JHB

1) Фирменный знак: J. H. Barnes & Associates, J. H. Belcher, C. P. A., P. C.

2) Имена и фамилии: Johann Heinrich Bernhard

3) Аэропорты: Johor Bahru, Malaysia

SUBJECT AREA: Canals, Civil engineering

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Aubert was educated at the Lycée Louis-leGrand in Paris, and entered the Ecole Polytechnique in 1913. His studies were interrupted by the First World War, when he served as an artillery officer, being wounded twice and awarded the Croix de Guerre in 1916. He returned to the Ecole Polytechnique in 1919, and from 1920 to 1922 he attended the Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées; he graduated as Bachelor of Law from the University of Paris.

In 1922 he began his long career, devoted principally to river and canal works. He was engineer in charge of the navigation works in Paris until 1932; he was then appointed Professor in the Chair of Internal Navigation at the Ecole des Ponts et Chaussées, a post he held until his retirement in 1961. From 1933 to 1945 he was general manager and later chairman of the Compagnie Nationale du Rhône; from 1945 to 1953, chairman of the electricity board of the Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer français; and from 1949 to 1967, chairman of the Rhine Navigation Company. Following his retirement, he was chairman of the Société des Constructions des Batignolles, and from 1966 consulting engineer and honorary chairman of SPIE Batignolles; he was also chairman of several other companies.

In 1919 he published La Probabilité dans les tires de guerre, for which he was awarded the Pierson-Perrim prize by the Académie des Sciences in 1922. During his career he wrote numerous articles and papers on technical and economic subjects, his last, entitled "Philosophic de la pente d'eau", appearing in the journal Travaux in 1984 when he was ninety years old.

Aubert's principal works included the construction of the Pont Edouard-Herriort on the Rhône at Lyon; the design and construction of the Génissiat and Lonzères-Mondragon dams on the Rhône; and the conception and design of the Denouval dam on the Seine near Andresy, completed in 1980. He was awarded the Caméré prize in 1934 by the Académie des Sciences for a new type of movable dam. Overseas governments and the United Nations consulted him on river navigation inter alia in Brazil, on the Mahanadi river in India, on the Konkomé river in Guinea, on the Vistula river in Poland, on the Paraguay river in South America and others.

In 1961 he published his revolutionary ideas on the pente d'eau, or "water slope", which was designed to eliminate delays and loss of water in transferring barges from one level to another, without the use of locks. This design consisted of a sloping flume or channel through which a wedge of water, in which the barge was floating, was pushed by a powered unit. A prototype at Mon tech on the Canal Latéral at La Garonne, bypassing five locks, was opened in 1973. A second was opened in 1984 on the Canal du Midi at Fonserannes, near Béziers.

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SUBJECT AREA: Canals

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Between 1515 and 1522 Francis I of France became ruler of part of Italy, including Milan. He discussed with Leonardo da Vinci the possibility of providing canals in France similar to those constructed or under construction in Italy. One idea was to provide a link between the Garonne at Toulouse and the Aude at Carcassonne. In 1539 Bachelier and his colleague Arnaud Casanove, who described themselves as "expert levellers", proposed a survey of the Toulouse to Carcassonne route and also suggested that barges could either float down the Garonne to Bordeaux or could travel along a canal dug parallel to the river. Francis I authorized them to do the work and approved the plans, which comprised a lock-free canal of variable depth, when they had completed them. However, their plans were hopelessly inaccurate, and nothing was done. In 1598 Henri IV re-examined the plans, but it was left to Pierre Paul Riquet in 1662 to reassess the concept of a Biscay-to- Mediterranean waterway.

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SUBJECT AREA: Canals, Ports and shipping

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Little is known of Berry's early life, but it is certain that he knew the district around St Helens intimately, which was of assistance to him in his later canal works. He became Clerk and Assistant to Thomas Steers and proved his natural engineering ability in helping Steers in both the construction of the Newry navigation in Ireland and his supervision of the construction of Salthouse Dock in Liverpool. On Steers's death in 1750 Berry was appointed, at the age of 30, Dock Engineer for Liverpool Docks, and completed the Salthouse Dock three years later. In 1755 he was allowed by the Liverpool Authority—presumably because his full-time service was not required at the docks at that time—to survey and construct the Sankey Brook Navigation (otherwise known as the St Helens Canal), which was completed in 1757. Berry was instructed to make the brook navigable, but with the secret consent and connivance of one of the proprietors he built a lateral canal, the work commencing on 5 September 1755. This was the first dead-water canal in the country, as distinct from an improved river navigation, and preceded Brindley's Bridgewater Canal by some five or six years. On the canal he also constructed at Blackbrook the first pair of staircase locks to be built in England.

