Albert Lidgett

Albert Lidgett (1876–1936) is best known as the author of Petroleum, a substantial early twentieth-century book that introduced general readers to the history, production, refining, and uses of oil. Library catalogs and later editions consistently identify him as the book’s author, and Project Gutenberg describes the work as a broad, accessible account of the petroleum industry rather than a narrowly technical manual.

Contemporary references also connect him with petroleum journalism. A period source reproduced online describes The Petroleum Times as being edited by Albert Lidgett, which fits with the practical, informed tone of his writing and suggests he was closely involved with reporting on the industry as it expanded internationally.

Not much biographical detail appears to be readily available in the sources I could confirm, so the safest picture is of a specialized journalist and nonfiction writer whose work helped explain one of the defining industries of his era. For listeners interested in industrial history, his writing offers a clear window into how petroleum was understood in the decades before the modern energy age fully took shape.