Moreover, a few
days before his death, the Council of the Institution of Civil
Engineers awarded him the Howard Quinquennial prize for his improvements
in the manufacture of iron and steel. At the request of his widow, it
took the form of a bronze copy of the 'Mourners,' a piece of statuary by
J. G. Lough, originally exhibited at the Great Exhibition of 1851, in
the Crystal Palace. In 1869 the University of Oxford conferred upon him
the high distinction of D.C.L. (Doctor of Civil Law); and besides being
a member of several foreign societies, he was a Dignitario of the
Brazilian Order of the Rose, and Chevalier of the Legion of Honour.
Rich in honours and the appreciation of his contemporaries, in the
prime of his working power and influence for good, and at the very
climax of his career, Sir William Siemens was called away. The news of
his death came with a shock of surprise, for hardly any one knew he had
been ill. He died on the evening of Monday, November 19, 1883, at nine
o'clock. A fortnight before, while returning from a managers' meeting of
the Royal Institution, in company with his friend Sir Frederick
Bramwell, he tripped upon the kerbstone of the pavement, after crossing
Hamilton Place, Piccadilly, and fell heavily to the ground, with his
left arm under him.
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