Trotter in South Africa [Alexander Trotter, electrical engineer]

Alexander Trotter was the English electrical engineer whose varied career included helping to set up the Paris Exhibition in 1881, manufacturing generators, and designing lighting systems. This article briefly describes his life and work in the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, where he arrived in February 1896. His first business was to study the Cape Acts and matters relating to electricity supply in Cape Town and Port Elizabeth. He was also concerned with tramways. Electric light and power were controlled by Acts of Parliament, but, as in Britain, the tramways were controlled just by regulations.