Berry later advised on improvements to the Weaver Navigation, and his design for the new locks was accepted. He also carried out in 1769 a survey for a Leeds and Liverpool Canal, but this was not proceeded with and it was left to others to construct this canal. He advised turnpike trustees on bridge construction, but his main work was in Liverpool dock construction and between 1767 and 1771 he built the George's Dock. His final dock work was King's Dock, which was opened on 3 October 1788; he resigned at the age of 68 when the dock was completed. He lived for another 24 years, during which he was described in the local directories as "gentleman" instead of "engineer" or "surveyor" as he had been previously.

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SUBJECT AREA: Canals

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Nothing is known of Boutheroue's early life, but he later became Controller of the salt store at Sully-sur-Loire and in 1623 he was the Poor Rate and Tax Collector at Beaugency. Ten years later he was described as "King's Counsellor". In 1638, jointly with his brother-in-law Jacques Guyon, he obtained letters patent from Louis XIII authorizing them to complete the Canal de Briare, which was commenced by Cosnier to connect the Loire and the Seine but was abandoned on the death of Henri IV. In anticipation of their proposed work they were granted full proprietary rights in the canal, subject to holding the canal in fief from the king, and were ennobled. In order to raise the necessary funds they were allowed to bring in others as shareholders; a partnership was formed and included Boutheroue's brother François. After many difficulties largely stirred up by the riparian owners, the 37-mile (60 km) canal was completed and opened to navigation in 1642. Another brother, Hector, also worked on the canal and later, in 1655, directed the navigation works on the Lot.

SUBJECT AREA: Canals

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Born in a remote area and with no material advantages, Brindley followed casual rural labouring occupations until 1733, when he became apprenticed to Abraham Bennett of Macclesfield, a wheelwright and millwright. Though lacking basic education in reading and writing, he demonstrated his ability, partly through his photographic memory, to solve practical problems. This established his reputation, and after Bennett's death in 1742 he set up his own business at Leek as a millwright. His skill led to an invitation to solve the problem of mine drainage at Wet Earth Colliery, Clifton, near Manchester. He tunnelled 600 ft (183 m) through rock to provide a leat for driving a water-powered pump.

Following work done on a pump on Earl Gower's estate at Trentham, Brindley's name was suggested as the engineer for the proposed canal for which the Duke of Bridge water (Francis Egerton) had obtained an Act in 1759. The Earl and the Duke were brothers-in-law, and the agents for the two estates were, in turn, the Gilbert brothers. The canal, later known as the Bridgewater Canal, was to be constructed to carry coal from the Duke's mines at Worsley into Manchester. Brindley advised on the details of its construction and recommended that it be carried across the river Irwell at Barton by means of an aqueduct. His proposals were accepted, and under his supervision the canal was constructed on a single level and opened in 1761. Brindley had also surveyed for Earl Gower a canal from the Potteries to Liverpool to carry pottery for export, and the signal success of the Bridgewater Canal ensured that the Trent and Mersey Canal would also be built. These undertakings were the start of Brindley's career as a canal engineer, and it was largely from his concepts that the canal system of the Midlands developed, following the natural contours rather than making cuttings and constructing large embankments. His canals are thus winding navigations unlike the later straight waterways, which were much easier to traverse. He also adopted the 7 ft (2.13 m) wide lock as a ruling dimension for all engineering features. For cheapness, he formed his canal tunnels without a towpath, which led to the notorious practice of legging the boats through the tunnels.

Brindley surveyed a large number of projects and such was his reputation that virtually every proposal was submitted to him for his opinion. Included among these projects were the Staffordshire and Worcestershire, the Rochdale, the Birmingham network, the Droitwich, the Coventry and the Oxford canals. Although he was nominally in charge of each contract, much of the work was carried out by his assistants while he rushed from one undertaking to another to ensure that his orders were being carried out. He was nearly 50 when he married Anne Henshall, whose brother was also a canal engineer. His fees and salaries had made him very wealthy. He died in 1772 from a chill sustained when carrying out a survey of the Caldon Canal.

