Wallace Thorneycroft

Wallace Thorneycroft (1864–1954) was a 19th/20th century British mining engineer, businessman, coal-mine owner and geologist. He was President of the Institute of Mining Engineers. As a geologist and archaeologist he was an expert on vitrified forts and one of the first to undertake practical experiments to establish their mode of construction. Life He was born in Dorchester on 24 February 1864, the son of Thomas Thorneycroft, and his wife, Jane Whitelaw. The family moved to the Mansion House in Tettenhall in his youth. He was educated privately at Charterhouse School. He studied Mining Engineering at Owen's College in Manchester then was apprenticed to Simpson and Rankine in Glasgow. He trained as a mining engineer and based himself in central Scotland. His first position was as manager of Merrytown Colliery in Hamilton from 1889, then moving eastwards, and living at 25 Snowdon Place in Stirling from 1896.