Sir John Jackson (4 February 1851 – 14 December 1919) was an English engineer who in later life served as Unionist member of parliament for Devonport, from 1910 to 1918, retiring from politics when his constituency was merged into another. He was proprietor of the major British engineering firm of John Jackson Ltd and the shipping company Westminster Shipping Co Ltd.

Life

Born at 15

Coney Street Coney Street is a major shopping street in the city centre of York, in England. The street runs north-west from the junction of Spurriergate and Market Street, to St Helen's Square. New Street leads off the north-east side of the street, as ...

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

, the youngest son of Elizabeth daughter of David Ruddock of

Horbury Horbury is a town in the City of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated north of the River Calder, West Yorkshire, River Calder about three miles (5 k ...

, and her husband Edward Jackson (1789–1859), a goldsmith. His father died when he was eight years old, leaving him to be raised by his mother.''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'': Sir John Jackson He was educated at Holgate Seminary. He was apprenticed to William Boyd, engineer in

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

from 1866 to 1868 before studying engineering at 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 ...

under

Peter Guthrie Tait Peter Guthrie Tait (28 April 18314 July 1901) was a Scottish Mathematical physics, mathematical physicist and early pioneer in thermodynamics. He is best known for the mathematical physics textbook ''Treatise on Natural Philosophy'', which he ...

. On Tait's death in 1901, Jackson endowed a research fund named after him. On graduation from Edinburgh he returned to Newcastle to work with his brother, William Edwin Jackson, a building contractor. His first major contract was Stobcross Docks in 1876. His greatest engineering work in Britain from 1896 to 1907 was the extension of the Keyham Yard at Devonport Royal Dockyard at a cost of nearly £4 million. During this period Jackson was a member of The Plymouth Institution (now

The Plymouth Athenaeum Plymouth Athenaeum, located in Plymouth, England, is a society dedicated to the promotion of learning in the fields of science, technology, literature and art. The Athenaeum building, located at Derry's Cross in Plymouth City Centre, includes a ...

) from 1897 to 1899. In 1894 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 ...

for his services to engineering. His proposers were Sir John Murray,

Alexander Crum Brown Alexander Crum Brown Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, FRSE Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (26 March 1838 – 28 October 1922) was a Scottish Organic chemistry, organic chemist. Alexander Crum Brown Road in Edinburgh's King's Buildi ...

, and Alexander Buchan. His main work 1894/1895 was the

Manchester Ship Canal The Manchester Ship Canal is a inland waterway in the North West England, North West of England linking Manchester to the Irish Sea. Starting at the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary at Eastham, Merseyside, Eastham, near Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, it ...

and it was for this work which he was knighted by

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

in 1895. His company was then renamed from John Jackson Ltd to Sir John Jackson Ltd. In later life he moved to 48

Belgrave Square Belgrave Square is a large 19th-century garden square in London. It is the centrepiece of Belgravia, and its architecture resembles the original scheme of property contractor Thomas Cubitt who engaged George Basevi for all of the terraces for ...

in London and also bought a major country estate at Henley Park at

Henley-on-Thames Henley-on-Thames ( ) is a town status in the United Kingdom, town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish on the River Thames, in the South Oxfordshire district, in Oxfordshire, England, northeast of Reading, Berkshire, Reading, west of M ...

. He first stood for office as the

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

candidate in the

1904 Devonport by-election Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number) * One of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (1987 film), a 1987 science fiction film * '' 19-Nineteen'', a 2009 South Korean film * '' D ...

, losing to Liberal candidate

John Benn Sir John Williams Benn, 1st Baronet, Deputy lieutenant, DL (13 November 1850 – 10 April 1922) was a British politician, particularly associated with London politics. He was the father of the politician William Wedgwood Benn, 1st Viscount Stan ...

. He stood for the seat again in the

1906 general election The following elections occurred in the year 1906. Asia * 1906 Persian legislative election Europe * 1906 Belgian general election * 1906 Croatian parliamentary election * Denmark ** 1906 Danish Folketing election ** 1906 Danish Landsting e ...

and lost again. He was finally victorious in the

January 1910 general election The January 1910 UK general election was held from 15 January to 10 February 1910. Called amid a constitutional crisis after the Conservative-dominated House of Lords rejected the People's Budget, the Liberal government, seeking a mandate, los ...

, winning the seat again in the December 1910 general election and standing down at the 1918 general election. In 1909 he built a railway from

Arica Arica ( ; ) is a commune and a port city with a population of 222,619 in the Arica Province of northern Chile's Arica y Parinacota Region. It is Chile's northernmost city, being located only south of the border with Peru. The city is the ca ...

in Chile to La Paz in Bolivia crossing the

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

en route. One of his latter day major projects were: the dockyard at

Simon's Town Simon's Town (), sometimes spelled Simonstown, is a town in the Western Cape, South Africa and is home to Naval Base Simon's Town, the South African Navy's largest base. It is located on the shores of Simon's Bay in False Bay, on the eastern s ...

in South Africa in 1910; rebuilding Singapore Harbour; a major breakwater at Victoria, British Columbia; naval docks at Ferrol in Spain; a port at

As-Salif As-Salif (, , also transliterated as al-Salif) is a coastal village in western Yemen. It is located in a bay of a headland that forms the southern coast of the Kamaran Bay. As-Salif is recognized for its large deposits of rock salt. Historically, ...

; and the naval arsenal at

Pula Pula, also known as Pola, is the largest city in Istria County, west Croatia, and the List of cities and towns in Croatia, seventh-largest city in the country, situated at the southern tip of the Istria, Istrian peninsula in western Croatia, wi ...

(Pola). He died of a heart attack whilst visiting his mistress, Mrs Mabel Lydia Henderson at Hascombe Grange in Hambledon on 14 December 1919. He is buried in

Norwood Cemetery West Norwood Cemetery is a rural cemetery in West Norwood in London, England. It was also known as the South Metropolitan Cemetery. One of the first private landscaped cemeteries in London, it is one of the " Magnificent Seven" cemeteries of L ...

Family

In 1876 he married Ellen Julia Myers, daughter of George Myers of

Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, which today also gives its name to the (much larger) London Borough of Lambeth. Lambeth itself was an ancient parish in the county of Surrey. It is situated 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Charin ...

. They had six daughters, only five surviving, and three sons.

References

*''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' Obituary 16 Dec 1919 *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, John 1851 births 1919 deaths English civil engineers Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Burials at West Norwood Cemetery UK MPs 1910 UK MPs 1910–1918 People from York Knights Bachelor Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order Engineers from Yorkshire

Life

Family

References

Further reading

External links