Henry Charles Fleeming Jenkin (1833–85)

Engineer and university teacher. Studied natural philosophy at Genoa. Apprenticed at Fairbairn’s works, Manchester, 1851. Worked as a draughtsman and marine telegraph engineer in London from 1855. Carried out important experiments on the resistance and insulation of electrical cables with William Thomson (later Lord Kelvin). Largely occupied in the fitting out of submarine telegraph cables, 1858–73. Appointed professor of civil engineering, University College, London, 1866; professor of engineering, Edinburgh University, 1868. Promoted the formation of a sanitary association, Edinburgh, 1877–8. Wrote miscellaneous papers on literature, science, and political economy. FRS 1865.