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SUBJECT AREA: Canals

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Admitted in 1797 as a Gentleman Cadet in the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich, By was commissioned on 1 August 1799 as a second lieutenant in the Royal Artillery, but was soon transferred to the Royal Engineers. Posted to Plymouth upon the development of the fortifications, he was further posted to Canada, arriving there in August 1802.

In 1803 By was engaged in canal work, assisting Captain Bruyères in the construction of a short canal (1,500 ft (460 m) long) at the Cascades on the Grand, now the Ottawa, River. In 1805 he was back at the Cascades repairing ice damage caused during the previous winter. He was promoted Captain in 1809. Meanwhile he worked on the fortifications of Quebec and in 1806–7 he built a scale model of the Citadel, which is now in the National War Museum of Canada. He returned to England in 1810 and served in Portugal in 1811. Back in England at the end of the year, he was appointed Royal Engineer Officer in charge at the Waltham Abbey Gunpowder Works on 1 January 1812 and later planned the new Small Arms Factory at Enfield; both works were on the navigable River Lee.

In the post-Napoleonic period Major By, as he then was, retired on half-pay but was promoted to Lieu tenant-Colonel on 2 December 1824. Eighteen months later, in March 1826, he returned to Canada on active duty to build the Rideau Canal. This was John By's greatest work. It was conceived after the American war of 1812–14 as a connection for vessels to reach Kingston and the Great Lakes from Montreal while avoiding possible attack from the United States forces. Ships would pass up the Ottawa River using the already-constructed locks and bypass channels and then travel via a new canal cut through virgin forest southwards to the St Lawrence at Kingston. By based his operational headquarters at the Ottawa River end of the new works and in a forest clearing he established a small settlement. Because of the regard in which By was held, this settlement became known as By town. In 1855, long after By's death, the settlement was designated by Queen Victoria as capital of United Canada (which was to become a self-governing Dominion in 1867) and renamed Ottawa; as a result of the presence of the national government, the growth of the town accelerated greatly.

Between 1826–7 and 1832 the Rideau Canal was constructed. It included the massive engineering works of Jones Falls Dam (62 ft 6 in. (19 m) high) and 47 locks. By exercised an almost paternal care over those employed under his direction. The canal was completed in June 1832 at a cost of £800,000. By was summoned back to London to face virulent and unjust criticism from the Treasury. He was honoured in Canada but vilified by the British Government.

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SUBJECT AREA: Civil engineering

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After a basic education in mathematics, latin, French and geometry, Clark was articled to a solicitor, but he left after two years because he did not like the work. He had no permanent training otherwise, and for four years he led an idle life, becoming self-taught in the subjects that interested him. He eventually became a teacher at his old school before entering Cambridge, although he returned home after two years without taking a degree. He then toured the European continent extensively, supporting himself as best he could. He returned to England in 1839 and obtained further teaching posts. With the railway boom in progress he decided to become a surveyor and did some work on a proposed line between Oxford and Brighton.

After being promised an interview with Robert Stephenson, he managed to see him in March 1846. Stephenson took a liking to Clark and asked him to investigate the strains on the Britannia Bridge tubes under various given conditions. This work so gained Stephenson's full approval that, after being entrusted with experiments and designs, Clark was appointed Resident Engineer for the Britannia Bridge across the Menai Straits. He not only completed the bridge, which was opened on 19 October 1850, but also wrote the history of its construction. After the completion of the bridge—and again without any professional experience—he was appointed Engineer-in-Chief to the Electric and International Telegraph Company. He was consulted by Captain Mark Huish of the London \& North Western Railway on a telegraphic system for the railway, and in 1853 he introduced the Block Telegraph System.

