Crompton, Rookes Evelyn Bell (1845-1940)

English engineer who pioneered the dynamo, electric lighting, and road transport. He also contributed to the development of industry standards, both electrical and mechanical, and was involved in the founding of the National Physical Laboratory and what is now the British Standards Institution. Crompton was born near Thirsk in Yorkshire. During his school holidays he built a steam-driven road locomotive. In India as an army officer 1864-75 he continued to develop his road vehicles. Their success was undermined by the poor quality of roads, the cheapness of other forms of transport, and the developing railway system. On his return from service he began importing dynamos from France and set up his own company to develop and manufacture generating systems for lighting town halls, railway stations, and small residential areas. Direct-current electricity of about 400 volts was generated and used with large storage batteries (accumulators). This competed, in the end unsuccessfully, with the alternating-current system of Sebastian Ferranti. During the Boer War, Crompton served in South Africa as commandant of the Electrical Engineers' Royal Engineers Volunteer Corps. He then returned to road transport, and contributed both to the principles of automobile engineering and the maintenance and design of roads. During World War I he was an adviser on the design and production of military tanks.