| Thomas Hawksley | |
|---|---|
Thomas Hawksley |
|
| Born | 12 July 1807 Arnold, Nottinghamshire |
| Died | 15 September 1893 (aged 86) Kensington, London |
| Nationality | English |
| Education | Self-taught from age 15 |
| Children | Charles Hawksley |
| Work | |
| Engineering discipline | Civil engineering |
| Institution memberships | Institution of Civil Engineers (president), Institution of Gas Engineers and Managers (president), Fellow of the Royal Society |
| Significant projects | Lindley Wood, Swinsty and Fewston reservoirs |
Thomas Hawksley (12 July 1807 – 15 September 1893) was an English civil engineer of the 19th century, particularly associated with water and gas engineering projects.
The son of John Hawksley and Mary Whittle, and born in Arnold, near Nottingham on 12 July 1807,[1] Hawksley was largely self-taught from the age of 15 onwards, having at that point become articled to a local firm of architects that also undertook a variety of water-related engineering projects.
He remains particularly associated with schemes in his home county. He was engineer to the Nottingham Gas Light and Coke Company and Nottingham Waterworks Company for more than half a century, having, early in his career, completed the Trent Bridge waterworks (1831). This scheme delivered Britain's first high pressure 'constant supply', preventing contamination entering the supply of clean water mains.[2]
This achievement led him to be appointed to many major water supply projects across England, including schemes for Liverpool, Sheffield, Leicester, Leeds, Derby, Darlington, Oxford, Cambridge, Sunderland, Wakefield and Northampton. He also undertook drainage projects, including schemes for Birmingham, Worcester and Windsor.
In 1852, Hawksley set up his own engineering practice in Westminster, London. He was the first president of the Institution of Gas Engineers and Managers[3] (serving for three years from 1863), a Fellow of the Royal Society,[4] and was elected President of the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1871 (a post his son Charles later occupied in 1901).[5]
Between 1869 and 1879, Hawksley acted as consultant to the construction of Lindley Wood, Swinsty and Fewston reservoirs for the Leeds Waterworks Company.[6]
He died in Kensington, London in 1893[7] and is buried in his family plot at Brookwood Cemetery, Surrey. In December 2007 a granite memorial was placed over his previously unmarked grave.[8]
Thomas Hawksley was the first of four generations of eminent water engineers, having been followed into the profession by his son, Charles Hawksley, grandson Kenneth Phipson Hawksley, and great grandson, Thomas Edwin Hawksley (died 1972). The Institution of Mechanical Engineers still holds an annual lecture in his memory,
| Professional and academic associations | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Charles Blacker Vignoles |
President of the Institution of Civil Engineers December 1871 – December 1873 |
Succeeded by Thomas Elliot Harrison |
| Preceded by Sir Frederick Bramwell |
President of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers 1876–1877 |
Succeeded by John Robinson |