John Robinson McClean CB FRS

FRSA The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...

FRAS (21 March 1813 – 13 July 1873), was a British civil engineer and

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politician. He carried out many important works, and for a time was the sole owner of a main line railway, the first individual to do so. He carried out philanthropic works including securing a fresh water supply to overcome persistent outbreaks of cholera, taking no salary for his work.

Early life

He was born in the Bank Buildings, Belfast, and was the youngest of four sons of Francis McClean and Margaret McReyolds. Francis was an ironmonger, his shop being the centre one of three located on the ground floor of the Bank Buildings, One brother (Adam) was a Civil Engineer in Dublin, while another (Francis), became an eminent dentist, practicing at St Stephens Green, Dublin. John was educated at Belfast Academical Institution and

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

Engineering career

Whilst still young, he offered himself as candidate for the Office of Engineer to the Belfast Harbour Commissioners, but was refused. Upon leaving the Board Room, he said to the then 'Secretary of the Belfast Harbour Board' Mr

Edmund Getty Edmund Getty MRIA (1799 in Belfast – 1857 in London) was an Irish antiquarian and naturalist. Getty was educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution. He became Ballast Master of the Belfast Ballast Board and, later, Secretary of ...

, (an old family friend) "that he would let the Commissioners yet see what a man they had lost". With his partner, Francis Croughton Stileman, he founded McClean & Stileman, engineering consultants of Great George St, Westminster. Some of his positions were: *Advisor on the Suez Canal for the British Government. *Extensive works for Emperor Napoleon in France. *Chief Engineer of the Plymouth and Dover Harbours. *Chairman of the

Anglo-American Telegraph Company The Atlantic Telegraph Company was a company formed on 6 November 1856 to undertake and exploit a commercial telegraph cable across the Atlantic ocean, the first such telecommunications link. History Cyrus Field, American businessman and finan ...

. *Chief Engineer overseeing construction of the South Staffordshire Railway, which opened in 1849. Boynton says "McClean was a talented civil engineer whose contribution to his profession deserves to be more widely recognised."John Boynton, ''Rails Around Walsall, Yesterday and Today'', Mid England Books, Kidderminster, 1996, ISBN 0 95222 48 3 6, pages 18 and 20 When appointed as engineer to the South Staffordshire Railway, under constriction at the time in October 1846, he was already working for four other railway companies. Earlier, when apprenticed to a firm of civil engineers in London, he had prepared surveys and detailed drawings for the

Victoria Embankment Victoria Embankment is part of the Thames Embankment, a road and river-walk along the north bank of the River Thames in London. It runs from the Palace of Westminster to Blackfriars Bridge in the City of London, and acts as a major thoroughfa ...

and the new

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. When new sewers were needed for the capital and the commissioners invited plans, his were the best of 116 submitted and the only ones which gave an estimate of the costs. McClean became aware of the dreadful state of Walsall's water supply; cholera and

typhoid Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several ...

outbreaks took place there at regular intervals. McClean observed that Lichfield's water was clean and pure; he secured the agreement of some powerful friends, including the Earl of Dudley, and the South Staffordshire Waterworks Company was formed in 1853. The company supplied Walsall and

Dudley Dudley is a large market town and administrative centre in the county of West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically an exclave of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the ...

with Lichfield water, using Stowe and Minster pools as reservoirs. The pipe run was intalled alongside the railway. Parts of Walsall were connected by 1858 but it took fifteen years to complete the scheme. McClean was engineer to the waterworks company, but drew no salary. After an Act of Parliament was passed to allow it, he took a 25-year lease on the railway, thus becoming the first person ever to be the sole owner of a railway. By 1853 he was also busying himself with mining, completing a railway line serving two of the Marquis of Anglesey's pits on

Cannock Chase Cannock Chase (), often referred to locally as The Chase, is a mixed area of countryside in the county of Staffordshire, England. The area has been designated as the Cannock Chase Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and is managed by Forestry ...

, known then as the Hammerwich and Uxbridge pits, known more recently as Cannock Chase Colliery Nos. 1 and 2. Money invested by McClean, the Marquis and others helped to develop the Cannock Chase coalfield. The pits spawned the new communities of Chasetown and Chase Terrace, which were provided with schools, churches, a community centre and library by McClean. The opening of St. Anne's Free Church, Chasetown in 1865, was a high-profile occasion for a modest building in a mining village. He was President 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 ...

from 1864 to 1865.

Political career

He unsuccessfully stood for

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as a

candidate for

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at the 1857 general election, the second time he had been rejected by his native town. He was elected at the 1868 general election as the

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(MP) for

East Staffordshire East Staffordshire is a local government district with borough status in Staffordshire in England. It has two main towns: Burton upon Trent and Uttoxeter. Villages in the area include Abbots Bromley, Stretton, Tutbury, Barton-under-Needwo ...

, and held the seat until his death in 1873. He was also

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of the

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, a volunteer corps whose members serve as engineering advisors to the

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Later life

He died in 1873 aged 60, and is buried with his wife Anna, on the edge of the main path at

Kensal Green Cemetery Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in the Kensal Green area of Queens Park in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. Inspired by Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, it was founded by the barrister George Frederic ...

, London.

Personal life

He was married to Anna (1813–1877). They had five daughters and one son, Frank McClean. Through Frank, their descendants include Francis McClean,

Rupert Carington, 7th Baron Carrington Rupert Francis John Carington, 7th Baron Carrington, (born 2 December 1948), is a British banker and crossbench member of the House of Lords. Lord Carrington serves as Lord Great Chamberlain of England since the accession of Charles III in Se ...

, and the twelfth and subsequent

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McClean, John Robinson 1813 births 1873 deaths British civil engineers Fellows of the Royal Society Companions of the Order of the Bath Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1868–1874 Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery Presidents of the Institution of Civil Engineers Alumni of the University of Glasgow Engineer and Railway Staff Corps officers