James Walker (engineer)
| James Walker | |
|---|---|
 James Walker | |
| Born |
14 September 1781 Falkirk, Scotland, United Kingdom |
| Died | 8 October 1862 (aged 81) |
| Nationality | Scottish |
| Citizenship | Great Britain |
| Engineering career | |
| Engineering discipline | civil engineering |
| Institution memberships | Institution of Civil Engineers (president), Fellow of the Royal Society |
James Walker FRS, (14 September 1781 – 8 October 1862) was an influential Scottish civil engineer.
Born in Falkirk, he was apprenticed to his uncle Ralph Walker. Around 1800 they worked on the design and construction of London's West India and East India Docks. Later, he worked on the Surrey Commercial Docks from about 1810 onwards, remaining as engineer to the Surrey Commercial Dock Company until his death in 1862.
In 1821 Walker built his first lighthouse, the West Usk Lighthouse, near Newport, South Wales.[1][2] He went on to build another 21 lighthouses.
Walker was the senior partner of the consulting engineering firm of Messrs. Walker and Burges[3] (of Limehouse), Burges having first became his pupil in 1811 and risen to partner in 1829.[3] In 1832 their offices moved to 44 Parliament Street, Westminster (which lies at southern end of Whitehall) and then to 23 George Street.[3] In 1853 he promoted James Cooper,[4] one of his assistants, to the partnership with the firm then being known as Messrs. Walker, Burges & Cooper.[5][6]
Walker succeeded his associate Thomas Telford as President of the Institution of Civil Engineers, serving from 1834 to 1845.[7][8] He was also chief engineer of Trinity House, hence his considerable involvement with coastal engineering and lighthouses. He was conferred with Honorary Membership of the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland in 1857.[9]
Projects and other work
Walker worked on various engineering projects, including:
- Greenland Dock, London (c.1808 – c.1862)
- today Vauxhall Bridge), London (1816, since demolished)
- West Usk Lighthouse, near Newport, South Wales [10]
- Survey for the Leeds and Selby Railway (1829)[11]
- Survey for the Leipzig–Dresden Railway (1835)[12]
- Start Point lighthouse, Devon (1836) [13]
- Advice on alignment of Hereford and Gloucester Canal (1838)
- Improvements to Aberdeen Harbour (1838)
- Wolf Rock beacon and lighthouse (1840–1862)
- Trevose Head Lighthouse [14] (1844-1847)
- River Severn and South Wales Railway (1845), a report that blocked Brunel's plans for railway bridges across the River Severn.[15]
- Gunfleet Lighthouse,[16] off Frinton-on-Sea, Essex (1850)
- Design of the East Bute Dock, Cardiff (1855)[4]
- Whitby North [17] and Whitby South [18] lighthouses, near Ling Hill, High Whitby (1857–58)
- Bishop Rock lighthouse (1858) [19]
- Needles Lighthouse [20]
- Completion of the Caledonian Canal (1838–1848)
- Alderney breakwater, Channel Islands (1847) and harbour [21] (1862)
- St Catherine’s Harbour, Jersey, Channel Islands (1847–1856)
- Improvements to navigation in the River Tyne (1853–1861)
- The Clock Tower of the Houses of Parliament (also known as Big Ben) (1836-1859)[22]
- Houses of Parliament, cofferdam for the riverside foundations and terrace (1837–49)[23][24]
Walker was also involved in designing a dock harbour in Hamburg (1845, with William Lindley and Heinrich Hübbe). He was also involved in the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, preparing a report on the merits of stationary and locomotive engines along with other notable engineers of the day.[25] He was also for a long period consulting engineer to the Board of Admiralty.[26]
Memorial
A memorial to Walker was commissioned by the Institution of Civil Engineers to stand at Greenland Dock and was unveiled in 1990.[27]
References
- ↑ Jones, Stephen K. (2009). Brunel in South Wales. II: Communications and Coal. Stroud: The History Press. p. 78. ISBN 9780752449128.
