Leighton, Arthur Edgar - Bright Sparcs Biographical entry

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Leighton, Arthur Edgar (1873 - 1961)

CMG

Online Sources

Archival/Heritage Sources

Published Sources

Chemical engineer and Administrator

Born: 17 June 1873 Christchurch, Surrey, England. Died: 6 November 1961 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Arthur Edgar Leighton came to Victoria in 1909 to be designer and manager of the Commonwealth government cordite factory, Maribyrnong. From 1921 to 1938 he was controller-general of munitions supply and was responsible for instituting the Defence Research Laboratories. He is commemorated by the Leighton Medal, the premier award of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute. Leighton was educated in England at Birkbeck Literary and Scientific Institution (later Birkbeck College, University of London).

Career Highlights

Chronology
1909 - 1915 Designer and Manager of the Commonwealth Government cordite factory in Maribyrnong, Victoria
1909 - 1915 Sub-Manager of the Cordite Factory (Department of Military Supply) in Aravankadu, India
1915 - 1918 Technical Adviser of Explosive Supply for the British Ministry of Munitions
1916 - 1919 General Manager of an arsenal planned for Australia
1919 - 1921 Chairman of the Board of Management of the Commonwealth Government factories
1921 - 1939 Controller-General of munitions supply
1937 Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG)
1953 President of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute

Online Sources

Published Sources

'Primary description of person CP 462; Arthur Edgar Leighton', in RecordSearch, National Archives of Australia, 2000, http://naa12.naa.gov.au/scripts/SearchOld.asp?Number=CP+462. [ Details ]

See Also

Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, Technology in Australia 1788-1988, Online edn, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, Melbourne, 3 May 2000, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/tia/scripts/tia-dynindex.php3?EID=P000571. [ Details ]
Mellor, D.P., 'Optical Munitions', Chapter 12 in Australia in the War of 1939-1945, Series 4: Civil, volume 5 'The Role of Science and Industry', Canberra: Australian War Memorial, 1958, 1958, http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/exhib/papers/mellor.htm. [ Details ]

Structure based on ISAAR(CPF) - click here for an explanation of the fields.

Prepared by: McCarthy, G.J.
Created: 20 October 1993
Modified: 22 August 2006

Published by The University of Melbourne eScholarship Research Centre on ASAPWeb, 1994 - 2007
Originally published 1994-1999 by Australian Science Archives Project, 1999-2006 by the Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre
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Prepared by: Acknowledgements
Updated: 26 February 2007
http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/biogs/P000571b.htm

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