Sir Frank Gill: Plaque celebrates pioneering BBC engineer

Sir Frank Gill was born on the Isle of Man in 1866

The life of a Isle of Man-born engineer credited with playing an integral part in the creation of the BBC has been marked with a blue plaque.

Sir Frank Gill played an instrumental role in bringing radio manufacturers together in 1922 to create a British public service broadcaster.

The plaque was unveiled at his former home in Castletown Square on Sunday.

Lieutenant Governor Sir John Lorimer said he was a "remarkable Manxman" who had "great foresight".

The unveiling coincided with the 100th anniversary of the creation of the BBC, formerly known as the British Broadcasting Company.

The plaque was unveiled on what is now the Co-Operative building in Castletown

Born in Castletown on 4 October, 1866, Sir Frank moved to Southport, Merseyside, at the age of 11 following the death of his father, where he developed an interest in telephone engineering.

He started his career at London's National Telephone Company and, by 1919, he was European Chief Engineer at the London headquarters of the US firm Western Electric Company, at a time when radio was coming to the fore.

Amid fears of several hundred radio stations being launched across Britain, Sir Frank persuaded radio manufactures to work together to create one public service broadcaster.

Historian Robert Stimpson, author of Sir Frank's biography and who organised for the plaque to be installed, said it would give "just recognition" to "quite a phenomenal man".

Sir John Lorimer added: "Not only was he an outstanding and respected engineer, he was also highly skilled and an influential negotiator who played a critical role in the founding of the BBC in 1922.

"There is no question that it was his groundwork and leadership that sowed the seeds to enable the creation of a single organisation that we know today as the BBC."