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History of Famous British Engineers

Britain's history is made up of very famous engineers all through their history. This has made me decide to list just some of the most famous with link to websites with more details on the various engineers.

Thomas Savery (1650-1715)
Thomas Savery was an English military engineer and inventor who in 1698, patented the first crude steam engine.

George Stephenson (1781- 1848)

Was a British engineer who designed a famous and historically important steam-powered locomotive named Rocket, and is known as the Father of British Steam Railways.

George Stephenson was born in Wylam, England, 9.3 miles (15 km) west of Newcastle upon Tyne. In 1748, a wagonway -- an arrangement similar to a railway, but with wooden tracks and designed to support horse-drawn carts -- had been built from the Wylam colliery to the River Tyne, running for several miles (several km). The young Stephenson grew up near it, and in 1802 gained employment as an engine-man at a coal mine. For the next ten years his knowledge of steam engines increased, until in 1812 he stopped operating them for a living, and started building them.

Charles Babbage (1791-1871) (Inventor of First Computer)

Charles Babbage was born in Teignmouth, Devon, in 1791. Educated at Trinity College Cambridge, he spent most of his life trying to build calculating machines. The first of these was designed to calculate tables of logarithms and similar functions by repeated addition performed by gear wheels. A small prototype model of the difference engine was produced in 1822 and this resulted in him receiving a government grant to build a full-sized machine.

Robert Stephenson (1803-1859)

In 1827 he began work on the Rocketlocomotive. Robert's abilities as an engineer was illustrated by the success of the Rocket at the Rainhill Trials in October, 1829.

Isaambard Kingdom Brunel (1806-1859)

Was born in Portsmouth on 9th April, 1806. He was educated at Hove, near Brighton. In 1823 Brunel went to work with his father on the building of the Thames Tunnel. He was later to be appointed as resident engineer at the site.

In 1829 Brunel designed a suspension bridge to cross the River Avon at Clifton. His original design was rejected on the advice of Thomas Telford, but an improved version was accepted but the project had to be abandoned because of a lack of funds.

Sir William Arrol (1839-1913)

Sir William Arrol was born in 1839 and became famous for his building of the Forth Rail Bridge between North and South Queensferry in Scotland. The bridge with its three cantilever towers which are each 104m (340 feet) high was the design of Sir John Fowler (1817-98) and Sir Benjamin Baker (1840 - 1907) and was constructed by Arrol at a cost of some £2½ million. Building began in 1883 and took seven years to complete; the Prince of Wales at the time (later to become King Edward VII) finished the construction by driving home an inscribed gold rivet on 4th of March 1890.

Thomas Andrews (1873-1912)

Born in Comber (pronounced cum-ber), County Down, Thomas Andrews was the son of a politician and a mother whose father owned Belfast's Harland and Wolff shipyard. In 1884 at the age of 11 Andrews entered the Belfast Academic Institute and left in 1889 to become an apprentice at Harland and Wolff where his parents paid the sum of £100 for his apprenticeship.

R.J.Mitchell (1893-1937) (Inventor of the Spitfire)

Perhaps Mitchell's greatest legacy was the Spitfire single-seat fighter, designed between 1934 and 1936. It was a hybrid of many diverse technical developments. Using high-speed flight experience gained through the Schneider Trophy successes, influences from the German aircraft manufacturer, Junkers, and learning vital lessons from Supermarine's unsuccessful Type 224, the Spitfire was a masterpiece of practical engineering design that Mitchell would never see fly in combat.

Sir Frank Whittle (1907-1996) (Inventor of the Jet Engine)

Whittle's jet-propelled Gloster E28 took its first flight on 15th May, 1941 and travelled at speeds of 350 mph. This was followed by the Gloster Meteor that was used to intercept German V1 Flying Bomb. Power Jets Company was taken over by the British government in 1944.

Sir Christopher Cockerell (1910-1999) (Inventor of the Hovercraft)

In 1953 Cockerell began work on his invention the hovercroft. After successful experiments on Oulton Broad, Cockerell approached the government National Research Development Council (NRDC) who invested £1,000 in his invention. However, it took him another three years before he got full commercial backing for his project.

• • Please click here for A to Z Scientists and Engineering Encyclopedia

Below is a list of more British Engineers.