Clark was engaged on the Crystal Palace and was responsible for many railway bridges in Britain and abroad. He was Engineer and part constructor of the harbour at Callao, Peru, and also of harbour works at Colón, Panama. On canal works he was contractor for the marine canal, the Morskoy Canal, in 1875 between Kronstadt and St Petersburg. His great work on canals, however, was the concept with Edward Leader Williams of the hydraulically operated barge lift at Anderton, Cheshire, linking the Weaver Navigation to the Trent \& Mersey Canal, whose water levels have a vertical separation of 50 ft (15 m). This was opened on 26 July 1875. The structure so impressed the French engineers who were faced with a bottleneck of five locks on the Neuffossée Canal south of Saint-Omer that they commissioned Clark to design a lift there. This was completed in 1878 and survives as a historic monument. The design was also adopted for four lifts on the Canal du Centre at La Louvière in Belgium, but these were not completed until after Clark's death.

SUBJECT AREA: Canals

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After gaining his degree at Columbia College, Clinton studied law and then entered politics. After a defeat in 1795 he studied natural science, until in 1798 he was elected to the State Senate. In 1802 he was elected to the US Senate, but he resigned in 1803 to become Mayor of New York City; he occupied this post, apart from two short breaks, until 1815, when he was removed from office. He was very concerned for the welfare of ordinary people and introduced many improvements. From 1815 Clinton devoted himself to what was to become the Erie Canal. He had already been appointed one of the canal commissioners in 1810 and had himself surveyed a possible route to Lake Erie that would be a safer passage from New York to the Great Lakes in the event of war with Great Britain. The war of 1812, in fact, interfered with the project, but in 1816 Clinton realized that the time was propitious. He arranged meetings, and on 17 April 1816 the legislature adopted his idea and a new survey for a link between the Hudson and Lake Erie was undertaken. In March 1817 he became Governor of New York State and vigorously pursued the canal scheme both in writing and by personal supervision of the works. Party politics removed him from his post as Canal Commissioner on 12 April 1824, but in November he was re-elected as Governor. He held this position when the Erie Canal (362 miles or 583 km long) and the Champlain Canal (71 miles or 114 km) were opened in 1825. In his character he was overbearing, but he was administratively competent.

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SUBJECT AREA: Canals, Textiles

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Cosnier was probably an Angevin as he had property in Tours although he lived in Paris; his father was valet de chambre to King Henri IV. Although he qualified as an engineer, he was primarily a man of ideas. On 23 December 1603 he obtained a grant to establish silkworm breeding, or sericulture, in Poitou by introducing 100,000 mulberry plants, together with 200 oz (5.7 kg) of mulberry seed. He had 2,000 instruction leaflets on silkworm breeding printed, but his project collapsed when the Poitevins refused to co-operate. Cosnier then distributed the plants and seeds to other parts of France. The same year he approached Henri IV with the proposal to build a canal from the Loire to the Seine, partly via the Loing, from Briare to Montargis. On the king's acceptance of his proposal, Cosnier on 11 March 1604 undertook to complete the canal, which necessitated crossing the ridge between the two rivers, over a three-year period for 505,000 livres. The Canal de Briare, as it became known, with thirty-six locks including the flight of seven at Rogny, was almost complete in 1610; however, the death of Henri IV led to its abandonment. Cosnier offered to complete it at his own expense, but his offer was refused. Instead, his accounts were examined and it was found that he had already exceeded his authorized credits by 35,000 livres. In settlement, after some quibbling, he was awarded the two seigneuries of Trousse near Briare. Cosnier then suggested encircling the Paris suburbs with a canal which would not only be navigable but would also provide a water supply for fountains and drains. His proposal was accepted in 1618, but the works were never started. In the 1620s the marquis d'Effiet proposed the completion of the Canal de Briare and Cosnier was invited to resume work. Before anything more could be done Cosnier died, some time between July 1629 and March 1630, and the work was again abandoned. The canal was ultimately completed by Boutheroue in 1642, but the seven locks at Rogny remain a dramatic monument to Cosnier's ability.

