Sir John Aird, 1st Baronet (3 December 1833 – 6 January 1911) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

civil engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewa ...

contractor of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He also served as

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) for Paddington North from 1887 to 1906, was the first Mayor of

Paddington Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Padd ...

in 1900, and became an enthusiastic collector of British art.

Early life

Aird was the son of a former mason – also called John Aird (1806–1876) – who was superintendent of the Phoenix Gas Company's gasworks in

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...

, south-east

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

before setting up his own contracting business, John Aird & Co., in 1848. On his 18th birthday in 1851, Aird junior joined the family firm – which subsequently traded as ''John Aird & Sons'' for a while. The business had initially focused on gas and water network installations, but soon expanded into more general building work.

Engineering career

John Aird's first significant scheme was the dismantling, transportation and re-erection of

The Crystal Palace The Crystal Palace was a cast iron and plate glass structure, originally built in Hyde Park, London, Hyde Park, London, to house the Great Exhibition of 1851. The exhibition took place from 1 May to 15 October 1851, and more than 14,000 exhibit ...

buildings from the 1851

Great Exhibition The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, also known as the Great Exhibition or the Crystal Palace Exhibition (in reference to the temporary structure in which it was held), was an international exhibition which took pl ...

from central London's Hyde Park to Sydenham in south London. Other company projects included the construction of

reservoirs A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including control ...

and of

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a p ...

s and

dock A dock (from Dutch ''dok'') is the area of water between or next to one or a group of human-made structures that are involved in the handling of boats or ships (usually on or near a shore) or such structures themselves. The exact meaning vari ...

s work. Aird became an associate of the

Institution of Civil Engineers The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) is an independent professional association for civil engineers and a charitable body in the United Kingdom. Based in London, ICE has over 92,000 members, of whom three-quarters are located in the UK, whi ...

in 1859. After the firm merged with Lucas Brothers and his father's death John Aird junior became chief partner and the name of the business reverted to ''John Aird & Co.'' in 1895. Under Aird's leadership, the firm also became internationally famous for building the first

Aswan Dam The Aswan Dam, or more specifically since the 1960s, the Aswan High Dam, is one of the world's largest embankment dams, which was built across the Nile in Aswan, Egypt, between 1960 and 1970. Its significance largely eclipsed the previous Aswan ...

between 1899 and 1902. Sir John and his son Malcolm were present in Egypt for the opening of the dam in December 1902, during which he received the Grand Cordon of the

Order of the Medjidie Order of the Medjidie ( ota, نشانِ مجیدی, August 29, 1852 – 1922) is a military and civilian order of the Ottoman Empire. The Order was instituted in 1851 by Sultan Abdulmejid I. History Instituted in 1851, the Order was awarded in f ...

from the

Khedive Khedive (, ota, خدیو, hıdiv; ar, خديوي, khudaywī) was an honorific title of Persian origin used for the sultans and grand viziers of the Ottoman Empire, but most famously for the viceroy of Egypt from 1805 to 1914.Adam Mestyan"K ...

. The business was also later engaged to increase the height of the dam.

Political career

Aird served as

for Paddington North from 1887 to 1906. In 1900, he became the first mayor of the

Metropolitan Borough of Paddington Paddington was a civil parish and metropolitan borough in London, England. It was an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex, governed by an administrative vestry. The parish was included in the area of responsibility of the Metropolitan Board ...

, serving two terms until 1902.

Personal life and family

Aird married Sarah Smith of

Lewisham Lewisham () is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified in the London Plan as one ...

on 6 September 1855 and they had eight children: John (who became, in succession to his father, Sir John Aird, 2nd Baronet), Malcolm, Sarah, Jessie, Ada, Vida, Gertrude, and Dorothy.

Retirement

Aird was created a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14t ...

on Lord Salisbury's recommendation on 5 March 1901. He died in January 1911 at his country home of

Wilton Park Wilton Park is an executive agency of the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office providing a global forum for strategic discussion. Based since 1951 at Wiston House in Sussex, it organises over 70 dialogues a year in the UK and overs ...

Beaconsfield Beaconsfield ( ) is a market town and civil parish within the unitary authority of Buckinghamshire, England, west-northwest of central London and south-southeast of Aylesbury. Three other towns are within : Gerrards Cross, Amersham and High W ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-e ...

and he was buried in the churchyard of St Anne's Church, Dropmore, alongside his wife Sarah who died on 4 April 1909.

Legacy

John Aird Court, a

social housing Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, d ...

estate in

Little Venice Little Venice is a district in West London, England, around the junction of the Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal, the Regent's Canal, and the entrance to Paddington Basin. The junction forms a triangular shape basin. Many of the build ...

, west

is named after him, in the area which would have formed part of his constituency and been in the original Paddington borough.

Arms

References

Holmes portraits

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aird, John, 1st Baronet 1833 births 1911 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom English engineers Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1886–1892 UK MPs 1892–1895 UK MPs 1895–1900 UK MPs 1900–1906 People from Beaconsfield Members of Paddington Metropolitan Borough Council Mayors of Paddington