Rookes Evelyn Bell Crompton, CB, FRS[1] (31 May 1845 – 15 February 1940) was an English electrical engineer, industrialist and inventor.

He was involved with both the practical and academic sides of his discipline, being a founder member of the International Electrotechnical Commission and twice president of the Institution of Electrical Engineers.

His autobiography tells how a trip to the Great Exhibition aged 6 had a profound impact on him: For me, the unforgettable part and focus of the whole exhibition was the Machinery Hall … neither Koh-I-Noor diamond, nor Osler's crystal fountain … had any attractions for me to compare with those of the locomotives, with their brilliantly polished piston rods and brasses burnished like gold.His schooling started at Sharow, near Ripon in Yorkshire, along with 19 other boys, aged between 7 and 15.

From Harrow Crompton obtained a placement at the Doncaster Works of the Great Northern Railway where he received theoretical education and practical experience in engineering.

[5] Whilst there, he witnessed the work of the Royal Engineers building narrow gauge railways and developed a deep interest in steam traction.

He had Bluebell shipped to him from Britain and convinced his superiors to adopt traction engines and steam lorries for transporting cargo instead of bullock-drawn carts.

His reputation quickly spread, to the extent that when Joseph Swan was developing his incandescent light bulb, he consulted Crompton over its design.

He installed lights at Windsor Castle and King's Cross station as well numerous country houses, factories, tram networks, railway yards and docks.

Installed on the Kensington Gardens estate in London, 7 steam engines coupled to Crompton dynamos supplied power from a cavern.

The housing development that is located on part of the former works has roads named Rookes Crescent, Evelyn Place and Crompton Street.

Early in the Second Boer War, Colonel Robert Baden-Powell improvised searchlights to deter night attacks during the Siege of Mafeking.

[8] Crompton was promoted to lieutenant-colonel,[9] mentioned in dispatches,[10] made a Companion of the Bath[11] for his efforts and was later given the honorary rank of colonel.

Many companies had entered the market in the 1890s and all chose their own settings for voltage, frequency, current and even the symbols used on circuit diagrams.

In 1904, Crompton represented Britain at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in Saint Louis as part of a delegation by the Institute of Electrical Engineers.

By 1906 his work was complete and he drew up a permanent constitution for the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), which held its first meeting that year in London, with representatives from 14 countries.

During this conflict, Crompton was asked by the Landships Committee to submit designs for a 'Land Ship' that could cross enemy trenches and barbed wire whilst protecting its occupants from bullets.

Although Germany was not officially invited to send delegates, an unofficial representation was sent, and Crompton insisted on greeting them, despite unease from other members.

As one would expect of a devotee of all things mechanical, he was an early motorist and a founder member of the Royal Automobile Club and president of the Institute of Automotive Engineers.