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SUBJECT AREA: Ports and shipping

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Francis Egerton was the younger of the two surviving sons of Scroop, 1st Duke of Bridgewater, and on the death of his brother, the 2nd Duke, he succeeded to the title in 1748. Until that time he had received little or no education as his mother considered him to be of feeble intellect. His guardians, the Duke of Bedford and Lord Trentham, decided he should be given an opportunity and sent him to Eton in 1749. He remained there for three years and then went on the "grand tour" of Europe. During this period he saw the Canal du Midi, though whether this was the spark that ignited his interest in canals is hard to say. On his return to England he indulged in the social round in London and raced at Newmarket. After two unsuccessful attempts at marriage he retired to Lancashire to further his mining interests at Worsley, where the construction of a canal to Manchester was already being considered. In fact, the Act for the Bridgewater Canal had been passed at the time he left London. John Gilbert, his land agent at Worsley, encouraged the Duke to pursue the canal project, which had received parliamentary approval in March 1759. Brindley had been recommended on account of his work at Trentham, the estate of the Duke's brother-in-law, and Brindley was consulted and subsequently appointed Engineer; the canal opened on 17 July 1761. This was immediately followed by an extension project from Longford Brook to Runcorn to improve communications between Manchester and Liverpool; this was completed on 31 December 1772, after Brindley's death. The Duke also invested heavily in the Trent \& Mersey Canal, but his interests were confined to his mines and the completed canals for the rest of his life.

It is said that he lacked a sense of humour and even refused to read books. He was untidy in his dress and habits yet he was devoted to the Worsley undertakings. When travelling to Worsley he would have his coach placed on a barge so that he could inspect the canal during the journey. He amassed a great fortune from his various activities, but when he died, instead of leaving his beloved canal to the beneficiaries under his will, he created a trust to ensure that the canal would endure; the trust did not expire until 1903. The Duke is commemorated by a large Corinthian pillar, which is now in the care of the National Trust, in the grounds of his mansion at Ashridge, Hertfordshire.

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SUBJECT AREA: Canals, Mining and extraction technology

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Younger son of a gentleman farmer, Gilbert was apprenticed to Matthew Boulton, a buckle maker of Birmingham and father of the Matthew Boulton who was associated with James Watt. He also gained mining experience. Through the influence of his older brother, Thomas Gilbert, he became Land Agent to the Duke of Bridgewater (Francis Egerton) for the Worsley estate. He proposed extensions to the underground waterway system and also made a preliminary survey for a canal from Worsley to Salford, a project which Brindley joined as Assistant Engineer. Gilbert was therefore the prime mover in the construction of the Bridgewater Canal, which received its Act in 1759. He then collected evidence for the second Act to permit construction of the aqueduct across the Irwell at Barton. He was involved in a consortium with his brother Thomas and Earl Gower to develop the Earl's East Shropshire mines and to build the Shrewsbury and the Shropshire Coal Canals. He also excavated the Speedwell Mine at Castleton in Derbyshire between 1774 and 1781 and constructed the underground canal to serve the workings. With his brother, he was involved in the promotion of the Trent \& Mersey Canal and was a shareholder in the undertaking. Among his other entrepreneurial activities, he entered the canal-carrying business. His last work was beginning the underground inclined planes at Worsley, but these were not completed until after his death. His important place in the historical development of the inland navigational system in England has been very much overlooked.

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SUBJECT AREA: Canals, Mining and extraction technology

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He was the older brother of John Gilbert and, trained as a lawyer, he became Land Agent to Earl Gower and Legal Adviser to the Duke of Bridgewater (Francis Egerton). Brindley had carried out work for Gilbert on the Gower estates and the standard of work impressed him. In 1759 he recommended Brindley to his brother at Worsley as a competent engineer who would be valuable in the construction of the new canal. Gilbert became Member of Parliament for Newcastle under Lyme in 1763 and was thus able to sponsor the Trent and Mersey Bill when it came before Parliament. He joined the committee of the Trent and Mersey, representing the interests of both Earl Gower and himself. He was also involved with the East Shropshire mines and canals with his brother. He continued as a Member of Parliament (until 1768 for Newcastle and afterwards for Lichfield) until December 1794.

