Charles Hesterman Merz

Charles Hesterman Merz (5 October 1874 – 14 or 15 October 1940) was a British electrical engineer who pioneered the use of high-voltage three-phase AC power distribution in the United Kingdom, building a system in the North East of England in the early 20th century that became the model for the country's National Grid.

It was the first three-phase electricity supply system in Great Britain, and was opened by Lord Kelvin on 18 June 1901.

When Price was succeeded by Philip Vassar Hunter, Merz worked with him to develop an improved version which became known as the Merz-Hunter system.

[10] Between 1907 and 1913 Merz was hired by Thomas James Tait to electrify the railway system in Melbourne, Australia.

[12] In 1916 Merz pointed out that the UK could use its small size to its advantage, by creating a dense distribution grid to feed its industries efficiently.

He also sat on the Weir Committee, which produced the more significant Electricity (Supply) Act of 1926, leading to the setting up of the National Grid.

In the same year, aged 66, he was killed during an air raid, with his two children, at their house at 14 Melbury Road, Kensington, London, by a German bomb.