Charles Ivor Rae Campbell O.B.E. (1878 - 1921)

Born 1878 in Bllham, Surrey, England

Ancestors

Husband of Edith Muriel (Trenerry) Campbell — married 1904 in Wandsworth, London, England

Descendants

Died 1921 at about age 43 in Hull, Yorkshire, England

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Janet Gunn [send private message]

Biography

Charles Ivor Rae Campbell made a name for himself as a designer of military airships for the British Government until he was killed in the 1921 explosion of the R-38 airship over Hull, Yorkshire, as it was undergoing final tests before delivery to the US military.

He attended the Royal Naval Engineering College, Devonport/Keyham in 1894, where he won the Newman Memorial Prize for proficiency in engineering^[1], and obtained the Admiralty's "Professional Certificate in Marine Engineering". He was selected to go on to the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, (1899 - 1903), where he studied Marine Construction and Naval Architecture, earning another "Professional Certificate".

He was then appointed Assistant Constructor in the Royal Corps of Naval Constructors. In 1909 he was appointed as the Admiralty overseer of submarines being built, overseeing HMS Malaya.

At the beginning of WW I, he was sent to the United States and Canada in connection with supervising the construction of "H" class submarines.

Returning to Britain in 1915, he was appointed to take charge of airship design and construction. He supervised the building of R 31 and R 32 and their successors R 33 and R 34, which incorporated improvements based on his examination of the German zeppelin L 33 which was shot down in Essex in 1916. After the reorganization which switched airship construction to the Air Ministry in 1919, he was named Superintendent of Royal Airship Works.

In 1920 he was awarded an OBE: "The KING (is) pleased to give orders for the following promotions in, and appointments to, the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for services in connection with the War, to be dated 1st January, 1920: To be Officers of the Civil Division of the said Most Excellent Order: Charles Ivor Rae Campbell, Esq. Head of Design Section for Rigid and Non-rigid Airships, Airship Production Department, Admiralty" ^[2]

Ivor Campbell O.B.E. Designer of the R 38 Airship, and among the victims when it blew up on its final test flight on 24-Aug-1921

He was in charge on the development of the next family of airships; R 38 was intended to be bigger, faster, and with greater range than before. However, with the end of the war, funding was cut, and the project was almost cancelled, until the US showed interest. The pre-sales testing was cut from 150 hours to 50 hours, during which it suffered structural collapse, killing 44 of 49 people on board, including Campbell. This was the first big airship disaster, killing more than the Hindenberg disaster (which killed 36).

A list of the crew of the R 38 includes a photograph of him.

In analysis after the disaster, it was stated that Campbell had not properly calculated the aerodynamic stress and load factors. Nevil Shute said " ...it came out that the officials responsible had made no calculations whatsoever of the aerodynamic forces acting on the ship in flight; it was therefore not surprising that she broke up when doing turns at full helm and full speed."

Name: Charles Iron Rae Campbell

Gender: Male

Christening Date: 06 Oct 1878

Christening Place: St. Luke's Church, Battersea, Surrey, England

Father's Name: John Alexander Dewer Campbell

Mother's Name: Rebecca Craigie

Indexing Project (Batch) Number: I02578-8

System Origin: England-EASy

GS Film number: 2214354

Reference ID: 10^[3]

England & Wales births 1837-2006 Transcription

First name(s) CHARLES IVOR R

Last name CAMPBELL

Birth year 1878

Birth quarter 2

District WANDSWORTH

County London

Country England

Volume 1D

Page 592

Record set England & Wales births 1837-2006

Category Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records

Subcategory Births & baptisms

Collections from Great Britain

© brightsolid online publishing ltd

1881 England, Wales & Scotland Census Transcription

Hope Villa, Clapham, Wandsworth, London, England

Household Members

First name(s) Last name Relationship Marital status Gender Age Birth year Occupation Birth place

John A D Campbell Head Married Male 41 1840 Examiner For Arts & Science C S Office Scotland

Rebecca C Campbell Wife Married Female 25 1856 - Dorset, England

Archibald J D Campbell Son Single Male 5 1876 - Worcester, Worcestershire, England

Ethel S R Campbell Daughter Single Female 4 1877 - Brixton, Surrey, England

Charles J R Campbell Son Single Male 2 1879 - Balham, Surrey, England

Ann M Warne Servant Single Female 21 1860 General Servant (Dom) Wickham, Worcestershire, England

