Whitworth Scholarship Awards (1868 - )

Summary

This theme brings together information about recipients of these Awards who lived in Australia.

Whitworth Scholarships were initially funded by the generosity of Sir Joseph Whitworth to support early career engineers who showed exceptional promise, to enable them to undertake further education. The scholarships were based on a solid foundation of technical education - workshop skills and scientific knowledge, with the aim of "bringing science and industry into closer relation with each other". Whitworth proposed that the scholarships would be tenable on conditions defined by a deed of trust regulating the administration of the endowment during his life, and that thereafter vested in the "Lord President of the Council or other minister of public instruction for the being". Candidates needed to be natives of the United Kingdom.

In 1868 Whitworth set out in detail the requirements of the Competition and the Awards for 30 scholarships of the annum value of £100 each. The requirements included examination in Mathematics, Mechanics, Physics, Chemistry and Metallurgy, and in the handicrafts of Smith's-work, turning, filing and fitting. The scholarships might be held for three years but could be withdrawn at the end of each year if the scholar had not made satisfactory progress.

The tenure of the 'Whitworth Scholarship' was usually for three years, but the tenure, requirements and value varied over time.

From 1868 to 1880 tenure was for three years, from 1881 to 1887 tenure was for one year, and from 1888 to 1922 tenure was again for three years.

From 1888 to 1922 'Whitworth Exhibitions' tenable for one year, were also offered.

From 1923, 'Whitworth Exhibitions' were discontinued, and instead 'Whitworth Senior Scholarships', tenable for two years, were offered.

From 1955, 'Whitworth Scholarships' ceased to exist, and 'Whitworth Senior Scholarships' were replaced by 'Whitworth Fellowships', tenable for two years.

Details

For the years 1869 to 1873, ten Scholarships of the annum value of £100 each, tenable for three years, were offered for competition each year. From 1873, candidates needed to produce a certificate that they had worked in a mechanical engineer's shop for two years consecutively, and scholarship holders were subject to examination each year to provide evidence that they had "made proper advances in the sciences and practical engineering".

For the years 1874 to 1878, the number of Scholarships offered per year was reduced to six, and each group of holders of the Scholarships competed each year during tenure for prizes varying value from £50 to £100, and for prizes at the end of tenure, for best scholar and second best scholar of £200 and £100.

In 1879, eight Scholarships were awarded, each of the value of £100 a year for three years, or £200 in one sum.

In 1880, nine Scholarships were awarded, two of the value of £150, and seven of the value of £100 each, tenable for one year. Candidates need to have "attained sufficient handicraft power. The test of this will be making two Whitworth screw bolts 1 in. in diameter and 4 to 6 in. long with hexagonal heads and nuts, true within .001 in."

In 1881, seventeen Scholarships were awarded, one of the value of £200, three of £150, two of £125 and eleven of £100, all tenable for one year. From 1881, the test of "handicraft power" ceased to be compulsory, but until 1922, but could still be applied at the discretion of the Science and Art Department who administered the scholarships.

From 1882 to 1887, twenty-five Scholarships were awarded each year, one of the value of £200, eight of £150, and sixteen of £100, all tenable for one year.

In 1888, four Scholarships of the value of £125 a year each, tenable for three years; and tenable for one year, twenty Exhibitions of the value of £100 and ten Exhibitions of the value of £50.

In 1889, four Scholarships of the value of £125 a year each, tenable for three years; and tenable for one year, ten Exhibitions of the value of £100 and twenty Exhibitions of the value of £50.

From 1890 to 1922, four Scholarships of the value of £125 a year each, tenable for three years; and tenable for one year, ten Exhibitions of the value of £100 and twenty Exhibitions of the value of £50.

From 1923, Exhibitions were discontinued, two Whitworth Senior Scholarships of the value of £250 a year each, tenable for two years; and six Whitworth Scholarships of the value of £125 a year each, tenable for three years. Whitworth Prizes of the value of £10 were awarded to worthy but unsuccessful candidates.

In their final form, the Regulations provided for five Whitworth Scholarships of the value of £250 a year each, tenable for three years. Up to ten Whitworth Prizes of the value of £20 were awarded to worthy but unsuccessful candidates.

By the 1950s two Senior Scholarships were offered each year, on the basis of a thesis dealing with a subject taken from a list published by the Ministry, offered to candidates with an engineering degree. The candidates needed practical workshop experience prior to taking up the award.

From 1955, Whitworth Scholarships as such ceased to exist and Senior Scholarships were replaced by Whitworth Fellowships.

Related entries

Published resources

Edited Books

• Johnson, H. H,; Barwell, F. T. ed., The Whitworth Register (London: Whitworth Society, 1957), 235 pp, https://archive.org/details/whitworthregiste00whit/. Details