Walter Richardson Grant Francis died in London early in February, 1920, after a lingering illness, at the age of 50.
He was born at Swansea in June, 1869, and after going through preparatory schools at Clifton and Woking, was sent to Rugby, where he was a distinguished student during the Jex-Blake, Percival period, a member of the football xv and captain of the shooting viii. On leaving Rugby he was from 1888 to 1891 a student at the ‘Royal School of Mines’ at Clausthal, and during that period visited all the important mining districts of Germany and Austria. In 1892 he went to Peru as mill superintendent at the Caylloma silver mine, and during a subsequent period of 16 years occupied various positions at Huanchaca, Potosi, Oruro, Llallagua and other mining camps in Chile, and Bolivia.
In 1910 he went to Mexico to report on the Tominil mines, and in 1912 he left England to take up his residence in Spain, where he carried out important prospecting work in Caceres and mining in the Granada and Seville districts. Later he moved to Madrid and was appointed consulting engineer to the Commercial Secretary of the British Embassy.
He was taken ill in September, 1919, and had to resign his position and return to England, where he died as stated above.
In 1906 he contributed a short Paper, ‘Water Skip with Automatic Discharge,’ to the Institution (Trans., vol. xvi).
Mr. Francis was admitted to Studentship of the Institution in 1892, and was transferred to Membership in 1908.
Vol. 31, Trans IMM 1921-23, p.578
