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Walter Worboys

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Sir
Walter John Worboys
Born(1900-02-22)February 22, 1900
DiedMarch 17, 1969(1969-03-17) (aged 69)
NationalityBritish
EducationScotch College
Alma materUniversity of Western Australia
Lincoln College, University of Oxford
Occupation(s)businessman
research chemist
Employer(s)Brunner Mond & Co
ICI
Council of Industrial Design (1947-1960)
Design Centre
Known forreforming road traffic signage, creator of the transport font
Notable workWorboys Committee
1964 Traffic Signs Regulations
TitleRhodes Scholar
D.Phil.
Sir
AwardsKnighthood

Sir Walter John Worboys (22 February 1900 – 17 March 1969), was an Australian-born British businessman and chemist. He is best known for widely reforming road traffic signage in the United Kingdom.

Biography

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He was born in Perth, Western Australia,[1] and educated at Scotch College and the University of Western Australia. Elected a Rhodes Scholar in 1922, he gained his D.Phil. after a further period of study at Lincoln College, Oxford.[2] His first job was as a research chemist at Brunner Mond & Co. From there he moved to ICI, eventually reaching the rank of director.

In 1947 he joined the Council of Industrial Design, a body set up by the Board of Trade in 1944. He was chairman of the council from 1953 until 1960, during which time he set up the Design Centre, a permanent exhibition of the council’s work. The establishment of the Design Centre proved to be a turning point in the history of the council, which until that time had attracted more critics than friends.[3]

In 1961 he was appointed to chair a committee to bring in a new era of modern road signage.[3] The committee reported in 1963,[4] advocating a total overhaul of the style of British road signs, introducing a new style that has lasted until the present day. The report recommended the pictorial design found on many European road signs, along with a British-designed font that was to become known as the Transport font.[5]

Worboys died on 17 March 1969.[6]

Notes

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  1. ^ “Who was Who” 1897-2007 London, A & C Black, 2007 ISBN 978-0-19-954087-7
  2. ^ "Rhodes Scholars: Complete List, 1903-2011". The Rhodes SCholarships. Retrieved 19 March 2012.
  3. ^ a b "Worboys, Sir Walter John". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/37022. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  4. ^ "Hansard : Traffic Signs Committee Report". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 13 March 1963. Retrieved 29 June 2011.
  5. ^ "Jock Kinneir + Margaret Calvert". Design Museum. 2006. Retrieved 11 March 2013.
  6. ^ Obituary: Sir Walter Worboys The Times Tuesday, Mar 18, 1969; pg. 12; Issue 57512; col G