James Kemnal

Sir James Herman Rosenthal Kemnal FRSE (16 August 1864 – 8 February 1927), born James Hermann Rosenthal (he changed his name in 1915), was an English engineer and industrialist.

Kemnal was born in London to a naturalised British father, who was a dealer in china and glass, and a Scottish mother. He was educated at the University of Cologne and undertook an apprenticeship at the engineering works of the Belgian Railways before joining the Anderston Foundry Co Ltd of Glasgow.

In about 1883 Kemnal joined the American boiler manufacturers Babcock & Wilcox and was soon running their London office. In 1891 a completely independent British branch of Babcock & Wilcox was founded and Kemnal became managing director, a post he held for the rest of his life. The company expanded rapidly and opened branches in France, Germany, Poland, Italy and Japan.

He was knighted in the 1920 New Year Honours for his services to munitions production during the First World War.^[1]

Footnotes

References

• Biography, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography