Details

The Manchester Branch was inaugurated as a completely independent body called The Northern Society of Electrical Engineers. Late in 1893 Mr George E Preece, Chief Electrical Engineer and Works Manager to W T Glover in association with other Manchester electrical engineers and industrialists resolved to form a Society with the object of "holding meetings for the promotion of Electrical Science and its commercial and other applications and for social intercourse between the members". George Preece had been Secretary of the Society of Telegraph Engineers but had resigned when he moved from London to Manchester in 1876. In November 1893 at a meeting of founder members at the Albion Hotel, Piccadilly, a draft constitution for the new Society was approved and this date marks the inauguration of the Northern Society of Electrical Engineers. The founder President was Dr John Hopkinson FRS. Towards the end of 1897 the IEE was considering the formation of branches in the provinces and, inter alia, affiliation with the Northem Society of Electrical Engineers. Many of the members of the Northem Society were also IEE members so there was considerable though by no means unanimous support for amalgamation. Negotiations continued and on 18 December 1899 the Northem Council under the Presidency of Mr S Z de Ferranti accepted the proposals of the Institution for amalgamation. The creation of the successor body The Manchester District Local Section of the Institution of Electrical Engineers was announced by the IEE President, Professor Silvanus P Thompson on 8 March 1900. The Manchester District was renamed the North Westem Centre in 1918 when the Institution decided that names should better reflect the territory served. In September 2000, as a result of a strategic review of the Institution's activities and regional operations, the North Western Centre, with some minor boundary adjustments, became known as the The Manchester Branch [historical information extracted from JE Officer's history of the branch written for the centenary in 2000]. In October 2006 following the combination of the IIE and IEE to form the IET, the convergence of the IEE Branches and IIE Regions was achieved in the UK through the creation of Local and Regional Networks. At that time the IEE Manchester Branch became the Manchester Local Network which was part of the North Western Regional Netowrk.