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's grave, St Johns, Edinburgh

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][7]

Walker succeeded his associate Thomas Telford as President of the Institution of Civil Engineers, serving from 1834 to 1845.^[8][9] 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.^[10]

He is buried beneath a humble gravestone in St Johns churchyard in Edinburgh against a retaining wall on one of the southern terraces.

Projects and other work

Walker worked on various engineering projects, including:

• Greenland Dock, London (c. 1808 – c. 1862)
• Vauxhall Bridge, London (1816, since demolished)
• Poplar Workhouse, London (c. 1815 - c. 1817), designer ^[11]
• West Usk Lighthouse, near Newport, South Wales^[12]
• Survey for the Leeds and Selby Railway (1829)^[13]
• Survey for the Leipzig–Dresden Railway (1835)^[14]
• Hull and Selby Railway (survey and consulting engineer, 1834, 1836–40).^[15]
• Start Point lighthouse, Devon (1836)^[16]
• Advice on alignment of Hereford and Gloucester Canal (1838)
• Improvements to Aberdeen Harbour (1838)
• Wolf Rock beacon and lighthouse (1840–1862)
• Trevose Head Lighthouse^[17] (1844–1847)
• River Severn and South Wales Railway (1845), a report that blocked Brunel's plans for railway bridges across the River Severn.^[18]
• Gunfleet Lighthouse,^[19] off Frinton-on-Sea, Essex (1850)
• Design of the East Bute Dock, Cardiff (1855)^[4]
• Whitby Lighthouse - the twin lights of Whitby North^[20] and Whitby South^[21] lighthouses, near Ling Hill, High Whitby (1857–58)^[7]
• Bishop Rock lighthouse (1858)^[22]
• Needles Lighthouse, Isle of Wight (1859)^[23]
• Completion of the Caledonian Canal (1838–1848)
• Alderney breakwater, Channel Islands (1847) and harbour^[24] (1862)
• St Catherine’s Harbour, Jersey, Channel Islands (1847–1856)
• Improvements to navigation in the River Tyne (1853–1861)
• Houses of Parliament, consulting engineer for the Clock Tower (also known as Big Ben) as well as the Victoria Tower and Central Tower (1836–1859),^[25] cofferdam for the riverside foundations and terrace (1837–49)^[26][27]

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.^[28] He was also for a long period consulting engineer to the Board of Admiralty.^[29]

Memorial

The Greenland Dock memorial

A memorial to Walker was commissioned by the Institution of Civil Engineers to stand at Greenland Dock and was unveiled in 1990.^[30]

References

1. Jones, Stephen K. (2009). Brunel in South Wales. II: Communications and Coal. Stroud: The History Press. p. 78. ISBN 9780752449128.
2. West Usk Lighthouse
3. 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. "Grace's Guide – British Industrial History".
5. "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography".
6. William, Thomas (1900). Life of Sir James Nicholas Douglass. London: Longman, Green and Co. p. 65. 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
7. "The Whitby Gazette". May 22, 1858. p. 4. Messrs. Walker, Burgess, and Cooper, of Great George Street, London, are the engineers
8. "Institution of Civil Engineers, Past Presidents".
9. Watson, Garth (1988). The Civils. London: Thomas Telford Ltd. p. 251. ISBN 0-7277-0392-7.
10. http://www.iesis.org/honorary-fellows.html
11. "'Poplar High Street: South side', in Survey of London: Volumes 43 and 44, Poplar, Blackwall and Isle of Dogs". pp. 77–90.
12. "Lighthouse management : the report of the Royal Commissioners on Lights, Buoys, and Beacons, 1861, examined and refuted Vol. 2". pp. 97, 98.
13. The North Eastern Railway; its rise and development, William Weaver Tomlinson, 1915, p. 203, online version via www.archive.org
14. "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
15. See within Hull and Selby Railway
16. "Lighthouse management". p. 86.
17. "Lighthouse management". pp. 92, 93.
18. Jones & 2009 II, pp. 78–81
19. "Lighthouse management". p. 77.
20. "Lighthouse management". p. 67.
21. "Lighthouse management". p. 68.
22. "Lighthouse management". p. 91.
23. "Lighthouse management". p. 82.
24. "Alderney Harbour... showing progress of works according to report of Messors Walker, Burgess and Cooper". Ref: FO 925/4584 The National Archives, Kew. 12 April 1862.
25. "skyscrapernews.com". Retrieved 8 November 2013.
26. "Engineering Timelines – Palace of Westminster". Retrieved 8 November 2013. To deal with the foundations and terrace, a 920ft long cofferdam was constructed in the river to the design of Walker & Burgess. It remained in position until 1849
27. ACCOUNTS AND PAPERS: SEVENTEEN VOLUMES: Army Navy Ordnance : Session 15 November 1837 – 16 August 1838 VOL. XXXVII (Report). Retrieved 8 November 2013.
28. "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".
29. Appletons' annual cyclopaedia and register of important events of the year: 1862. New York: D. Appleton & Company. 1863. p. 693.
30. Smith, Denis (2001). Civil Engineering Heritage. London: Thomas Telford Ltd. p. 103. ISBN 0-7277-2876-8.

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