Frederick Baden Hinsley was born in 1900 and was educated at Bagworth Council School,Leicestershire until 1913. He became a surface screen worker at Desford Colliery near Leicesterwhere from 1914 to 1925 he worked underground. He graduated from the Mining Department of BirminghamUniversity in 1929 (BSc.), where he had joined the Institution of Mining Engineers (IMinE), theAssociation of Mining, Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (AMEME), and passed the Examination asInstructor of Mine Rescue. Hinsley then went to Birch Coppice Colliery to attain a First ClassCertificate (1930), and in 1932, took up a post as lecturer in mining at the County TechnicalCollege, Worksop, Nottinghamshire. He conducted research into mine ventilation at Manton Colliery,for which he was awarded an MSc. by Birmingham in 1937.
In 1939, Hinsley left Worksop to become a lecturer in Mining at University College, Cardiff. Forhis published work on ventilation, he was awarded a Doctor of Science degree by BirminghamUniversity in 1945. In 1947, he became Professor of Mining and Fuels at University CollegeNottingham (now The University of Nottingham). Hinsley retired from the university as Professor ofMining Engineering in 1967. His published work comprised some 80 articles that appeared in thevarious mining journals. His work, 'A Centenary History of the Chesterfield and Derbyshire Instituteof Mining Civil and Mechanical Engineers and its Successors' (1975), was first published by theMidland Counties Institution of Engineers and financed by its Trust. Hinsley died on 6 February1988.
Professor Hinsley received many awards including: the Silver Medal of the South Staffordshire andWarwickshire IMinE (1939), the Gold Medal of the South Wales Institute of Engineers (1944), the VanWaterschoot van der Gracht Medal of the Royal Geological and Mining Society of the Netherlands(1962), the Institution Medal of the IMinE (1970), and the Lord Edward Cavendish Medal of theNottinghamshire and North Derbyshire Branch of the IMinE (1971). His public lectures included: TheCadman Memorial Lecture (1966) and The Robert A. Moore Memorial Lecture (1969), both at the RoyalSociety of Arts in London.
Professor Hinsley also held the following positions: IMinE representative on the BritishStandards Institute conference on mine fans (1946), president of the South Wales branch of the AMEME(1947), advisor on ventilation to the East Midlands Division of the National Coal Board (1949-1967),president of the IMinE (1968-9), honorary life member of the Mine Ventilation Society of SouthAfrica (1971), and fellow of the Fellowship of Engineering (1976).
