Arthur Poynting, born on 31st December 1882, was admitted to King Edward’s School in September 1895, having previously studied at Bromsgrove School. He lived with his parents and two sisters at 11, St Augustine’s Road, Edgbaston. Arthur’s father, Professor John Henry Poynting, was a world renowned physicist who worked with James Clerk Maxwell in Cambridge, and was known for his pioneering work on electromagnetic energy flow; the Poynting building in the University of Birmingham is named after him.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Arthur excelled at science, placing near the top of his class, and he won the bizarre prize for the ‘Best Collection of Objects’ from the School Natural History Society in 1898.
After leaving School, Arthur studied Civil Engineering at the University of Birmingham, graduating with degrees of BSc in 1905 and MSc in 1909. He went on to work as an Assistant Engineer in various projects ranging from railway construction to hydraulic and mechanical equipment, and in 1911 he became assistant to the Chief Engineer of the Port of London Authority.
Arthur joined the Army two days after the outbreak of war, obtaining a commission as Second Lieutenant with the Royal Warwickshire Regiment Territorial Force. He was later attached to the Machine Gun Corps, and was killed in action near Pozières, France, on 25th July 1916, aged thirty-four. He is buried in Bapaume Military Cemetery, Albert. He left his estate of £296 to David Burlingham Grubb, his brother-in-law.