Sir John HawkshawFRSFRSEFRSAMICE (9 April 1811 – 2 June 1891), was an English civil engineer. He served as President of theInstitution of Civil Engineers1862-63. His most noteworthy work is theSevern Tunnel.
Sir John Hawkshaw | |
|---|---|
 John Hawkshaw | |
| Born | 9 April 1811 Leeds,Yorkshire |
| Died | 2 June 1891(aged 80) London |
| Nationality | English |
| Occupation | Engineer |
| Engineering career | |
| Discipline | civil engineer |
| Institutions | Institution of Civil Engineers(president) |
| Projects | London Circle Line |
| Significant design | Suez Canal(inquiry) |
Early life
editHe was born inLeeds,Yorkshire, the son of Henry Hawkshaw, a hostler, and Sarah Carrington[1][2]and was educated atLeeds Grammar School.Before he was 21, Hawkshaw was employed under Charles Fowler in the construction of turnpike roads in the West Riding of Yorkshire. This was followed by a period working in the office ofAlexander Nimmo,the eminent Scottish Civil Engineer, who had been engaged by Lancashire investors to design a rail network to link Manchester, Leeds and the Humber.[3][4]In the year of his majority, he obtained an appointment as[5]engineer to the Bolivar Mining Association inVenezuela.[6]The company was developingcopper mines at Aroain the west of the newly independent country. The mine relied on a combination of small boats and mule to transport the ore to Point Tucacas where it was shipped to England. During Hawkshaw's short stay atAroa,a new road was constructed to reduce the mule haulage distance, navigation of theRiver Aroawas improved to cater for larger boats and the route of a future railway line from the mine to the coast planned. Unfortunately, the climate atAroawas more than Hawkshaw's health could stand, and in 1834 he was obliged to return to England.
Career
editHe soon obtained employment underJesse Hartleyat theLiverpooldocks, and subsequently was made engineer in charge of the railway and navigation works of theManchester, Bolton and Bury Canal Company.In 1845 he became chief engineer to theManchester and Leeds Railway,and in 1847 to its successor, theLancashire and Yorkshire Railwayfor which he constructed a large number of branch lines.[6]One such was theManchester and Southport linesurveyed by his associateClement Wilksand as well as theLancashire and Yorkshire Railwaynear Heckmondwike.[7]In 1850 he moved to London and began to practice as a consulting engineer, at first alone, but subsequently in partnership withHarrison Hayter.In that capacity his work was of an extremely varied nature, embracing almost every branch of engineering.[6]
He retained his connection with the Lancashire & Yorkshire Company until his retirement from professional work in 1888, and was consulted on all the important engineering points that affected it in that long period. In London he was responsible for theCharing CrossandCannon Streetrailways, together with the two bridges which carried them over theThames;he was engineer of the East London railway, which passed under the Thames throughSir Marc Brunel's well-knowntunnel;and jointly withSir J Wolfe-Barryhe constructed the section of the Underground railway which completed theinner circlebetween theAldgateandMansion Housestations.[6]
In addition, many railway works claimed his attention in all parts of the world—Germany, Russia,India,Mauritius, etc. One noteworthy point in his railway practice was his advocacy, in opposition toRobert Stephenson,of steeper gradients than had previously been thought desirable or possible, and so far back as 1838 he expressed decided disapproval of the maintenance of the broad gauge on theGreat Western,because of the troubles he foresaw it would lead to in connection with future railway extension, and because he objected in general to breaks of gauge in the lines of a country.[6]
The construction ofcanalswas another branch of engineering in which John Hawkshaw was actively engaged. In 1862 he became a chief engineer of the DutchNorth Sea Canalship-canal.[8]
According to a speech ofLord Houghton,he may be said to have been the saviour of theSuez Canal.About that time the scheme was in very bad odour, and thekhedivedetermined to get the opinion of an English engineer as to its practicability, having made up his mind to stop the works if that opinion was unfavourable. Hawkshaw was chosen to make the inquiry, and it was because his report was entirely favourable thatFerdinand de Lessepswas able to say at the opening ceremony that to him he owed the canal.[6][9]However, in his books with documents related to the Suez Canal, De Lesseps does not mention Hawkshaw.[10]