1891 England, Wales & Scotland Census Transcription

Dornton Road, Streatham, Wandsworth, London, England

Household Members

First name(s) Last name Relationship Marital status Gender Age Birth year Occupation Birth place

John A D Campbell Head Married Male 51 1840 Assistant Examiner For Art Department Scotland

Rebecca C Campbell Wife Married Female 35 1856 - Bridport, Dorset, England

Archibald J D Campbell Son - Male 15 1876 - Worcester

Ethel J R Campbell Daughter - Female 14 1877 - Herne Hill, Surrey, England

Charles J R Campbell Son - Male 13 1878 - Balham, Surrey, England

Robin N C Campbell Son - Male 4 1887 - Balham, Surrey, England

Ann M Warner Servant Single Female 31 1860 General Servant Worcestershire, England

1901 England, Wales & Scotland Census Transcription

First name(s) Chas

Last name Campbell

Relationship Student

Marital status Single

Gender Male

Age 22

Birth year 1879

Occupation Asst Engineer Royal Navy Off

Birth town Balham

Birth town as transcribed BALHAM

Birth county Surrey

Birth county as transcribed SURREY

Birth place England

Parish Greenwich

Country England

County London

Municipal ward North

Registration district Greenwich

Archive reference RG13

Piece number 543

Folio 106

Page 9

Record set 1901 England, Wales & Scotland Census

Category Census, land & surveys

Subcategory Census

Collections from Great Britain

(c) brightsolid online publishing ltd

1911 England, Wales & Scotland Census Transcription

3 North Road Clapham SW, Wandsworth Borough, London, England

Household Members

First name(s) Last name Relationship Marital status Sex Occupation Age Birth year Birth place

Louisa Jane Trenerry Head Widower Female Private Means 67 1844 Cornwall Truro

Charles Farley Trenerry Son Single Male Clerk Of Committees 38 1873 London Brixton

Edgar Harold Trenerry Son Single Male Clerk To Bankers Army Agents 33 1878 London Clapham

Helen Gertrude Trenerry Daughter Single Female Teacher Of Mathematics 29 1882 London Clapham

Charles Ivor Rae Campbell Son- In - Law Married Male Naval Constructor 32 1879 London Balham

England & Wales deaths 1837-2007 Transcription

First name(s) CHARLES I R

Last name CAMPBELL

Gender Male

Birth year 1872

Age 49 (sic)

Death quarter 4

Death year 1921

District Hull

County Yorkshire

Volume 9D

Page 265

Country England

Record set England & Wales Deaths 1837-2007

Category Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records

Subcategory Deaths & burials

Collections from Great Britain

© Findmypast

Research Notes

C.I.R. Campbell's wife and possible children are problematic.

There is a marriage record of Charles Ivor Rae Campbell marrying Emily Barrows in 1904.

But the 1911 census shows him as the son in law of Louisa Jane Trennery, without a wife present. The daughters of Louisa Jane Trennery (from earlier censuses, all born in London) are Ethel Louise (1873) Edith Muriel (?) (1877) Louisa Marion (1880 - 1884 so not relevant) Helen Gertrude (1881, shown as single living with her mother in 1911)

So it is possible that he married Ethel or Edith. But Ethel Louise is shown as a single headmistress in the 1911 census

I have found no convincing record of either an Emily, Edith, or Ethel Campbell in the 1911 census (but there are an awful lot of Campbells)

If he married a Trenerry, there is a daughter. Margaret Elspeth, Trenerry Campbell, born 1912 in Lewisham.

In 1921 Ida (Campbell) Sarell, Charles Ivor Rae Campell’s sister, was living in Tunis, where her husband, Philip Sarell, was Consul General. (She calls him Ivor, so that may be his preferred name.) Shortly after his death in the disaster of the R-38 airship at Hull, his widow Muriel and daughter Margaret visited Ida and Philip in Tunis.^[4] This adds support to the Trenerry marriage.

Sources

1. ↑ The Navy List
2. ↑ World War 1 at Sea
3. ↑ "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N1N6-143 : 30 December 2014), Charles Iron Rae Campbell, 06 Oct 1878; citing Battersea, Surrey, England, reference 10; FHL microfilm 2,214,354.
4. ↑ The Sarells of Constantinople

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