Patrick David de Laszlo

PATRICK DAVID DE LASZLO

1909-1980

Taken from obituaries in the Daily Telegraph 4.11.1980 and The Times 7.11.1980;

Who's Who 1980 entry: also from conversations with D.P.deL, and notes dictated by P.D.deL.

Patrick David de Laszlo was born in London on 26th March 1909, the fourth of the five sons of Philip Alexius de László and his wife Lucy Madeline Guinness. His second Christian name was given to him in honour of the artist Jacques-Louis David. According to his wet-nurse, Marion May, he was apparently ‘ailing child’ in his infancy . However aged 8 he went like his elder brothers to Twyford Preparatory School, and later to Lancing and to Balliol College, Oxford, 1927- 1931. He gained a B.Lit. Econs. in his first year, and then Hons. P.P.E. in three years. He was asked to stay at Oxford to teach economics but declined, and went on to develop a distinguished career as an engineering inventor and designer.

After spending some time in Hamburg, and lecturing in America, he joined his brother Stephen, to work on the design for miniature radio valves and in forming a company called Hivac, which developed and manufactured these valves. Hivac was later sold to English Electric. From 1937-1949, he was Managing Director of Celestion Ltd. (a public company), which made loudspeakers but which also went into the manufacture of portable radio transmitter/receivers. These 'small radios’ were first used by the 1933 Oxford University Expedition to the Arctic, and subsequently further refined and, when smaller still, successfully used in clandestine army operations during the second World War. He was co-opted as a Group Captain to build a radar chain around Britain, which was crucial in directing Fighter Command, culminating in the successful concentration of airborn resources in the Battle of Britain. Another of his companies, the McMurdo Instrument Co., developed escape lights for life-jackets for the Royal Navy. These were later adopted by B.O.A.C. and many other international air lines.

Celestion Ltd. was the company chosen by the Government Research Establishment to ‘productionise’ the Proximity Fuse that the GRE had developed as a laboratory prototype. This fuse, in reality a complete miniature radar transmitter and receiver operated by a chemical battery, was capable of detonating an Anti-Aircraft shell when it came within lethal distance of its target, or more specifically, the German VI rockets attacking southern Britain during 1943. PdeL was released from active work in the Air Ministry in order to supervise this complex and successful

project. He set up the company Micro Precision Products for this purpose, and the final designs were then sent to America for the mass production of the fuses, which played an vital part in the countering of the worst of the onslaught of the V1 bomb attacks. Micro Precision Products was also very successful in making press cameras, which was the cover for the secret side of their manufacturing. P de L continued to be entrusted by the British Government with the whole development work on proximity fuses, suitable for various kinds of ammunition for twenty years after the war.

After the war also Patrick founded Halmatic Ltd., he was Managing Director from 1950-1960. Halmatic pioneered the design and manufacture of fibreglass reinforced plastic boat hulls. Halmatic made the first racing yachts with fibreglass hulls and fibreglass decks, and the first power-driven fibreglass hulls, ranging from 30 foot up to the 80 foot Coastal Defence Vessel, driven by gas turbines and capable of over 50 knots. Halmatic also made the first fibreglass superstructure of a submarine for the Admiralty. The technique evolved by Halmatic was approved by Lloyd’s and all hulls sold by Halmatic carried a Lloyd’s certificate. The technique was subsequently universally adopted for yachts of all kinds and other small vessels. A further company, Digital Systems was set up in the 1960’s, which pioneered the technique of transmitting high speed data over lower power radio equipment. Digital Systems supplied many of the U.K. Police Forces with these high speed data transmission equipment, to which made it possible to monitor and control all their vehicles. The company was eventually sold to International Aerradio Co. Ltd., which supplied data transmission systems for the control of police vehicles, bus and fire-fighting services, etc. all over the world. He also set up a subsidiary of McMurdo’s: Harwin Engineers, Portsmouth, of which he became a director. This was the only company he kept after selling all his other interests when he ‘retired’ in the late sixties.

From 1957 until 1964, he was a Member of Westminster City Council and served on a number of committees, in particular the Finance Committee, as well as being Chairman of the Works Committee. In 1968, he was elected Chairman of the London Westminster Conservative Association, a post which he held for nine years, undertaking the task of amalgamating with the City of London Conservative Association, which led to the creation of the Cities of London and Westminster Conservative Association. During that time he was elected Deputy Chairman of the Greater London Area Conservative Party. He became Chairman of the Economic Research Council in 1959 and up till the end of his life played a leading role in its affairs, most notably seeing through the E.R.C.’s sponsorship of the ‘Programme for National Recovery’. Patrick de Laszlo was Chairman of the Association of Independent Businesses from 1973 to 1976, and President from 1976.

His first wife, whom he married in 1940, was Deborah Hamar, daughter of the first Viscount Greenwood; they had a son, Damon, and four daughters, Stephanie, Meriel, Grania, and Charmian. The marriage was dissolved in 1970. In 1973 he married for the second time, to Mrs Penelope Kitson; that marriage was dissolved in 1976. His third marriage was to Baroness Sharples, in 1977; she had been previously married to Sir Richard Sharples, Governor of Bermuda, who was assassinated there in 1973. He died in London aged 71 on 27th October, 1980.

Sir Alexander Glen, K.B.E., D.S.C. in a letter of 1.6.98, said of Patrick de Laszlo:

“...Damon’s father, one of the most fascinating and puzzling men I have met and known in 86 years. First meeting at Oxford was a coup de fouet, sharp, stimulating, exciting. If one knows oneself at all, at 18 from a Scottish public school, I guess I was a bit prudish, Calvinistic but

not for long, and narrow. Patrick certainly did not leave any of this alone, he was extremely good to me and in opening up new worlds I owe him very much. Of his immense talents you know more than I, but the period when we were very close was July to October 1939 when we shared a cottage at Cobham. War came, it took time to realise an old world had ended, but in that realisation one could wish for no better mentor than Patrick. To him, as to Frances James, I owe very much indeed in the learning of life.”

and in a telephone conversation re. the Arctic Expedition: “I think our using those radios on the expedition did have some bearing on the future development of radio operations in Europe... of course they were still relatively large, and primitive then, we had to lug them along in heavy suitcases...”

 From the memoirs of  Marion May’s daughter: Lucy Marion May: While I think of it: 

‘While I Think of It’, the diary of Lucy Marion May (later Squire): was first typed-up in October 1994 by her son Patrick Squire (died Nov 2001), updated on 12th November 2002 by her other son Tim Squire (who now owns the copyright), then edited from November-January 2003 by Francis Crossley, cousin to Patrick and Tim. F C sent email to SdeL on 25th March 2004 explaining that the aim is to produce a small amount of copies (with illustrations) in book form for Lucy M. May’s children. He also said that Lucy’s mother Marion May was born a Spencer, and after separating from her husband before going to the de László family as Patrick’s wet nurse might conceivably have reverted to her maiden name (although he thinks it is unlikely). Lucy May described her mother as ‘living in luxury’ with the de Lászlós. FC thought that ‘the little lady’ may appear in some de László family photos but he confirmed. Marion May was never painted by de László.

Letters→Lucy Marion May / Squire wet nurse to Patrick Interview

Francis Crossley (tel: 0118 947 5907) came to introduce himself during the de László exhibition at Christie’s .

Photograph taken from photograph of portrait by his father Philip de Laszlo 1918