The Papers of Richard Stanton-Jones

Richard Stanton-Jones was born on 25 September 1926, the son of John C. Stanton Jones and Katharine Stanton. He was educated at King Edward VI School, Stourbridge; King's College, Cambridge (MA), 1945-8; and the College of Aeronautics, Cranfield (MSc), 1948-9, where he won the post-graduate prize for most original thesis. In 1949 he married Dorine Mary Watkins, with whom he had one son.

Once qualified as an aerodynamicist, he worked for the de Havilland Aircraft Company Limited, 1949, Saunders-Roe Limited, from 1949, and the Lockheed Corporation (United States), 1955-6, becoming Chief Aerodynamicist, 1956-9, and Chief Designer, 1959-66, with Saunders-Roe/British Hovercraft Corporation Limited (later Westland Helicopters Limited) on the SRN series of hovercraft (Britain's first cross-Channel hovercraft). He was Technical Director for the British Hovercraft Corporation at Cowes on the Isle of Wight, 1966-8, then Managing Director, 1968-82, becoming Deputy Chairman and Westland Group Director for Hovercraft and Helicopter business, 1982-4. He subsequently practised as an Engineering consultant, having established RSJ Engineering, in 1984.

Stanton Jones received the A. Sperry Award (Transportation) in 1968; the Royal Aeronautical Society Silver Medal in 1965; Elmer Awards FEng in 1984; and an Honorary DSc from University of Exeter in 1987. From 1988 to 1990 he was employed as an expert witness on hovercraft patents by the United States Department of Justice. He published numerous papers and 31 patents on hovercraft.

He died on 23 January 1991.

The papers comprise research notes on aircraft, rockets and hovercraft; diaries; correspondence; articles; lecture notes; photographs; and press cuttings.

The papers were given to Churchill Archives Centre by Dorine Stanton-Jones in 1992.

The collection is open for consultation by researchers using Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge. Churchill Archives Centre is open from Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm. A prior appointment and two forms of identification are required.

A small number of files are closed pending review and these closures are marked in the catalogue.

Researchers wishing to publish excerpts from the papers must obtain prior permission from the copyright holders and should seek advice from Archives Centre staff.

Please cite as Churchill Archives Centre, The Papers of Richard Stanton-Jones, STJN

A copy of "The Story of Hovercraft", published by British Petroleum, was deposited with the papers and has been added to the Roskill Library in the Archives Centre.

A copy of this finding aid is available for consultation at Churchill Archives Centre, Cambridge, the National Register of Archives, London and on the Janus website, http://janus.lib.cam.ac.uk/.

This collection (fonds) level description was prepared by Katharine Thomson at Churchill Archives Centre in April 2003. The papers were catalogued by Sophie Bridges, August 2005. Biographical information was obtained from "Who's Who 1897-1996"; Richard Stanton-Jones's obituary in "The Independent", 11 February 1991; and from the papers themselves.