James Leslie

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

(25 September 1801–29 December 1889) was a Scottish civil engineer specialising in docks, harbours bridges and reservoirs, largely on the east coast of

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. He was also an amateur meteorologist.

Life

He was born in

Largo, Fife Largo (Scottish Gaelic: An Leargach) is a parish in Fife, Scotland containing the villages of Upper Largo or Kirkton of Largo, Lower Largo and Lundin Links. It is bounded on the west by the parish of Scoonie, on the north by Ceres and on the e ...

on 25 September 1801 the son of Archibald Leslie, an architect-builder, and attended school both in Largo and nearby in

Newburn Newburn is a village and district of Newcastle upon Tyne, in Tyne and Wear, England. Situated on the North bank of the River Tyne, it is built rising up the valley from the river. It is situated approximately from the city centre, east of H ...

. He was then sent to Benjamin Mackay’s Latin Academy in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

and from there to the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

to study maths and physics under his uncle, Professor John Leslie. In 1818 he was articled to

William Henry Playfair William Henry Playfair Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, FRSE (15 July 1790 – 19 March 1857) was a prominent Scottish architect in the 19th century who designed the Eastern, or Third, New Town, Edinburgh, New Town and many of Edinb ...

as an architect, but in 1824 he left this position to pursue engineering. He obtained a place with James Rennie working in the

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Docks and on the

London Bridge The name "London Bridge" refers to several historic crossings that have spanned the River Thames between the City of London and Southwark in central London since Roman Britain, Roman times. The current crossing, which opened to traffic in 197 ...

project. In 1828 he returned to Edinburgh to take a job as Resident Engineer in

Leith Leith (; ) is a port area in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith and is home to the Port of Leith. The earliest surviving historical references are in the royal charter authorising the construction of ...

Docks. In 1830 he lived at 19 Constitution Street in

, located close to the main east entrance to the docks (fragments of the house remain). In 1832 he moved to be Resident Engineer of

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

Harbour. He was assisted in Dundee by

Charles Ower Charles Ower (1813–1876) and son (1849–1921) were father and son architects, operating in eastern Scotland. Charles Ower the elder He was born in or near Perth, Scotland, Perth on 31 July 1813, the son of Thomas Ower or Owler and his ...

. In 1846 he returned to

to begin work on several reservoir projects for the

Edinburgh Water Company Edinburgh Water Company and its successors have provided a public water supply and latterly sewerage and sewage treatment services to the Scottish capital of Edinburgh since 1819. The original company was established to supply drinking water and ...

. In 1869 he returned to Dundee to involve in several projects to improve its water supply. In 1858 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

his proposer being David Stevenson. From 1871 his son Alexander joined his firm and it was thereafter known as J & A Leslie. From 1875 almost all work was done by Alexander. He broke his leg in a carriage accident around 1880 and never fully recovered. He was confined to bed for the last 6 months of his life. In partnership with his son and son-in-law (see below) he ran Leslie & Reid from offices at 2 Charlotte Square. He died at home, 11 Portland Place in

on 29 December 1889. He is buried in

Dean Cemetery The Dean Cemetery is a historically important Victorian cemetery north of the Dean Village, west of Edinburgh city centre, in Scotland. It lies between Queensferry Road and the Water of Leith, bounded on its east side by Dean Path and o ...

in western

. The grave lies on the outer wall near the beginning of the south-west spur.

Family

He was married to Jane Hunter (1804-1887). Their son

Alexander Leslie Alexander Leslie, 1st Earl of Leven (4 April 1661) was a Scottish army officer. Born illegitimate and raised as a foster child, he subsequently advanced to the rank of field marshal in Swedish Army, and in Scotland became Lord General in comma ...

(1844-1893), also a civil engineer, formed a partnership with his brother-in-law (James’ son-in-law) Robert Carstairs Reid to create Leslie & Reid. His grandson James Leslie (1881-1921) was also a civil engineer.

