James Fenton (1815–1863) was a Scottish engineer. He was engineer (1841–45) on the

Manchester and Leeds Railway The Manchester and Leeds Railway was a British railway company that built a line from Manchester to Normanton, West Yorkshire, Normanton where it made a junction with the North Midland Railway, over which it relied on running powers to access L ...

, and

Leeds and Thirsk Railway The Leeds Northern Railway (LNR), until 1851 the Leeds and Thirsk Railway, was an English railway company that built and opened a line from Leeds to Stockton via Harrogate and Thirsk. In 1845 the Leeds and Thirsk Railway received permission for ...

(1845–46), In 1846 he formed Fenton, Craven and Company (later as E. B. Wilson and Company) at the Railway Foundry, Leeds, UK, and in 1851 joined the Low Moor Ironworks Company in Bradford, as a consulting engineer.

Biography

James Fenton was born at Dunkenny, near

Forfar Forfar (; , ) is the county town of Angus, Scotland, and the administrative centre for Angus Council, with a new multi-million-pound office complex located on the outskirts of the town. As of 2021, the town had a population of 16,280. The town ...

Angus Angus may refer to: *Angus, Scotland, a council area of Scotland, and formerly a province, sheriffdom, county and district of Scotland * Angus, Canada, a community in Essa, Ontario Animals * Angus cattle, various breeds of beef cattle Media * ...

, on 29 August 1815. He was apprenticed and trained in mechanical and civil engineering under James Cook & Co. of

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, and Mr. Blackadder respectively. In 1837 he began work under

I.K. Brunel Isambard Kingdom Brunel ( ; 9 April 1806 – 15 September 1859) was an English civil engineer and mechanical engineer who is considered "one of the most ingenious and prolific figures in engineering history", "one of the 19th-century engi ...

during the construction of the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...

. In 1841 he became

Locomotive Superintendent Chief mechanical engineer and locomotive superintendent are titles applied by British, Australian, and New Zealand railway companies to the person ultimately responsible to the board of the company for the building and maintaining of the locomotive ...

and engineer of the

, leaving in 1845 to join the

as engineer, then under construction. He left the Leeds and Thirsk before the completion of the line, and began work at the Railway Foundry, Leeds, where his work included the production of the

Jenny Lind locomotive Jenny Lind was the first of a class of ten steam locomotives built in 1847 for the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) by E. B. Wilson and Company of Leeds, named after Jenny Lind, who was a famous Swedish opera singer of the p ...

type based on designs by John Gray, and the construction of the pier of

New Holland Pier railway station New Holland Pier railway station is a former railway terminus in North Lincolnshire, England. It stood at the seaward end of the New Holland Pier, which juts northwards into the Humber estuary at the village of New Holland, North Lincolnshire, ...

. Fenton was a founder of the

Institution of Mechanical Engineers The Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) is an independent professional association and learned society headquartered in London, United Kingdom, that represents mechanical engineers and the engineering profession. With over 110,000 member ...

, active in its activities and a vice-president. In 1851 Fenton left the Railway Foundry, and joined the Low Moor Company of

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

Death

He died on 22 April 1863 in Leamington after contracting a cold on business in London, and was buried in Low Moor on 27 April 1863.

References

External links

* * 1815 births 1863 deaths People from Angus, Scotland Locomotive superintendents 19th-century Scottish engineers 19th-century Scottish people {{Scotland-engineer-stub