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SUBJECT AREA: Canals, Civil engineering, Ports and shipping

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Trained as a surveyor in John Rennie's organization, Giles carried out surveys on behalf of Rennie before setting up in practice on his own. His earliest survey seems to have been on the line of the proposed Weald of Kent Canal in 1809. Then in 1811 he surveyed the proposed London \& Cambridge Canal linking Bishops Stortford on the Stort with Cambridge and with a branch to Shefford on the Ivel. In the same year he surveyed the line of the Wey \& Arun Junction Canal, and in 1816, in the same area, the Portsmouth \& Arundel Canal. In 1819 he carried out what is regarded as his first independent commission—the extension of the River Ivel Navigation from Biggleswade to Shefford. At this time he was helping John Rennie on the Aire \& Calder Navigation and continued there after Rennie's death in 1821. In 1825 he was engaged on plans for a London to Portsmouth Ship Canal and also on a suggested link between the Basingstoke and Kennet \& Avon Canals. Later, on behalf of Sir George Duckett, he was Engineer to the Hertford Union Canal, which was completed in 1830, and linked the Regent's Canal to the Lee Navigation. In 1833 he completed the extension of the Sankey Brook Navigation from Fiddler's Ferry to the Mersey at Widnes. One of his last canal works was a survey of the River Lee in 1844. Apart from his canal work, he was appointed Engineer to the Newcastle \& Carlisle Railway in 1829 and designed, among other works, the fine viaducts at Wetheral and Cor by. He was also, for a very short time, Engineer to the London \& Southampton Railway. Among other commissions, he was involved in harbour surveys and works at Dover, Rye, Holyhead, Dundee, Bridport and Dun Laoghaire (Kingstown). He was elected a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1842 and succeeded Telford on the Exchequer Bill Loans Board.

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SUBJECT AREA: Canals

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Thomas Gilpin belonged to a wealthy Quaker family descended from Joseph Gilpin, who had emigrated from England in 1696. He received little formal education and was mainly self-educated in mathematics, surveying and science, in which subjects he was particularly interested. With estates in Delaware and Maryland, he was involved in farming and manufacturing. He moved to Philadelphia in 1769, which further extended his activities. With his fortune he was able to indulge his interest in science, and he was one of the original members of the American Philosophical Society in 1769. He wrote papers on the wheat fly, the seventeen-year locust and the migration of herrings. It was through this Society that he became friendly with Benjamin Franklin, to whom he wrote on 10 October 1769 setting out his proposals for and advocacy of a canal linking the Elk River on Chesapeake Bay with the Delaware River and Bay, thereby cutting off a long haul of several hundred miles for vessels around Cape Charles with a dangerous passage unto the Atlantic Ocean. Gilpin also invented a hydraulic pump that delighted Franklin very much. Gilpin had visited England in 1768 during the formation of his ideas for the Chesapeake \& Delaware Canal, and probably visited the Bridgewater Canal while there. Despite his pressing advocacy the canal had to wait until after his death, but later his son Joshua, a director from 1803 to 1824, saw the canal through many difficulties although he had resigned before the official opening in 1829. At the outbreak of the American War of Independence, in 1777, Gilpin, together with other Quakers, was arrested in Philadelphia owing to suspicions of his loyalty on the grounds that as a Quaker he refused to sign the Oath of Allegiance. He was later exiled to Winchester, Virginia, where he died in April 1778.

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SUBJECT AREA: Canals, Civil engineering, Ports and shipping, Railways and locomotives