• James Abernethy - Scottish canal, marine and bridge engineer

• John Aird - English engineer from the late 19th century

• David Anderson - Scottish civil engineer and lawyer

William George Armstrong - British engineer and 22nd president of the Institution of Civil Engineers

• Sir William Arrol - Scottish engineer involved with the construction of the Tay Rail Bridge, Forth Railway Bridge and Tower Bridge

• Sir Ove Arup - Founder of Arup

• John Aspinall - British railway engineer

Benjamin Baker - English engineer in late 19th century

James Arthur Banks - British Dam engineer

• Robert Barker - English railway engineer who also played in the first ever football international game.

• Peter W. Barlow - English engineer in late 19th century. Notable for Lambeth Bridge (old) and tunnelling shield

• William Henry Barlow - English engineer in late 19th century; railway engineering

• Sir John Wolfe-Barry - English engineer in late 19th century; designed Tower Bridge

• John Frederic La Trobe Bateman - British hydraulic engineer

• Sir Joseph Bazalgette - English engineer in late 19th century;

• Sir George Berkley - British railway engineer

• George Parker Bidder - British engineer; railways, telegraphs and hydraulics

• Sir Alexander Binnie - English engineer in late 19th century; tunnels and bridges across the Thames

• William Binnie - British waterworks engineer, son of the above

• John Blenkinsop - English engineer in mid 19th century; railways, locomotives and mining

• Benjamin Blyth - Scottish railway engineer

• Benjamin Blyth II - Scottish railway engineer, first practising Scottish engineer to become president of the Institution of Civil Engineers

• Sir Thomas Bouch - English engineer in late 19th century; first Tay Rail Bridge disaster

• William Bragge - English engineer in the 19th century

• Frederick Bramwell - British Engineer

• James Brindley - English engineer from mid 18th century - canals and watermills

• John Alexander Brodie - City Engineer of Liverpool and inventor of the football goal net

• George Barclay Bruce - English railway engineer

• Henry Marc Brunel - English engineer in late 19th century.

• Isambard Kingdom Brunel - English engineer in mid 19th century - designed Great Western Railway, a series of famous steamships, and important bridges.

• James Brunlees - Scottish engineer notable for designing Southend Pier

• Peter Bruff - English engineer in 19th century. Notable for work in Clacton on Sea

• Sir George Buchanan - British civil engineer associated with harbour works in Burma, Iraq and Bombay, during early 20th century.

• William Tierney Clark - English engineer in mid 19th century; suspension bridges

• Reginald Coates - British civil engineer and academic

• John Coode - English engineer, notable for work on Portland Harbour

• Henry Cronin - British civil engineer

• William Cubitt - English engineer in 19th century.

• Jonathan Davidson - British civil engineer

• Sydney Donkin - British civil, mechanical and electrical engineer

• Francis Drake

• Thomas Dadford Junior — canals

• Robert Elliott-Cooper - British civil engineer

• William Henry Ellis - British civil engineer and steel maker

• Joshua Field - telegraph cables, sewerage

• Maurice Fitzmaurice - Irish bridge, dam and tunnel engineer

• Ken Fleming - Northern Irish civil engineer and piling and foundations specialist

• Sanford Fleming - railroads, time zone

• Sir John Fowler - bridges

• Sir Charles Fox - British railway engineer

• Charles Douglas Fox - British railway engineer

• Thomas Pierson Frank - British civil engineer

• Ralph Freeman - English bridge and highways engineer

• Buckminster Fuller

• Angus Fulton - British civil engineer

• William George Nicholson Geddes - Scottish engineer

• Alexander Gibb - Scottish railway and military engineer

• Alfred Giles - British civil engineer

• William Glanville - British highways engineer

• Charles Hutton Gregory - railways,

• William Grierson - British railway engineer

• John Griffith - Irish engineer

• Sir William Halcrow - tunnels

• Benjamin Hall, 1st Baron Llanover - Big Ben

• Archibald Milne Hamilton - Callender-Hamilton Bridge and Hamilton Road in Kurdistan

• Dr Edmund Hambly - British structural engineer

• Sir William Gordon Harris - British docks and roads engineer

• Thomas Elliott Harrison - British railway and bridge engineer

• Arthur Hartley - British oil engineer

• Sir John Hawkshaw - British railway and harbour engineer

• John Clarke Hawkshaw - British engineer, son of the above

• Thomas Hawksley - English engineer noted for his work on water supplies

• Charles Hawksley - Son of the above, also a water engineer

• Harrison Hayter - British railway and harbour engineer

• Brodie Henderson - British railway engineer

• Hugh Henshall - British canal engineer and student of James Brindley

• Roger Hetherington - British civil engineer

• Roger Gaskell Hetherington - British Ministry of Health civil engineer

• Clement Hindley - British railway engineer

• George Humphreys - British civil engineer

• James Charles Inglis, British engineer

• John Holmes Jellett - docks and harbours

• John B. Jervis - canals and railroads

• William Jessop - canals

• Albert Mussey Johnson - helped design Scotty's Castle.

