John Bernard Hartley (3 September 1814 – 14 December 1869) was a British civil engineer, son of

Jesse Hartley Jesse Hartley (21 December 1780 – 24 August 1860) was an English Civil Engineer and Superintendent of the Concerns of the Dock Estate in Liverpool, England between 1824 and 1860. Hartley's career Despite having no experience building docks, ...

the Liverpool docks engineer. He was engineer on the Hull Railway Dock, and Victoria Dock, and other works, and was instrumental in promoting the

Birkenhead Docks The Great Float is a body of water on the Wirral Peninsula, England, formed from the natural tidal inlet, the Wallasey Pool. It is split into two large docks, East Float and West Float, both part of the Birkenhead Docks complex. The docks run a ...

on the Mersey. He retired in 1861 due to ill health and died in 1869.

Biography

John Bernard Hartley was born on 3 September 1814 in

Dungarvan Dungarvan () is a coastal town and harbour in County Waterford, on the south-east coast of Ireland. Prior to the merger of Waterford County Council with Waterford City Council in 2014, Dungarvan was the county town and administrative centre of ...

, Waterford, son of

, engineer of the Liverpool docks. He was brought up in

Pontefract Pontefract is a historic market town in the City of Wakefield, a metropolitan district in West Yorkshire, England. It lies to the east of Wakefield and south of Castleford. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is one of the ...

Yorkshire and educated at

Giggleswick school Giggleswick School is a public school (English private boarding and day school) in Giggleswick, near Settle, North Yorkshire, England. Early school In 1499, Giggleswick School was founded on half an acre of land leased by the Prior and Co ...

, after which he began training under his father on the Liverpool dock estate. In 1835 he was placed under James Walker. In 1840 he began working independently, and in 1842 was appointed engineer of the

Hull Dock Company The Port of Hull is a port at the confluence of the River Hull and the Humber Estuary in Kingston upon Hull, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Seaborne trade at the port can be traced to at least the 13th century, originally cond ...

. There he was engineer during the construction of the Railway Dock and Victoria Dock. He left the employment of the dock company in 1858. He also worked on lighthouses on the

River Lune The River Lune (archaically sometimes Loyne) is a river in length in Cumbria and Lancashire, England. Etymology Several elucidations for the origin of the name ''Lune'' exist. Firstly, it may be that the name is Brittonic languages, Brittonic ...

, at its mouth near

Morecambe Bay Morecambe Bay is an estuary in north-west England, just to the south of the Lake District National Park. It is the largest expanse of intertidal mudflats and sand in the United Kingdom, covering a total area of . In 1974, the second largest ga ...

, on the

Hull and Barnsley Railway The Hull Barnsley & West Riding Junction Railway and Dock Company (HB&WRJR&DCo.) was opened on 20 July 1885. It had a total projected length of but never reached Barnsley, stopping a few miles short at Stairfoot. The name was changed to The ...

, the Wakefield, Pontefract and Goole Railway, and on docks at Purton Pill and Silloth Bay, a graving dock at

Grimsby Grimsby or Great Grimsby is a port town in Lincolnshire, England with a population of 86,138 (as of 2021). It is located near the mouth on the south bank of the Humber that flows to the North Sea. Grimsby adjoins the town of Cleethorpes dir ...

, a scheme for docks at

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

, and on the drainage of Port Madoc. In association with his father, he also worked on the docks at Liverpool and Birkenhead. He was involved in prolonged attempts to obtain a bill enabling the construction of deep water docks at

Birkenhead Birkenhead () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liverpool. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic co ...

to the design of James Meadows Rendel, and later, in 1858, became engineer of the

. His health failed in 1860, and he had left for the warmer climate of the Mediterranean when he received news of his father's death. He was appointed to his father's position on the Liverpool Docks estate, but retired owing to poor health, although he was retained as a consulting engineer. He subsequently lived at Letrualt House near

Rhu Rhu (; ) is a village and historic parish on the east shore of the Gare Loch in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. The traditional spelling of its name was ''Row'', but it was changed in the 1920s so that outsiders would pronounce it correctly. The ...

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; , or ; or , meaning 'fort of the Britons (historical), Britons') is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven, Dunbartonshire, River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. ...

, while also travelling to spas in Switzerland. He died on 14 December 1869.

Notable Works

Castleford Bridge,

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield district, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the t ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

(Built in 1808).

References

Sources

External links

1814 births 1869 deaths Harbour engineers English civil engineers {{UK-engineer-stub