AUTOBIOGRAPHY
OF
SIR JOHN RENNIE, F.R.S.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY
OF
SIR JOHN RENNIE, F.R.S.,
PAST PRESIDENT OF THE INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS.
COMPRISING
THE HISTORY OF HIS PROFESSIONAL LIFE,
TOGETHER WITH
REMINISCENCES DATING FROM THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE CENTURY
TO THE PRESENT TIME.
LONDON:
E. & F. N. SPON, 48, CHARING CROSS.
NEW YORK:
446, BROOME STREET.
1875.
PREFACE.
The following Autobiography was written by Sir John Rennie in 1867, shortly after he had retired from the active duties of his profession. As will be perceived in the sequel, it was composed wholly from memory. Sir John was subsequently unable to revise it as he would have desired, and it has since been found impossible to do so. Nevertheless it is believed that but few substantial errors will be found; while the kindliness with which the autobiographer invariably speaks of every person with whom he came in contact, is a guarantee that there can be nothing to offend the most sensitive person, or which might tend to injure the just claims and reputations of others. It is now presented to the public in its original state, having undergone merely some necessary correction, in the hope that the memoirs of the man who was perhaps unrivalled in his branch of the profession—and which comprise valuable hints as to the neglected art of hydraulics, as well as advice to engineers commencing their career, the result of the experience of a lifetime of no ordinary duration—together with the reminiscences of one who had seen much both of men and things,
“Qui mores hominum multorum vidit et urbes,”
may not be unacceptable either to the profession or the world at large.
London, September, 1875.
CONTENTS.
| [CHAPTER I.] | |
| My birth and early education—I enter my Father’s office—Commencement of Waterloo and Southwark Bridges—Anecdotes of Mr. Ferguson, of Pitfour—The Stockton and Darlington Railway, and Surveys between Port Patrick and Donaghadee—Account of the mode of erecting the arches of Southwark Bridge—Journey to the Continent and Field of Waterloo—Account of the building of Waterloo Bridge—It is opened in State by the Prince Regent, 1817. | [Page 1] |
| [CHAPTER II.] | |
| Travels in Switzerland, Italy, Greece, Asia Minor, Constantinople, and Egypt—Return to England—Death of Mr. Rennie | [36] |
| [CHAPTER III.] | |
| Eau Brink Cut—Ramsgate Harbour—Sheerness Dockyard—Plymouth Breakwater—Anecdote of the late Mr. J. Fox—London Bridge and Approaches—Sir F. Trench’s Plan for Quaying the Thames—Nene Outfall—Cross Keys Bridge—Norfolk Estuary—Improvement of the Witham—Ancholme Drainage | [157] |
| [CHAPTER IV.] | |
| Sketch of the Rise and Progress of the Railway System—The Manchester and Liverpool, London and Birmingham, and other early Lines | [228] |
| [CHAPTER V.] | |
| Travels in the North of Europe and Spain | [252] |
| [CHAPTER VI.] | |
| Ship Canal from Portsmouth to London—Machinery and Engine Making—Screw Steam Ships—Hartlepool and Coquet Harbours—Railways round London—Railway Mania—South-Eastern Railway—London, Chatham, and Dover Railway | [284] |
| [CHAPTER VII.] | |
| Swedish Railways—Surveys in Holland and Portugal | [304] |
| [CHAPTER VIII.] | |
| Surveys in Portugal and Tunis | [343] |
| [CHAPTER IX.] | |
| Surveys at Odessa and Vienna—Harbour at Ponta Delgada—Ramsgate—Dagenham | [377] |
| [CHAPTER X.] | |
| Retrospect—London Bridge—Sheerness Dockyard—Plymouth Breakwater and Victualling Yard—Steam Vessels for the Navy—Harbours—Railways—Broad and Narrow Gauge—Atmospheric Railway—Water Supply and Sewage | [407] |
| [CHAPTER XI.] | |
| The Formation of Natural Breakwaters—The Society of Civil Engineers—The Education of a Civil Engineer—Some Hints on Practice—Estimating—Conclusion | [427] |
| Index | [459] |