William Dyce Cay, MICE

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 letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

(28 March 1838 – 13 December 1925) was a Scottish civil engineer. He was responsible for the majority of late 19th century works to

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), a ...

harbour. He was described by his cousin,

James Clerk Maxwell James Clerk Maxwell (13 June 1831 – 5 November 1879) was a Scottish mathematician and scientist responsible for the classical theory of electromagnetic radiation, which was the first theory to describe electricity, magnetism and ligh ...

, as "my best friend, my most valuable collaborator and the best watery engineer in Scotland."

Life

He was born the son of Robert Dundas Cay, an

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

lawyer, and Isabella Dyce (1811–1852). In 1844 the family moved to Hong Kong following his father's appointment as Registrar to the Supreme Court of that city. His mother died there as the result of injuries from a carriage accident in 1852 and is buried in the Happy Valley Cemetery in Victoria, Hong Kong. William returned to

soon after this, to study mathematics at

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted ...

, winning the prestigious Straiton Gold Medal in 1856. He then moved to

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

to serve as an apprentice engineer under Lord Kelvin's brother, James Thomson. On completion of his training in 1858 he began to specialise in harbour design, and spent the bulk of his working life improving Aberdeen's docks and harbours. From 1873 he was assisted by

James Barron James Barron (September 15, 1768 – April 21, 1851) was an officer in the United States Navy. He served in the Quasi-War and the Barbary Wars, during which he commanded a number of famous ships, including and . As commander of the frigate , h ...

who later set up as an independent harbour engineer. He was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh 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 established i ...

in 1882. In 1890 he obtained a house on Blackford Road in

. He died at

Folkestone Folkestone ( ) is a port town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour and shipping port for most of the 19th and 20t ...

, Kent on 13 December 1925.

Known works

The entrance to the harbour at Buckie - geograph

Castle Douglas Castle Douglas ( gd, Caisteal Dhùghlais) is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It lies in the lieutenancy area of Kirkcudbrightshire, in the eastern part of Galloway, between the towns of Dalbeattie and Gatehouse of Fleet. It is in th ...

to Portpatrick Railway (as assistant to

Benjamin Blyth Benjamin Hall Blyth (14 July 1819 – 21 August 1866) was a Scottish civil engineer. Life Blyth was born at 26 Minto St in Newington, Edinburgh, the son of Robert Brittain Blyth, an iron merchant, and his wife, Barbara Cooper. He was their thi ...

) (1861) *Glenlair Bridge near Corsock,

Kirkcudbrightshire Kirkcudbrightshire ( ), or the County of Kirkcudbright or the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright is one of the historic counties of Scotland, covering an area in the south-west of the country. Until 1975, Kirkcudbrightshire was an administrative count ...

, (1861) built for his cousin,

who owned

Glenlair House Glenlair, near the village of Corsock in the historical county of Kirkcudbrightshire, in Dumfries and Galloway, was the home of the physicist James Clerk Maxwell James Clerk Maxwell (13 June 1831 – 5 November 1879) was a Scottish m ...

*Cluny Harbour,

Buckie Buckie ( gd, Bucaidh) is a burgh town (defined as such in 1888) on the Moray Firth coast of Scotland. Historically in Banffshire, Buckie was the largest town in the county until the administrative area was abolished in 1975. The town is the t ...

(1873) *Southern Breakwater, Aberdeen Harbour (1874) *

Lerwick Lerwick (; non, Leirvik; nrn, Larvik) is the main town and port of the Shetland archipelago, Scotland. Shetland's only burgh, Lerwick had a population of about 7,000 residents in 2010. Centred off the north coast of the Scottish mainland ...

Harbour extensions and improvements (1881)

Family

His uncles (his mother's brothers) were

William Dyce William Dyce (; 19 September 1806 in Aberdeen14 February 1864) was a Scottish painter, who played a part in the formation of public art education in the United Kingdom, and the South Kensington Schools system. Dyce was associated with the Pre-R ...

the artist and Prof

Robert Dyce Prof Robert Dyce FRSE (1798–1869) was a Scottish surgeon and Professor of Midwifery at Aberdeen University. Life He was born in Aberdeen on 30 November 1798 the son of Dr William Dyce of Fonthill and Cuttlehill (1770–1835) and his wife Marga ...

. His cousin (through his father's sister) was

. They were close friends and Cay served as Maxwell's best man upon his marriage.

References

1838 births 1925 deaths People associated with Aberdeen Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh British civil engineers {{Scotland-engineer-stub