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William Jessop inherited from his father a natural ability in engineering, and because of his father's association with John Smeaton in the construction of Eddystone Lighthouse he was accepted by Smeaton as a pupil in 1759 at the age of 14. Smeaton was so impressed with his ability that Jessop was retained as an assistant after completion of his pupilage in 1767. As such he carried out field-work, making surveys on his own, but in 1772 he was recommended to the Aire and Calder Committee as an independent engineer and his first personally prepared report was made on the Haddlesey Cut, Selby Canal. It was in this report that he gave his first evidence before a Parliamentary Committee. He later became Resident Engineer on the Selby Canal, and soon after he was elected to the Smeatonian Society of Engineers, of which he later became Secretary for twenty years. Meanwhile he accompanied Smeaton to Ireland to advise on the Grand Canal, ultimately becoming Consulting Engineer until 1802, and was responsible for Ringsend Docks, which connected the canal to the Liffey and were opened in 1796. From 1783 to 1787 he advised on improvements to the River Trent, and his ability was so recognized that it made his reputation. From then on he was consulted on the Cromford Canal (1789–93), the Leicester Navigation (1791–4) and the Grantham Canal (1793–7); at the same time he was Chief Engineer of the Grand Junction Canal from 1793 to 1797 and then Consulting Engineer until 1805. He also engineered the Barnsley and Rochdale Canals. In fact, there were few canals during this period on which he was not consulted. It has now been established that Jessop carried the responsibility for the Pont-Cysyllte Aqueduct in Wales and also prepared the estimates for the Caledonian Canal in 1804. In 1792 he became a partner in the Butterley ironworks and thus became interested in railways. He proposed the Surrey Iron Railway in 1799 and prepared for the estimates; the line was built and opened in 1805. He was also the Engineer for the 10 mile (16 km) long Kilmarnock \& Troon Railway, the Act for which was obtained in 1808 and was the first Act for a public railway in Scotland. Jessop's advice was sought on drainage works between 1785 and 1802 in the lowlands of the Isle of Axholme, Holderness, the Norfolk Marshlands, and the Axe and Brue area of the Somerset Levels. He was also consulted on harbour and dock improvements. These included Hull (1793), Portsmouth (1796), Folkestone (1806) and Sunderland (1807), but his greatest dock works were the West India Docks in London and the Floating Harbour at Bristol. He was Consulting Engineer to the City of London Corporation from 1796to 1799, drawing up plans for docks on the Isle of Dogs in 1796; in February 1800 he was appointed Engineer, and three years later, in September 1803, he was appointed Engineer to the Bristol Floating Harbour. Jessop was regarded as the leading civil engineer in the country from 1785 until 1806. He died following a stroke in 1814.

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SUBJECT AREA: Canals

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Ferdinand de Lesseps was born into a family in the diplomatic service and it was intended that his should be his career also. He was educated at the Lycée Napoléon in Paris. In 1825, aged 20, he was appointed an attaché to the French consulate in Lisbon. In 1828 he went to the Consulate-General in Tunis and in 1831 was posted from there to Egypt, becoming French Consul in Cairo two years later. For his work there during the plague in 1836 he was awarded the Croix de Chevalier in the Légion d'honneur. During this time he became very friendly with Said Mohammed and the friendship was maintained over the years, although there were no expectations then that Said would occupy any great position of authority.

De Lesseps then served in other countries. In 1841 he had thought about a canal from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea, and he brooded over the idea until 1854. In October of that year, having retired from the diplomatic service, he returned to Egypt privately. His friend Said became Viceroy and he readily agreed to the proposal to cut the canal. At first there was great international opposition to the idea, and in 1855 de Lesseps travelled to England to try to raise capital. Work finally started in 1859, but there were further delays following the death of Said Pasha in 1863. The work was completed in 1869 and the canal was formally opened by the Empress Eugenic on 20 November 1869. De Lesseps was fêted in France and awarded the Grand Croix de la Légion d'honneur.

He subsequently promoted the project of the Corinth Canal, but his great ambition in his later years was to construct a canal across the Isthmus of Panama. This idea had been conceived by Spanish adventurers in 1514, but everyone felt the problems and cost would be too great. De Lesseps, riding high in popularity and with his charismatic character, convinced the public of the scheme's feasibility and was able to raise vast sums for the enterprise. He proposed a sea-level canal, which required the excavation of a 350 ft (107 m) cut through terrain; this eventually proved impossible, but work nevertheless started in 1881.

In 1882 de Lesseps became first President d'-Honneur of the Syndicat des Entrepreneurs de Travaux Publics de France and was elected to the Chair of the French Academy in 1884. By 1891 the Panama Canal was in a disastrous financial crisis: a new company was formed, and because of the vast sums expended a financial investigation was made. The report led to de Lesseps, his son and several high-ranking government ministers and officials being charged with bribery and corruption, but de Lesseps was a very sick man and never appeared at the trial. He was never convicted, although others were, and he died soon after, at the age of 89, at his home.

