Papers of Professor John Parton (born c.1915) Professor of Electrical Engineering at TheUniversity of Nottingham, 1939-1971

Scope and Content

The collection comprises files compiled by Professor Parton in his capacity as an academicprofessor and researcher into electrical engineering. The bulk of the collection concerns his ownresearch, preparation of articles and publications, and papers relating to teaching. The principalcategories in the collection are as follows:

  • Copies of articles and works published by Parton, 1951-1971 (PJP 1);
  • Files relating to overseas trips. 1965-1970 (PJP 2);
  • Files on articles, lectures and works written by Parton containing drafts, correspondence andresearch notes relating to them. 1941-1967 (PJP 3);
  • Files of conference papers. 1955-1966 (PJP 4);
  • Research files of a technical nature on various technical aspects of electrical engineering.1950-1971 (PJP 5);
  • Files relating to the teaching of engineering at schools and colleges including Imperial College,Herriot-Watt College, and the Schools Council's 'Project Technology'. 1949-1971 (PJP 6);
  • Printed items and reports compiled and written by people other than Professor Parton. 1952-1963(PJP 7).

Administrative / Biographical History

John Parton was educated at Cannock Chase Mining College and the University of Birmingham where,in 1933, he obtained a BSc degree in electrical engineering. He was awarded a PhD by Birmingham in1938. Between 1931 and 1939, Parton was a part-time lecturer at Cannock Chase Mining College and atNorthampton Polytechnic in London. In 1939, he joined the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserves assub-lieutenant with electrical duties. He had a distinguished naval career and was demobilised in1945 with the retired rank of Electrical Lieutenant Commander R.N.V.R. for his war services.

Parton was appointed lecturer in electrical engineering at the University of Glasgow in 1946. In1952, he became a member of the Senate of the university, and a senior lecturer in electricalengineering in 1954. In 1955, he joined The University of Nottingham as professor of electricalengineering and head of the Department of Electrical (and later, 'Electronic') Engineering. Partonretired from this post in 30 September 1978.

From 1947, Parton was an assessor for the Institutions of Mechanical Engineering and ElectricalEngineering (IMEEE) for higher national certificate examinations in Scotland, and an externalexaminer for diplomas for Herriot-Watt College. He gained much experience in light and heavyelectrical engineering with the Post Office Research establishment and as senior scientific officerof the British Iron and Steel Research Association. In 1965-66, Parton took a research and lecturesabbatical to the electrical engineering department at the University of Tennessee in the USA.Parton wrote many articles and lectures on a variety of aspects of electrical engineering.

Arrangement

The collection has been divided by subject matter into seven sections.

Access Information

ACCESS: Pending full cataloguing, access to thecollections is limited and is possible only to registered users by advance notice and agreement.

LANGUAGE: English

Other Finding Aids

This description is the only finding aid available for the collection. Copyright in thedescription belongs to The University of Nottingham.

Conditions Governing Use

COPYRIGHT: Permission to make published use of any material from this collection must be soughtin advance in writing from the Keeper of the Department of Manuscripts and Special Collections(email mss-library@nottingham.ac.uk). TheDepartment will try to assist in identifying copyright owners but this can be difficult and theresponsibility for copyright clearance before publication ultimately rests with the person wishingto publish.

REPROGRAPHIC: Reprographic copies can be supplied for educational use and private study purposesonly, depending on access status and the condition of the documents.

Custodial History

The collection was acquired by The University of Nottingham's Department of Manuscripts inSeptember 1983.

Bibliography

J.E. Parton, Applied electromagnetics (Macmillan: London, 1986) J.E. Parton, Phase transfomers, instruments and other problems (University of Glasgowthesis, 1970) J.E. Parton, Milliwatts to megawatts (University of Nottingham lecture,1956)

Geographical Names