Charles E. 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". There are many references to publications in Ottley.
C.J. Allen relates how Lee and Klapper entertained Ian Allan to lunch to emphasise the need for strict accuracy in publishing,
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."

Early railways in Surrey. Railway Gazette
Reviewed Locomotive Mag., 1944, 50, 112

The evolution of permanent way. London. 1937. 64pp.
Ottley 216 (which also notes other editions) and early citation in Andrew Dow's Railway. See also Ottley 216 which shows that Lee expamded this into The evolution of railways.

The Metropolitan Line. London Transport, 32pp.  
Reviewed by K.H.S. in Railway World, 1973, 34, 171

100 years of the District. London Transport.
Reviewed by G.M.K. in Railway World, 1969, 30, 132

The Penrhyn Railway. Welsh Highland Railway (1964) Ltd., 1975,
Cited by Quine Archive, 2021, 111, 52-64

Workmen's fares. Railway Gazette, 1944
Ottley 4892 which gives full citation for source article, but does not note Instute of Transport source as in Locomotive Mag. review

2021-10-20