confirm to a Parliamentary
Committee that he had been associated with most large water schemes promoted in
the UK over the past 20 years.  He continued to show a flair in his
designs. The wing walls flanking the central spillway of the Upper Neuadd dam
were unusually thin being dependent for their stability on a downstream earth
embankment. Unfortunately, on this dam he used lime-cement for the masonry
mortarRef6 which was attacked by the acid moorland water so that, 60 years
later, there have been problems in making the upper wall watertight. At
Biggleswade, to cope with the soft greens and in which the well was sunk,
DEACON drove radial pipes out from the well and filled them with fine gravel to
act as a filter against the sand, making provision to backwash these pipes from
time to time to keep up the yield.

DR DEACON AND HIS OFFICE

Percy Viall, who for nearly half a century was head of the firm's drawing
office, recalled what Dr DEACON's office was like. Ref7

"It was towards the end of 1907 that I, a small boy aged 14, left school and
started work in Dr DEACON's office, and was given a stool in the drawing
office. My wages were 7/6d a week with one week's holiday with pay!  "The
office was at 16 Great George Street which was the end building, pleasantly
situated ,in a grassed enclosure with trees forming one side of Parliament
Square. The Canning statue stood in the enclosure at that time. On the corner
of Great George Street and Parliament Square stood the very ornate drinking
fountain which, when the square was replanned after the Second World War., was
carefully taken to pieces and reerected in Parliament Gardens by the river. Our
offices were on the topmost floor of No. 16 so we had a grandstand view of
processions.  "The ICE, MoH, County Hall, Middlesex Hall, Central Hall and
Caxton House had not yet been built, and the Army and Navy stores had no shop
windows. The traffic was nearly all horse drawn, including buses and cabs, and
a familiar sight was boys with dustpan and brush darting in and out of the
traffic keeping the roads clean. I used to cycle across Hyde Park to the office
and used to pass King George V riding on horseback quite frequently. I would
raise my bowler hat and he never failed to return the compliment. The

p4 (photo of his office at 16 Great George St, Westminster)

daytime population of Westminster was almost entirely male and except for
suffragettes, women were rarely seen. All the ordinary 'common or garden' men
wore bowler hats and stiff collars, and the bosses frock coats arid silk hats.
"Dr DEACON, who invariably wore a frock coat and top hat, was always referred
to as 'the Chief'. Although a brilliant engineer he was intolerant of his
staff: he refused to have any dealings at all with one of his draftsmen, who
had to walk out of the drawing office if Dr DEACON walked in, and his
interviews usually terminated with the exclamation, "What fools we are i~_ this
office!" It was noses to the grindstone all the time. No smoking was allowed,
no tea was provided, and the key for the toilet hung on a nail just inside Dr
DEACON's own room. We were, however, paid in beautiful gold sovereigns and
income tax was one shilling in the pound."

Colonel H L Pearson, who became resident engineer on the Ebbw Vale dam, also
recalled how irascible Dr DEACON was. When he went for an interview in 1905 he
heard "loud shouting, or rather screaming, coming from Dr DEACON's office" and,
on entering, found him shouting and throwing papers about on his table and onto
the floor, blaming his staff for the loss of a paper.  "He was, I am afraid,"
said Colonel Pearson, "a naturally bad tempered man who carried perfectionism
to what he must have realised were impracticable extremes which would not and
could not be maintained in his absence." On the Ebbw V ale dam DEACON pursued
his passion for very dry concrete to such extremes that it was virtually
unplaceable. "The only occasion when he expressed approval of it on one of his
visits was when the contractor hadjust spread an over-dry mix on top of a more
normal mix in order to satisfy him. He would not allow a concrete mixer on the
job because it was not possible to inspect the dry mix before water was added
so that any flat stones could be removed." Within the office, Viall continues:

"Typewriters were not in common use and Dr DEACON refused to allow one in his
office because of the noise. All letters and documents were hand written in
copying ink, from which copies were obtained by damping absorbent copying paper
against which the letter was placed, both then being tightly squeezed in a hand
press until a copy was obtained. My jobs included taking Dr DEACON's silk hat
to be ironed, filing letters, indexing letter books, press-copying' letters,
making office copies of the progress drawings received from the Ebbw Vale
waterworks and errands of all kinds. Dr DEACON was constantly engaged as an
expert witness in the committee rooms of Parliament, and I had to push into the
room as soon as the door was opened to sit on one of the few chairs available
just behind Counsel until Dr DEACON arrived. I remember how embarrassed I used
to be: a small boy sitting on a seat whilst important people stood behind!  At
this time there was always great activity in the committee rooms which all used
to be occupied, and were packed to suffocation with Counsel, parliamentary
agents, engineers, expert witnesses and officials of the local councils
concerned."

