Richard George Bevington, metallurgist and mill manager, was the son of Thomas Bevington and his wife Annie C. Gibbons. He studied assaying and metallurgy privately in London and came to Johannesburg in 1888. After a few months he was appointed mill manager to the Anglo-Transvaal Land and Gold Company, but later that same year went to the Orange Free State for nearly a year to supervise prospecting work for a syndicate. Returning to Johannesburg in 1890 he became mill manager to Meyer & Charlton Gold Mining Company, where he remained for nearly seven years. In 1894 he became mill manager to Village Main Reef Gold Mining Company, a position he held to his death as a result of an accident.

Bevington was a member of the Chemical and Metallurgical Society of South Africa from 1894, the year of its formation. After the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902) the society changed its name to the Chemical, Metallurgical and Mining Society of South Africa. Bevington served on its council from 1904 to 1908, and was elected its president for the year 1908/9. His inaugural address was published in Volume 9 of the Society's Journal. He was still active in the society in 1914, when he served on its finance committee. In 1903 he became a member of the (British) Institution of Mining and Metallurgy.

Bevington was survived by his wife, Alice Gertrude Taylor, and two children. He had been an active Freemason since 1892.

List of sources:

Chemical and Metallurgical Society of South Africa. Proceedings, 1897-1899, Vol. 1-2.

Chemical, Metallurgical and Mining Society of South Africa. Proceedings, 1903, Vol. 3; Journal, 1904-1908, Vol. 5-9 and 1913/14, Vol. 14.

National Archives Repository, Pretoria (TAB). Source MHG, Reference 26824. Estate documents, Richard George Bevington.

Obituary: Richard George Bevington. Ars Quatuor Coronatorum, being the Transactions of the Quatuor Coronati Lodge No. 2067, London, 1925, Vol. 38, p. 211.

[Obituary] Richard George Bevington. Transaction of the Institution of Mining and Metellurgy, 1915-1916, pp. 390-391. Retrieved from https://www.nmrs.org.uk/resources/obituaries-of-members/b/richard-george-bevington/

Compiled by: C. Plug

Last updated: 2023-08-11 11:53:39