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SUBJECT AREA: Canals

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The nature of Longbotham's career before 1766 is unknown, although he was associated with Smeaton as a pupil and thus became acquainted with canal engineering. In 1766 he suggested a canal linking Leeds and Liverpool across the Pennines. The suggestion was accepted and in 1767–8 he surveyed the line of the Leeds \& Liverpool Canal. This was approved by the promoters and by Brindley, who had been called in as an assessor. The Act was obtained in 1770 and Longbotham was first appointed as Clerk of Works under Brindley as Chief Engineer. As the latter did not take up the appointment, Longbotham became Chief Engineer and from 1770 to 1775 was responsible for the design of locks and aqueducts. He also prepared contracts and supervised construction. Meanwhile, in 1768 he had proposed a canal from the Calder and Hebble to Halifax. In 1773 he was elected to the Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers. As soon as a part of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal was opened he started a passenger packet service, but in 1775, after completing both 50 miles (80 km) of the canal and the Bradford Canal, he was dismissed from his post because of discrepancies in his accounts. However, in the early 1790s he again advised the Leeds and Liverpool proprietors, who were in difficulties on the summit level. Longbotham had colliery interests in the Uphol-land area of Wigan, and in 1787 he surveyed a proposed route for the Lancaster Canal. In 1792 he was also associated with the Grand Western Canal. Details of his later life are scarce, but it is known that he died in poverty in 1801 and that the Leeds \& Liverpool company paid his funeral expenses.

SUBJECT AREA: Canals, Civil engineering

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Although he was born in the USA, his family moved to Canada in 1796. Educated in St Catharines and Niagara, he received a good training in mathematics, navigation and surveying. He served with distinction in the 1812–14 war, although he was captured by the Americans in 1814. After the war he established himself in business operating a sawmill, a flour mill, a small distillery, a potashery, a cooperage and a smithy, as well as running a general store. By 1818 he was one of the leading figures in the area and realized that for real economic progress it was essential to improve communications in the Niagara peninsula; in that year he surveyed a route for a waterway that would carry boats.

In c. 1820 he began discussions with neighbouring landowners and businessmen, who, on 19 January 1824 together obtained a charter for building the first Welland Canal to link Lakes Ontario and Erie. They were greatly influenced by the realization that the completion of the Erie Canal would attract trade through the United States instead of through Canada. Construction began on 30 November 1824, largely with redundant labour from the Erie Canal. Merritt foresaw the need for financial support and for publicity to sustain interest in the project. Accordingly he started a newspaper, the Farmer's Journal and Welland Canal Intelligencer, which was published until 1835. He also visited York (now Toronto), the capital of Upper Canada, and obtained some support, but the Government was reluctant to assist financially. He was more successful in raising money in New York. Then in 1828 he visited England to see Telford and persuaded both Telford and the Duke of Wellington, among others, to purchase shares. The Canal opened on 30 November 1829. In 1832 Merritt became a member of the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada, and after the Union of the Canadas in 1841 he was elected to the new Assembly, later serving as Minister of Public Works and then as President of the Assembly. He advocated improvements to the St Lawrence River and also promoted railways. He pioneered a bridge across the Niagara River that was opened in 1849 and later carried a railway. He was not a canal engineer, but he did pioneer communications in developing territory.

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SUBJECT AREA: Canals

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Born into a wealthy Cornish family, he was educated at Eton and Magdalen College, Oxford. He was elected Member of Parliament for St Ives in 1774, but it was alleged that his father, who was a banker, had acted as agent for both his son and Drummond, the other candidate for the same party, in the course of which he advanced money to voters "on their notes payable with interest to the bank of Truro (Praed's bank)" but with the understanding that repayment would not be demanded from those who had voted for Praed and Drummond. Praed's election was therefore declared void on 8 May 1775. He was re-elected in 1780, by which time St Ives was virtually a Praed family monopoly. He served in successive Parliaments until 1806 and then represented Banbury until 1808. Meanwhile, in 1779 he had become a partner in his father's Truro bank, c. 1801 founded the London bank of Praed \& Co. at 189 Fleet Street.

While in Parliament, he was instrumental in obtaining and carrying into effect the Bill for the Grand Junction Canal from Braunston to London. He was elected Chairman of the company formed for constructing the canal and proved an excellent choice, serving the company faithfully for nearly thirty years until his resignation in 1821. Upon his marriage to Elizabeth Tyringham in 1778 he made his home at Tyringham Hall in Buckinghamshire and so was very much in the Grand Junction Canal Company's area. London's Praed Street, in which Paddington Station stands, is named in his honour and the canal basin is at the rear of this street. His monument in Tyringham Church bears a relief illustrating a pair of lock gates and a canal boat.

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