Charles Edward Lee

Charles Edward Lee (1901-1983) was a professional writer and historian. He was a significant contributor of papers at meetings of the Newcomen Society and for forty years was on the editorial staff of Transport (1910) Ltd. (Tothill Press) and from 1941 was Assistant to the Managing Director representing the firm on various Councils and Associations. Journals served included The Railway Engineer, Marine Engineer, The Railway Magazine and The Railway Gazette. He wrote several historical books. Michael Robbins contributed a biographical sketch in the Oxford Companion which noted that he was always formal in manners and dress and was a churchwarden of St Pancras Church. Also his articles and books "set a new standard of careful analysis". The Obituary Notice in Transactions of the Newcomen Society noted that:"a journalist by profession, he was at one time editor of The Railway Magazine and was later a director of the Tothill Press group of transport industry journals. To those who knew him his precise and accurate manner, always courteous, and his sartorial appearance with the black jacket and wing collar of the senior journalists of an older day will remain a happy memory. At Summer Meetings older members who faltered after long rough walking were spurred on by seeing him step out, dressed in his usual formal style, as if walking down Victoria Street as it used to be. He was always ready and willing to share his profound knowledge of transport history and matters of printing and copyright with others to their great benefit."