Eric Tonks Explained

Eric Tonks
Birth Date:1914 7, df=y
Birth Place:Birmingham, United Kingdom
Death Place:Birmingham, United Kingdom
Occupation:Writer
Nationality:British
Period:1943-1992
Genre:Industrial history, Jazz
Subject:Railways, quarrying, industrial history, jazz
Notableworks:The Ironstone Quarries of the Midlands
Children:2
Awards:MSc, FRIC, Dip Maths

Eric Tonks (17 July 1914[1] – 26 December 1994[2]) was an English writer and historian of British industrial railways. He is regarded as one of the pioneers of the industrial archaeology of railways and quarrying.[2] He was also a noted Jazz discographer.

Industrial railways

In 1949, Tonks was one of the founders of the Birmingham Locomotive Club and he was the club's president for 25 years.[2] He also set up the club's Industrial Locomotive Section, which later became the Industrial Railway Society.[3] He compiled a well-regarded study of the development of British preserved railways.[4]

Author

Tonks was a prolific author on the related subjects of industrial history and industrial railways. He began his writing career with a book on the Edge Hill Light Railway, and he was an acknowledged expert in the history of that railway.[5]

He is particularly known for his "magnum opus"[2] 9-volume series of books on the ironstone industry of The Midlands, which is considered the standard work on the subject.[6] [7] Tonks began work on this series with the publication of a single volume in 1959.[8] This was expanded into 9 volumes in the 1980s and 1990s. These books are acknowledged, as a "great work...on industrial infrastructure"[9] and the 1959 edition was one of the first books to integrate the study of industrial railway history with the wider historical and social aspects of the industries they served.[10]

Other interests

Tonks was a founding member of the Motor Registration Circuit, a club based in the Midlands for car license plate spotting enthusiasts.[1] He was considered an expert in this field.[11] He was also a well-known Jazz aficionado,[12] who wrote a regular column for Discography magazine[13] and was considered an expert in the field of Jazz discographies.[14]

Works

Ironstone Quarries

Originally published as:

Full series:

Other books

Notes and References

  1. News: Birmingham Daily Post . Unravelling the mysteries of car numbers . 4 January 1966.
  2. The Railway Magazine . Eric Tonks . 141 . 13 . March 1995.
  3. Web site: Chasewater Railway . A look at a selection of artefacts on show in the museum . 13 March 2013 .
  4. Book: Carter, Ian . 114 . British Railway Enthusiasm . Oxford University Press . 9 January 2017.
  5. News: Look Back with Little: Importance of Railway . 29 September 2014 . Banbury Guardian.
  6. Web site: Historic Environment Record: Northamptonshire . Northamptonshire Industrial Archeology Group.
  7. Earth Sciences History: Journal of the History of the Earth Sciences Society . 16 . The Society . 1997.
  8. News: Ironstone Quarries . Bulletin of Industrial Archeology in CBA . 3 . October 1967.
  9. Book: Amber, R. W. . The History and Practice of Britain's Railways: A New Research Agenda . Ashgate . 1999.
  10. Transport History . 1-2 . Graphmitre Limited . 1968 . Industrial History.
  11. News: Birmingham Daily Post . Upsetting tradition . 19 April 1966.
  12. Book: International Bibliography of Jazz Books: 1921-1949 . Carl Gregor . Mecklenburg . Norbert . Ruecker . Koerner . 1983.
  13. Venables . R.G.V . Tonks . Eric . Information Please, a regular monthly feature for collectors . August 1943 . Discography.
  14. Book: Pickup: The Record Collector's Guide . 2 . Pickup . 1947.

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