Main works

See *Western breakwater,

Docks (1830) *Wet dock, Dysart (1830) *Earl Grey Dock,

(1832) as supervisor *Tide Harbour at Camperdown Dock, Dundee (1833) *Victoria Dock and Swing Bridge, Dundee (1833) *The Telford Light, Dundee (1834) *Patent Slipway, Dundee (1837) *Harbour Workshops, Dundee (1837) *Rebuilding of

Methil Methil () is a coastal town in Fife, Scotland. Methil has ancient origins: two Bronze Age cemeteries have been discovered which date the settlement as over 8,000 years old. The town was first recorded as "Methkil" in 1207, and belonged to ...

Harbour and Docks (1838) *Wet Dock and Harbour,

Arbroath Arbroath () or Aberbrothock ( ) is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the Subdivisions of Scotland, council area of Angus, Scotland, Angus, Scotland, with a population of 23,902. It lies on the North Sea coast, some east-northeast of ...

(1839) *Dundee Custom House (1839) with John Taylor as architect *Locks on the

Monkland Canal The Monkland Canal was a canal designed to bring coal from the mining areas of Monklands to Glasgow in Scotland. In the course of a long and difficult construction process, it was opened progressively as short sections were completed, from 177 ...

(1830) *Bridge at

Leven, Fife Leven (Pictish language, Pictish; ) is a seaside town in Fife, set in the east Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies on the coast of the Firth of Forth at the mouth of the River Leven, Fife, River Leven, north-east of the town of Kirkcaldy and ...

(1839) *Bridge at Aldbar Castle (1843) *Raising James Jardine’s Glencorse Reservoir (1845) *Finlathen Aqueduct (1845) *Extension to pier at

Burntisland Burntisland ( , ) is a former Royal burgh and parish in Fife, Scotland, on the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. It was previously known as Wester Kinghorn or Little Kinghorn. The town has a population of 6,269 (2011). Burntisland is known ...

(1846) *Improvements to the Old East Dock,

(1846) *Aqueduct at Burnhouse of Duntrune, Angus (1848) *Aqueduct at Gagie, Angus (1848) *Aqueduct at

Murroes Murroes is a parish in Angus, Scotland, situated approximately north of Dundee city centre. Places of interest * The parish church was built in 1848 * Ballumbie House * Powrie Castle * Wedderburn Castle Notable residents * In the reign of C ...

(1848) *Dock buildings and Custom House, Montrose (1853) *Sea Wall north of

St Andrews Cathedral The Cathedral of St Andrew (often referred to as St Andrews Cathedral) is a ruined cathedral in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland. It was built in 1158 and became the centre of the Medieval Catholic Church in Scotland as the seat of the Archdiocese o ...

(1856) *East Pier at Stranraer Harbour (1861) *Harbour at

West Wemyss West Wemyss () is a village lying on the north shore of the Firth of Forth, in Fife, Scotland.Lamont-Brown ''Fife in History and Legend'' pp.151–152. According to the 2007 population estimate, the village has a population of 237. The village ...

(1872) *Lawton reservoir, Dundee (1873) *Clatto Reservoir, Dundee (1874) *

Alnwickhill Alnwickhill ( ) is a suburb of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It is on the southern edge of the city, approximately from the city centre. It neighbours the areas of Liberton and Kaimes. The area is now primarily residential, but was th ...

Reservoir (1875) plus second phase in 1888 *Water Tower in

Dalkeith Dalkeith ( ; , ) is a town in Midlothian, Scotland, on the River Esk. It was granted a burgh of barony in 1401 and a burgh of regality in 1541. The settlement of Dalkeith grew southwestwards from its 12th-century castle (now Dalkeith Pala ...

(1879) *

Gladhouse Reservoir Gladhouse Reservoir, formerly known as Moorfoot Loch, is a reservoir in Midlothian, Scotland, five miles (8 km) south of Penicuik. It is the most southerly reservoir in Midlothian, as well as being the largest area of freshwater in the Lothi ...

(1879) *Edgelaw Reservoir (1880) *Rosebery Reservoir (1880) *Williamwath Bridge,

Dumfriesshire Dumfriesshire or the County of Dumfries or Shire of Dumfries () is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county in southern Scotland. The Dumfries lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area covers a similar area to the hi ...

(1882)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leslie, James 1801 births 1889 deaths Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh British civil engineers Alumni of the University of Edinburgh People from Fife