Philip Thorpe Priestley
Philip Thorpe Priestley BSc FSA MBHI (born 15 May 1936 died 9 March 2018) was an English scientist and inventor. Priestley was born in Lincoln and from 2012 lived in Newark, Nottinghamshire. He was educated at Lincoln City (Grammar) School 1946-1954 and at the University of Nottingham 1954-57 (BSc Hons Chemistry). He joined Kodak Limited in the UK and worked as an IT Manager at several locations including the USA (4 years for Eastman Kodak). He holds several patents in the fields of measuring small temperature differences and thermometric reaction instrumentation. He served in the Royal Air Force for National Service as an Electronics Instructor. From 1966 he was involved in the acquisition and application of the earliest process control computers to the manufacturing process. He later became responsible for installing large commercial computers in Kodak. He retired from Kodak at the beginning of 1993. In retirement, he expanded his long-term interest in antique watches, specialising in those made in the USA. Whilst living in the US, he completed his seminal work on Watch Case Makers of England 1720 -1920, being the first book detailing the trade of case making, makers and their marks registered at the various assay offices,