(1821-1900) chief draughtsman at Maudslay, Sons and Field

Charles Sells was born in London in 1821, the son of Edward Perronet Sells and Frances de Grave. In 1837, at the age of 17, he joined the engineering firm of Messrs. Maudslay, Sons and Field at Lambeth. In 1847 he was given charge of the newly created ‘designing department’, in which role he remained until his retirement in 1895. He married in 1854 and had six children by his wife, Eliza Stanton Harding. His second son, John Henry Sells, was also an engineer.

During his time at Maudslay, Sons, and Field, Charles Sells was responsible for designing minting machinery used by the Royal Mint, pumping engines and steam locomotive engines. It was in the field of marine engineering however that Maudslay, Sons and Field made its name. As chief draughtsman Charles Sells designed the engines that powered a wide variety of vessels, including the White Star Line ships Adriatic, Britannic, Oceanic, and Germanic, the Royal yacht Osborne, and ships for the British, Spanish, Brazilian, Prussian, Italian, Russian and Turkish Navies as well as numerous commercial vessels. Examples of his work formed part of the Maudsley, Sons and Field exhibit at the Great Exhibition in 1851. Upon his retirement in 1895, the Board of Maudslay, Sons and Field described Sells as ‘the most successful designer of the marine steam engine of the present century.’

Charles Sells died in December 1900 in Sevenoaks, Kent.