As a member of the International Congress which considered the construction of an inter-ocean canal across Central America, he thought best of theNicaraguaroute, and privately he regarded thePanama schemeas impracticable at a reasonable cost, although publicly he expressed no opinion on the matter and left the Congress without voting. Sir John Hawkshaw also had a wide experience in constructing harbours (e.g.Holyhead) and docks (e.g.Penarth,theAlbert DockatHull,and South Dock (formerly theCity Canal) of theWest India Docksin London), in river-engineering, in drainage and sewerage, in water-supply, etc.[11]
He was engineer, withSir James Brunlees,of the originalChannel TunnelCompany from 1872, but many years previously he had investigated for himself the question of a tunnel under theStrait of Doverfrom an engineering point of view, and had come to a belief in its feasibility, so far as that could be determined from borings and surveys. Subsequently, however, he became convinced that the tunnel would not be to the advantage of Great Britain, and thereafter would have nothing to do with the project. He was also consulting engineer to theSevern Tunnel,[12]which, from its magnitude and the difficulties encountered in its construction, was one of the most notable engineering undertakings of the 19th century.[13]Following the inundation of the tunnel working in 1879, he employedThomas A. Walkeras lead contractor to complete the work.[citation needed]
He also designed the famous Puerto Madero, the port ofBuenos Aires,collaborating withThomas A. WalkerandJames Murray Dobson.The works started its construction in 1885 and was finished in 1898.[citation needed]
He is also known for his construction of the Brighton sewerage system.[14]
Family
editIn 1835 he marriedAnn Jackson(d.1885). Ann and John had six children: Mary Jane Jackson (1838), Ada (1840),John Clarke(1841), who was also a civil engineer, Henry Paul (1843), Editha (1845), and Oliver (1846). Ada died of hydrocephalus in 1845. Oliver died in 1856 having contracted typhoid fever while the family were holidaying in Pitlochry, Scotland.
He died in London on 2 June 1891.
Honours and awards
editHe was elected aFellow of the Royal Societyin June 1855.[15]
In 1875, he was elected a Fellow of theRoyal Society of Edinburgh.His proposers wereDavid Stevenson,James Leslie,Thomas StevensonandHenry Charles Fleeming Jenkin.[16]
He served as president of theInstitution of Civil Engineersbetween December 1861 and December 1863.[17]
He was knighted in 1873.
He was elected an honorary member of the American Society of Civil Engineers in 1880.[18]
A JD Wetherspoon pub located withinCannon Street stationis named "The Sir John Hawkshaw".[19]
References
edit- ^Beaumont, Martin (2015).Sir John Hawkshaw 1811-1891.The Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Society www.lyrs.org.uk. p. 6.ISBN978-0-9559467-7-6.
- ^West Yorkshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1512-1812
- ^"Our Eminent Men. Anecdotal biography of Sir John Hawkshaw".The Central Glamorgan Gazette.12 December 1884. pp. Supplement.
- ^"Sir John Hawkshaw FRS FGS".The Railway News.6 June 1891. pp. 6–7.
- ^"Reminiscences of South America from two and a half years' residence in Venezuela. By John Hawkshaw FGS. Jackson and Walford, St Paul's Churchyard".Weekly True Sun, London.4 November 1838. p. 6.
- ^abcdefChisholm 1911,p. 99.
- ^UNKNOWN (1872). "Obituary. Clement Wilks, 1819–1871".Minutes of the Proceedings.33(1872): 275–276.doi:10.1680/imotp.1872.22924.
- ^"Amsterdamsche Kanaal-Maatschappij".Algemeen Handelsblad.21 November 1864.
- ^Proc Royal Geographical Society.1870.
- ^Ferdinand de Lesseps (1876).The Suez Canal.King & + Co, London.ISBN9781108026420.
- ^Chisholm 1911,pp. 99–100.
- ^"Severn Tunnel (1)".Track Topics, A GWR Book of Railway Engineering.Great Western Railway.1971 [1935]. p. 181.ISBN0-85059-080-9.
- ^Chisholm 1911,p. 100.
- ^"The History of the Brighton Sewage System".29 November 2016. Archived fromthe originalon 21 September 2017.Retrieved20 September2017.
- ^"Obituary notices of fellows deceased".Proceedings of the Royal Society of London.50(302–307). January 1997.doi:10.1098/rspl.1891.0002.S2CID186208058.
- ^"Tropical Medicine | Catalogue search".
- ^Watson, Garth (1988).The Civils.Thomas Telford. p. 251.ISBN0-7277-0392-7.
- ^Beaumont, Martin (2015).Sir John Hawkshaw 1811-1891.The Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Society www.lyrs.org.uk. p. 131.ISBN978-0-9559467-7-6.
- ^JDW,http://www.jdwetherspoon.co.uk/home/pubs/the-sir-john-hawkshaw
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911). "Hawkshaw, Sir John".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 13 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 99–100.
External links
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