William Archer Porter Tait

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

FRMS MICE (1866–1929) was a 19th/20th century Scottish civil engineer, and part of the Guthrie Tait dynasty. He was Vice President of the

Institute 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 1929.

Life

William Tail was born on 25 March 1866, at 6 Greenhill Gardens in south-east Edinburgh, the second son of

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 ...

and his wife, Margaret Porter. He was named after his maternal uncle,

William Archer Porter William Archer Porter (c. 1825 - d. 16 July 1890) was a British lawyer and educationist who served as the Principal of Government Arts College, Kumbakonam and tutor and secretary to the Maharaja of Mysore. Early life and education Porter was b ...

. He was educated at

Edinburgh Academy The Edinburgh Academy is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school in Edinburgh, Scotland, which was opened in 1824. The original building, on Henderson Row in Stockbridge, Edinburgh, Stockbridge, is now part of the Senior Scho ...

. From 1881, he studied engineering at

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the town council under the authority of a royal charter from King James VI in 1582 and offi ...

under Prof

Fleeming Jenkin Henry Charles Fleeming Jenkin Royal Society of London, FRS FRSE (; 25 March 1833 – 12 June 1885) was a British engineer, inventor, economist, linguist, actor and dramatist known as the inventor of the cable car or Aerial tramway#Telpherage, t ...

, graduating BSc in 1885. He was then apprenticed for a year at Brown Brothers Engineering on Broughton Road in Edinburgh. In 1886/7 he did work creating the

Lanarkshire and Ayrshire Railway The Lanarkshire and Ayrshire Railway (L&AR) was an independent railway company built to provide the Caledonian Railway with a shorter route for mineral traffic from the coalfields of Lanarkshire to Ardrossan Harbour, in Scotland. It opened in s ...

. In 1887 he was articled to Sir

John Wolfe Barry Sir John Wolfe Barry (7 December 1836 – 22 January 1918) was an English civil engineer known for engineering Tower Bridge over the River Thames in London which was constructed between 1886 and 1894. He was the youngest son of architect Sir C ...

then to

Henry Marc Brunel Henry Marc Brunel (27 June 1842 – 7 October 1903) was an English civil engineer and the son of engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel and grandson of civil engineer Marc Isambard Brunel best known for his design work on Tower Bridge built in partne ...

. Here he worked on the foundations of

Tower Bridge Tower Bridge is a Listed building#Grade I, Grade I listed combined Bascule bridge, bascule, Suspension bridge, suspension, and, until 1960, Cantilever bridge, cantilever bridge in London, built between 1886 and 1894, designed by Horace Jones ...

and on the

Barry Docks Barry Docks () is a port facility in the town of Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, a few miles southwest of Cardiff on the north shore of the Bristol Channel. The docks were opened in 1889 by David Davies and John Cory as an alternative to the co ...

. He continued with Wolfe Barry for three years after his articles were complete, and accompanied him on several court hearings He returned to Scotland in 1891 as assistant engineer to the Glasgow Subway project under

Charles de Neuville Forman Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...

. In August 1894 he joined Leslie and Reid alongside

Alexander Leslie Alexander Leslie, 1st Earl of Leven (4 April 1661) was a Scottish army officer. Born illegitimate and raised as a foster child, he subsequently advanced to the rank of field marshal in Swedish Army, and in Scotland became Lord General in comma ...

to replace

Robert Carstairs Reid Robert Carstairs Reid (6 December 1845–4 March 1894) was a 19th-century Scottish civil engineer. He specialised in harbour works and water supply. Life He was born in Kingskettle, Kettle, Fife on 6 December 1845, the second son of Ameli ...

. His main project was

Talla Reservoir Talla Reservoir, located a mile from Tweedsmuir, Scottish Borders, Scotland, is an earth-work dam fed by Talla Water. The reservoir is supplemented by water from the nearby Fruid Reservoir. It was opened in 1905. To assist in bringing the ma ...

on the

Talla Water Talla Water is a river in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, near Tweedsmuir. It feeds the Talla Reservoir, and is a tributary of the River Tweed. Above the reservoir are a series of waterfalls known as the Talla Linns. The Talla Railway ...

in the

Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It is bordered by West Lothian, Edinburgh, Midlothian, and East Lothian to the north, the North Sea to the east, Dumfries and Galloway to the south-west, South Lanarkshire to the we ...

which played a major role in serving

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

and allowing its expansion. In 1898, 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 ...

. His proposers were

William Thomson, Lord Kelvin William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin (26 June 182417 December 1907), was a British mathematician, mathematical physicist and engineer. Born in Belfast, he was the professor of Natural Philosophy at the University of Glasgow for 53 years, where ...

Charles Alexander Stevenson Charles Alexander Stevenson MICE MIEE FRSE (23 December 1855, – 9 May 1950) was a Scottish lighthouse engineer who built twenty-three lighthouses in and around Scotland. Life He was born at 8 Forth Street in the east part of Edinburgh's Ne ...

, George Barclay and

John Sturgeon Mackay John Sturgeon Mackay FRSE (1843–1914) was a Scottish mathematician and academic author. Life He was born on 22 October 1843 at Auchencairn near Kirkcudbright the son of John Mackay and his wife Jessie Sturgeon. The family moved to Perth earl ...

. He received an honorary doctorate (DSc) from 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 ...

in 1910. He served as Vice President to the Society from 1921 to 1924. In 1910, he had offices at 72 George Street in Edinburgh's First New Town and lived at 38

George Square George Square () is the principal Town square, civic square in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is one of six squares in the city centre, the others being Cathedral Square, Glasgow, Cathedral Square, St Andrew's Square, Glasgow, St Andrew's ...

. Tait died in

on 23 June 1929. He is buried with his parents and siblings in st John's churchyard at the west end of

Princes Street Princes Street () is one of the major thoroughfares in central Edinburgh, Scotland and the main shopping street in the capital. It is the southernmost street of Edinburgh's New Town, Edinburgh, New Town, stretching around 1.2 km (three quar ...

in Edinburgh. The grave lies on one of the lower eastern terraces, behind a grey granite Celtic cross to his brother,

Frederick Guthrie Tait Frederick Guthrie Tait (11 January 1870 – 7 February 1900) was an amateur golfer and Scottish soldier. He won the Amateur Championship twice, in 1896 and again in 1898, by convincing margins. Over his short golf career, Tait recorded at lea ...

. He bequeathed his collection of legal books to the library at

One Great George Street One Great George Street (OGGS) is a four-domed grade II listed Edwardian building used as a Conference venue, conference and wedding venue just off Parliament Square in Westminster, London, England. The building is the global headquarters of th ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Family

Tait's siblings included

John Guthrie Tait John Guthrie Tait (24 August 1861 – 4 October 1945) V.D. was a Scottish educator who became principal of the Central College of Bangalore prior to the First World War. In his early adulthood, Tait was a notable sportsman playing rugby union a ...

and

Publications

*''The Talla Water Supply of Edinburgh'' (1907)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tait, William Archer Porter 1866 births 1929 deaths Engineers from Edinburgh People educated at Edinburgh Academy Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Scottish civil engineers Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh