'Mr Julian, one of the noble band of heroes who sacrificed their lives in the Titanic disaster on 14 April 1912, so that the women and children might be saved, was the son of Mr Henry Julian, of Cork and Bolton, and belonged to a mixed Irish and Scottish family—the Julians being of French Hugenot descent settled in Ireland since the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, and the Forbes the well-known Aberdeenshire family celebrated in Scottish history.
Mr Julian's grandfather was a distinguished officer who served in the Peninsular War, and was in General Picton's brigade at the seige of Badajoz in 1812, whilst his great-grandfather was Government Inspector of the forts in the south of Ireland and Governor of Spike Island.
Mr Julian was educated in Cork and Bolton and at Owens College, Manchester, and was a pupil of Sir Henry Roscoe, ultimately becoming one of the leading metallurgical engineers of the world. From 1886 to 1893 he was consulting engineer for mines at Barberton, Johannesburg and Kimberley. From 1893 he was technical adviser on mining and metallurgy to the Deutsche Gold and Silver Scheide Anstalt, of Frankfort. He there conducted extensive metallurgical researches, which formulated the basis of far-reaching improvements in the recovery of precious metals from ores.
He was the joint author of 'Cyaniding Gold and Silver Ores'. He was one of the founder members of the Royal Automobile Club, a member of the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy, and a member of the Committee of the British Association, and a contributor to the work of its Chemical Section. He was also on the Committee of the Torquay Natural History Society and a member of the Devonshire Association, which he had joined in 1903, both of which were founded by his father-in-law, the late William Pengelly, FRS, FGS, the eminent geologist.
Mr Julian was a great traveller. He had crossed the Atlantic no less than thirteen times, and had visited Mexico, the Zambesi, and many other parts of the globe, and, accompanied by his wife, had undertaken extensive tours in South Africa, Canada, the United States, the West Indies, etc.
Mr Julian, after residing at 'The Ness', Shaldon, for many years, married, in 1902, Hester, the youngest daughter of the late Mr William Pengelly, and removed to Torquay. Mrs Julian, who has been a member of the Devonshire Association since 1899, is herself well known in scientific and literary circles.
The numerous sympathetic letters and cables received by her after the catastrophe from all parts of the world, including those from Their Majesties the King and Queen, and Queen Alexandra, and from the Bishop of Exeter, Bishops Ryle (Dean of Westminster), Boyd-Carpenter, and Welldon, and many other distinguished persons, testify to the esteem in which Mr Julian was held.'
[Volume 44]
Comment and discuss