- ↑ West Usk Lighthouse
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Skempton, Professor Sir Alec, ed. (2002). A Biographical Dictionary of Civil Engineers in Great Britain and Ireland: 1500-1830. ICE publishing. pp. 755–756. ISBN 072772939X.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Grace's Guide - British Industrial History".
- ↑ "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography".
- ↑ William, Thomas (1900). Life of Sir James Nicholas Douglass. London: Longman, Green and Co. p. 65. LCCN D67 W5 TA140 D67 W5. "The firm of which this eminent man was head, whose offices were in Great George Street, Westminister, had long been carried on under the style of Walker, Burges & Cooper...Mr. James Cooper, the junior partner"
- ↑ "Institution of Civil Engineers, Past Presidents".
- ↑ Watson, Garth (1988). The Civils. London: Thomas Telford Ltd. p. 251. ISBN 0-7277-03, 92-7 Check
|isbn=value (help) - ↑ http://www.iesis.org/honorary-fellows.html
- ↑ "Lighthouse management : the report of the Royal Commissioners on Lights, Buoys, and Beacons, 1861, examined and refuted Vol. 2". pp. 97, 98.
- ↑ The North Eastern Railway; its rise and development, William Weaver Tomlinson, 1915, p. 203, online version via www.archive.org
- ↑ "The Leipzig-Dresden railway line through time". "Walker, embarked on his journey to Saxony and arrived in Leipzig on 13 October 1835 with his assistant, John Hawkshaw. They spent nearly two weeks looking over the countryside between Leipzig and Dresden"
- ↑ "Lighthouse management". p. 86.
- ↑ "Lighthouse management". pp. 92, 93.
- ↑ Jones & 2009 II, pp. 78–81
- ↑ "Lighthouse management". p. 77.
- ↑ "Lighthouse management". p. 67.
- ↑ "Lighthouse management". p. 68.
- ↑ "Lighthouse management". p. 91.
- ↑ "Lighthouse management". p. 82.
- ↑ "Alderney Harbour... showing progress of works according to report of Messors Walker, Burgess and Cooper". Ref: FO 925/4584 The National Archives, Kew. 1862-04-12.
- ↑ "skyscrapernews.com". Retrieved 8 November 2013.
- ↑ "Engineering Timelines - Palace of Westminster". Retrieved 8 November 2013.
- ↑ ACCOUNTS AND PAPERS: SEVENTEEN VOLUMES: Army Navy Ordnance : Session 15 Nov 1837 - 16 Aug 1838 VOL. XXXVII (Report). http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=mnBbAAAAQAAJ&pg=RA1-PA236&lpg=RA1-PA236&dq=%22walker+%26+burgess%22&source=bl&ots=gd21X1V1NK&sig=3TJEsgtazJTMg8EjbqmHc2THO_M&hl=en&sa=X&ei=BhF9UsSAO8motAbWioDgDA&ved=0CE0Q6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=%22walker%20%26%20burgess%22&f=false. Retrieved 8 November 2013.
- ↑ "Report to the directors of the Liverpool and Manchester railway: on the comparative merits of locomotive and fixed engines, as a moving power, James Walker, Robert Stephenson, Joseph Locke, Henry Booth, 1831".
- ↑ Appletons' annual cyclopaedia and register of important events of the year: 1862. New York: D. Appleton & Company. 1863. p. 693.
- ↑ Smith, Denis (2001). Civil Engineering Heritage. London: Thomas Telford Ltd. p. 103. ISBN 0-7277-2876-8.
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to James Walker (engineer). |
Obituaries
- Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Volume 12, Royal Society (Great Britain), 1863, "Obituary Notices of Fellows Deceased", p. lxiv-lxvi, google books link
| Professional and academic associations | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Thomas Telford |
President of the Institution of Civil Engineers January 1835 – January 1845 |
Succeeded by John Rennie |
|