• Theodore Judah - railroads

• Edward Judge - bridges

• Alexander Kennedy - British maritime and electrical engineer and academic

• Kirby Laing - former chairman of John Laing plc

• Anthony George Lyster - British docks engineer

• John MacAdam - roads

• Sir John MacNeill - railways

• William Mahone - plank road, railways

• Robert Manning - Open channel flow

• James Mansergh - English railway, water supply and sewage engineer

• William Marriott - English railway engineer

• William Matthews - British harbour engineer

• William Maw - British railway engineer

• Sir Henry Maybury - British railway and highways engineer

• John Robinson McClean - British engineer, railways, water supply

• Conde McCullough - bridges

• Scott McMorrow - playwright, poet, and engineer

• John Miller (engineer), 19th century Edinburgh-based railway engineer (Grainger & Miller)

• Guilford Lindsey Molesworth - English railway engineer

• General Sir John Monash GCMG, KCB, VD - bridges and precast concrete (also Commander of the Australian Corps in World War I)

• Charles Langbridge Morgan - British civil engineer

• James Morgan - Regent's Canal

• Basil Mott - mines, tunnels, bridges

• Sir Alan Muir Wood - British tunnelling engineer

• Benjamin Outram - canals

• William N. Page - railways, mining

• Frederick Palmer - Dockyards

• William Barclay Parsons

• Thomas Paton - British dam engineer

• Allan Quartermaine - British civil engineer

• Robert Rawlinson - English canal engineer and sanitarian

• Richard Redmayne - British mining and civil engineer

• Vernon Robertson - British civil engineer

• Alexander Ross (engineer) - Scottish railway engineer

• Leopold Halliday Savile - British reservoir engineer

• Robert Stephenson - railways

• Robert Stevenson - lighthouses

• John Edward Thornycroft - British ship builder and president of the Institution of Civil Engineers

• Ernest Crosbie Trench - British railway engineer

• William Unwin - British civil and materials engineer

• Charles Blacker Vignoles - British railway engineer

• James Walker

• William Kelly Wallace - Irish railway engineer

• André Waterkeyn designed the Atomium

• John Duncan Watson - British sewage treatment engineer

• David Mowat Watson - British civil engineer

• Francis Wentworth-Shields - British civil engineer

• William Henry White - British engineer and chief constructor of the Admiralty

• William Willcocks - British irrigation engineer served in India and Egypt

• Edward Leader Williams - canals, bridges

• George Ambler Wilson - British port engineer

• Norman D. Wilson - mass transit

• John Wolfe-Barry

• A. Baldwin Wood - pumps

• Edward Woods - British railway engineer

• William Barton Worthington - British railway engineer

• Robert Wynne-Edwards - British tunnel and pipeline engineer

• Andrew Yarranton - English navigation engineer

Please visit my Funny Animal Art Prints Collection @ http://www.fabprints.com

My other website is called Directory of British Icons: http://fabprints.webs.com

The Chinese call Britain 'The Island of Hero's' which I think sums up what we British are all about. We British are inquisitive and competitive and are always looking over the horizon to the next adventure and discovery.

Copyright © 2010 Paul Hussey. All Rights Reserved.

 

About the Author

My family tree has been traced back to the early Kings of England from the 7th Century AD. I am also a direct descendent of Sir Christopher Wren which has given me an interest in English History which is great fun to research.

I have recently decided to write articles on my favourite subjects: English Sports, English History, English Icons, English Discoveries and English Inventions. At present I have written over 100 articles which I call "An Englishman's Favourite Bits Of England" in various Volumes. Please visit my fun Blogs page http://Bloggs.Resourcez.Com where I have listed all my fun articles to date.

Copyright © 2010 Paul Hussey. All Rights Reserved.