Intemperate though Dr DEACON was in his personal dealings with staff, his
motivation was the attainment of the highest standards possible. He was never
intemperate in his reports, correspondence, or verbal evidence. One of his
stock phrases was, "It is a great and rare but valuable quality in those who
have reports to write, to be able to place themselves in the position of the
ignorant reader thereof." His reports are models of clear expla'hation and he
was always ready to meet uninformed criticism with patience. He was also
surprisingly tolerant when faced with threats of libet action from 'a:
manufacturer whose product he had criticised, and equally patient \Vhen,
dealing with an auditor who refused to sancti9fi-his fees. Whatever his
explosions of temper he was faIr to people in his actions. The wages he paid
his office boy, Percy Viall, together with a week's holiday with pay, were
generous for those days.


p5 is about Sir Alexander BINNIE; I skip to p6:

DEATH OF DR DEACON

Dr DEACON died in 1909. He was working in his office when he had a sudden heart
attack and died. He did not have any partners but he employed in his office his
nephew, Martin DEACON, who, being an irrepressibly cheerful character, was as
unlike his uncle as it is possible to imagine. According to Brigadier Gifford
Hull (with whom he worked later), "He told me how he went into his uncle's room
one morning and found him dead in his chair. 'After telling the staff to call a
doctor and do the necessary, he walked straight away to Sir Alexander BINNIE' s
office and proposed the amalgamation of the two practices to Sir Alexander."
Whether it happened exactly like that, one is not sure; since both the teller
and the recipient of the story were 'good raconteurs' - but that the action
took place without delay is probable, since Martin DEACON was a realist. He was
then only 30 and must have realised he had not the experience to run his
uncle's practice. Also Sir Alex'ander and Dr DEACON had worked on many schemes
together and their relationship was excellent.  When Sir Alexander had been
asked to comment on DEACON's proposals for Birkenhead's Alwen scheme he had
written, "I have to congratulate you, the Corporation, on having had placed
before them by Mr DEACON one of the best and finest schemes .which it has been
my duty to review for many years." Thus, on the day of Dr DEACON's death, the
scene was set for the merger of the two practices. With Martin DEACON taken
into the partnership the joint firm took the name of 'Sir Alex BINNIE, Son &
DEACON'.

THE JOINT FIRM

Sir Alexander BINNIE was tall, with a full white beard. He always wore a frock
coat and a top hat in which he was a most impressive figure. He was much liked
for his habitually courteous manner and the confidence he placed in his
staff. He smoked cigars and always had a fresh bundle of eight put each morning
on his desk. He was a great contrast to Dr DEACON. On occasion he invited his
office boy to "have a cigar".

"What a change such confidence and courtesy made," wrote Colonel Pearson who
had previously served Dr DEACON. Percy Vi all commented, "After the
amalgamation we had very pleasant and newly decorated offices and a very
friendly atmosphere to work in. Tea and biscuits were provided in the
afternoon, and we had two toilets unrestricted!" At the time of the
amalgamation Sir Alexander's practice had, according to Viall, only two staff
whereas Dr DEACON had nine. He had as chief clerk and manager E F Child, who
had been with Dr DEACON in Liverpool. He had always held a rather special
position and his opinion and advice were found invaluable during the early days
of the joint firm. He died in 1913, being succeeded by FE Burmby who had also
been a clerk in DEACON's office. DEACON's chief engineering assistant was W
Gore who continued in this position with Sir Alexander and who had been joint
author of a classic paper to the ICE on stresses in a rubber model of the
Vyrnwy dam and was subsequently co-inventor with Martin DEACON of a continuous
waterworks filter. He left later in 1912 to take charge of an installation of
this type of plant at Toronto, this being the largest filtration plant in the
world at that time. There was also Percy Viall and four pupils, among whom was
H J F Gourley who was later to become a partner of the firm, and D Halton
Th()mpson, destined later to become water engineer of Portsmouth and author of
a historic series of papers first applying statistical methods for the
estimation of yields of reservoirs. The joint staff so far as Percy Viall can
remember are listed below.  As soon as possible, new offices were obtained at
St Stephen's House in 1910 overlooking the Thames and Westminster Bridge. The
partners and clerks had rooms overlooking the river; the drawing offices looked
onto the District line behind, which by then had been electrified. The firm had
on hand three major water schemes inherited from Dr DEACON - the Carno scheme
for Ebbw Vale nearing completion; the Alwen scheme for Birkenhead; and the
TafFechan scheme for Merthyr Tydfil. The Alwen scheme was under design and
comprised the 26m high Alwen dam, 42 miles of aqueduct with a tunnel under the
river Dee, and the 25 million gallon Cross Hill service reservoir.
Construction commenced in 1910 with Robert McAlpine & Sons as the
contractor. The Taf Fechan scheme was of similar magnitude, the Taf Fechan dam
being 30m high with 20 miles of pipeline. The Bill authorising this scheme was
passed in 1911.

PRE-WAR TECHNICAL STAFF
W Gore H J F Gourley H H Crawley H L Pearson J H Parkin R F Baker F V
Stillingfleet o Halton Thompson W A Thompson J F J Reynolds J R Taylor
 They were, in order:
Chief Engineering Assistant to Or DEACON and then to Sir Alexander. left 1912
Pupil 1910. Resident Engineer Genoa waterworks 1913-1915 Office boy 1914. later
qualified and became Water Engineer to Oxford Resident Engineer Carno dam, Ebbw
Vale 1904-1914 Resident Engineer Alwen dam for Liverpool.",.. .  Resident
Engineer Cross Hill reservoir and Dee tunnel, AlWe~ii';ss:heme 1913 Resident
Engineer Taf Fechan dam 1914 " Pupil. later Water Engineer to Portsmouth
Draftsman, joined 19 I I Resident Engineer Genoa waterworks (following Gourley)
Chief Engineering Assistant after W Gore left in 19 12. Later Engineering
Inspector to Ministry of Health

Skip to p12:

PARTNERS OF THE INTER-WAR YEARS

With W J E BINNIE, Martin DEACON, and Harold Gourley as partners, the name of
the firm was changed in 1934 to "BINNIE, DEACON & Gourley". For the next 25
years it was to be known by this name.  W J E BINNIE - or "W J E" as he was
called within the firm - inherited Sir Alexander BINNIE's kindliness and
courtesy of manner. But whereas Sir Alexander was tall, W J E was short,
bustling with energy and personal charm. He liked meeting people and enjoyed
committee work. By 1920 he was age 53 so that he had much experience behind
him. He had been President of the Institution of Sanitary Engineers in 1917 and
of the Institution of Water Engineers in 1921. He had been involved with a
great deal of parliamentary work: in busy periods he had attended Committees of
the House of Lords almost daily and became well known. He had friendliness and
was much liked by his staff. Colonel Pearson recorded that each visit of W J E
to the Singapore job was 'a happy interlude'. "One visit was literally a
holiday. He persuaded the Singapore Committee that I needed a change and,
together, we visited Java. Nobody could have wished for a better holiday
companion." He recalls W J E's ability to get on with the Singapore Committee,
"He impressed them greatly and always adroitly indicated his trust in me.  His
tact created confidence and was very helpful." Brigadier Gifford Hull, later
resident engineer on the same scheme, recorded similar impressions, adding that
W J E loved staff parties on site and was always a great asset to them.  W J E
BINNIE liked dining out and going to the theatre, and supported a number of
charities. He had a passion for anything old, especially old churches, and
would always try to wangle in a visit to one if it was anywhere near a job
visit. His interest in antiquity is illustrated by his remarkable presidential
address to the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1 938Refl which dealt with the
waterworks of antiquity. With these wide interests and the many special calls
upon his time, he left much of the day to day running of the firm to Gourley
who served him loyally, despite W J E's volatile nature which would sometimes
cause flashes of argument between the two.  Martin DEACON had been on many of
Dr DEACON's schemes and on construction sites, including the construction of
the Ebbw Vale dam. He initiated the early discussions with the municipality of
Singapore on the Johore scheme and then served on its construction. He was
extremely sociable, of handsome appearance with an attractive voice. He had a
strong sense of humour which made it impossible for him to take work as
seriously as his uncle. Brigadier Hull records him as having many amusing
stories and tricks, including the ability to play a musical saw. He was an
amiable outside representative for the firm but, according to Viall and
Smethurst, he did not take an active technical role. His humour never left
him. Upon the opening of the Gunong Pulai scheme, on which he and Brigadier
Hull had faced many difficult problems, not least of which was the fight
against malaria, he cabled back to London office, "Pulai anticmalaria works and
various ancillary works such as dam etc opened today."

Photos of WJE BINNIE & Martin DEACON

1