William Shelford (engineer)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Sir William Shelford (1834–1905) was an English civil engineer.


Early life

Born at
Lavenham Lavenham is a village, civil parish and Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom, electoral ward in the Babergh District, Babergh district, in the county of Suffolk, England. It is noted for its Lavenham Guildhall, Guildhall, Little ...
,
Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...
on 11 April 1834, he was eldest son of Rev William Heard Shelford (1799–1856), Fellow of
Emmanuel College, Cambridge Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. The site on which the college sits was once a priory for Dominican mo ...
, and rector of Preston St. Mary, Suffolk; his mother was Emily Frost née Snape (1809–1889), eldest daughter of Rev. Richard Snape, rector of Brent Eleigh. Among his brothers, Thomas Shelford (1839–1900) became a member of the legislative council of the Straits Settlements, and was made C.M.G., while Rev. Leonard Edmund Shelford (1836–1914) was a clergyman who became vicar of
St Martin-in-the-Fields St Martin-in-the-Fields is a Church of England parish church at the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, London. Dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours, there has been a church on the site since at least the medieval pe ...
in 1903 and whose brother-in-law was the evangelist William Cadman. In February 1850 Shelford went to
Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English private boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. It was founded as Marlborough School in 1843 by the Dean of Manchester, George ...
, leaving at midsummer 1852 to become an engineer. He was first apprenticed to a mechanical engineer in Scotland, but in 1854 he became a pupil of William Gale, a waterworks engineer of Glasgow. During his two years' term of service he attended lectures at
Glasgow University The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in post-nominals; ) is a public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ...
.


Engineer and partner

In 1856, thrown on his own resources after his father's death, Shelford left Glasgow for London, and in December of that year he entered the office of John Fowler as an assistant engineer, remaining there until 1860. He was engaged on the
Nene River The River Nene ( or ) flows through the counties of Northamptonshire, Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire, and Norfolk in Eastern England from its sources in Arbury Hill in Northamptonshire. Flowing Northeast through East England to its mouth at Lu ...
navigation and improvement works, of which he was in time placed in charge, until 1859, when he was transferred to London and was engaged on the laying-out and construction of the first section of the
Metropolitan Railway The Metropolitan Railway (also known as the Met) was a passenger and goods railway that served London from 1863 to 1933, its main line heading north-west from the capital's financial heart in the City to what were to become the Middlesex su ...
. Leaving Fowler's service in the autumn of 1860, Shelford became an assistant to F. T. Turner, joint engineer with
Joseph Cubitt Joseph Cubitt (24 November 1811 – 7 December 1872) was an English civil engineer. Amongst other projects, he designed the Blackfriars Railway Bridge over the River Thames in London. Early life Cubitt was born in Horning, Norfolk, on 24 Nov ...
on the
London, Chatham and Dover Railway The London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR or LC&DR) was a railway company in south-eastern England. It was created on 1 August 1859, when the East Kent Railway was given parliamentary approval to change its name. Its lines ran through Lond ...
. After employment on surveys Shelford was appointed resident engineer on the high-level railway to
the Crystal Palace The Crystal Palace was a cast iron and plate glass structure, originally built in Hyde Park, London, to house the Great Exhibition of 1851. The exhibition took place from 1 May to 15 October 1851, and more than 14,000 exhibitors from around ...
, the Act of Parliament for which was passed in 1862. Apart from decorative work on the stations, he designed and superintended all the engineering works on that line. In 1862–5 he was also engaged, under Turner, as resident engineer on the eastern section of the London, Chatham and Dover Railway, to Blackheath Hill. In 1865 Shelford started practice on his own account in partnership with Henry Robinson, later professor of engineering at
King's College, London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...
. The work carried out by the firm during the next ten years included the railways, waterworks, sewage-works and pumping- and winding-engines, and shafts for collieries and mines at home and abroad. In 1869 he visited
Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...
and installed machinery and plant for
sulphur Sulfur (American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphur (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth spelling) is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundance of the chemical ...
mines there; for his services he was made a chevalier of the
Order of the Crown of Italy The Order of the Crown of Italy ( or OCI) was founded as a national order in 1868 by King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy, Vittorio Emanuele II, to commemorate Italian unification, the unification of Italy in 1861. It was awarded in five degrees for ...
. The partnership was terminated in 1875.


Later life

Shelford practised at 35a Great George Street, Westminster, taking his third son, Frederic, into partnership in 1899, and ceasing to work in 1904. In 1881 he was appointed engineer of the
Hull and Barnsley Railway The Hull Barnsley & West Riding Junction Railway and Dock Company (HB&WRJR&DCo.) was opened on 20 July 1885. It had a total projected length of but never reached Barnsley, stopping a few miles short at Stairfoot. The name was changed to The ...
, his major piece of railway construction at home. The line was opened in June 1885, and extensions to
Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...
and Halifax were made subsequently. Shelford was consulting engineer to the corporation of Edinburgh on the enlargement of
Waverley Station Edinburgh Waverley (also known simply as Edinburgh; ) is the principal railway station serving Edinburgh, Scotland. It is the second busiest station in Scotland, after Glasgow Central. The station serves as the northern terminus of the East C ...
and the attempt of the
Caledonian Railway Company The Caledonian Railway (CR) was one of the two biggest of the five major Scottish railway companies prior to the 1923 Grouping. It was formed in 1845 with the objective of forming a link between English railways and Glasgow. It progressively ex ...
to carry its line into Edinburgh; other work in Scotland included the Brechin and Edzell District Railway, carried out in 1893–5. Shelford reported on railway schemes abroad, visiting Canada in 1885, Italy in 1889, and the Argentine in 1890. With
Sir Frederick Bramwell Sir Frederick Joseph Bramwell, 1st Baronet FRS FRSA (17 March 1818 – 30 November 1903) was a British civil and mechanical engineer. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1873 and served as president of the Institution of Civil Engineers ...
he was consulting engineer to the Winnipeg and Hudson's Bay Railway, and under their direction forty miles of this line from
Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...
were completed in January 1887. His chief work abroad and the main work of his later years was the construction of railways in West Africa, in which he acted as consulting engineer to the crown agents for the colonies. After preliminary surveys, begun in 1893, the
Sierra Leone Government Railway :''This article is part of the history of rail transport by country series'' The Sierra Leone Government Railway operated in Sierra Leone from 1897 to 1974. It was unusual in that it formed a national railway system constructed solely to a nar ...
was constructed as a line of 2 ft. 6 in. gauge. Track from
Freetown Freetown () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, e ...
,
Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...
, to
Songo Songo may refer to: * Songo music, a type of contemporary Cuban music originating in Havana * Songo people, of northern Angola * Songo-salsa, a style of music that blends Spanish rapping and hip hop beats with salsa music and songo * Songo.mn, an ...
was started in March 1896 and opened in 1899. This line was gradually extended until, in August 1905, shortly before Shelford's death, it had reached
Baiima Baiima is a small town in Bo District in the Southern Province of Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Gu ...
, 220 miles from Freetown. In the
Gold Coast Colony The Gold Coast was a British Crown colony on the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa from 1821 until its independence in 1957 as Ghana. The term Gold Coast is also often used to describe all of the four separate jurisdictions that were under the ad ...
a line of 3 ft. 6 in. gauge from
Sekondi Sekondi-Takoradi ( ) is a city in Ghana comprising the twin cities of Sekondi and Takoradi. It is the capital of Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan District and the Western Region of Ghana. Sekondi-Takoradi is the region's largest city as well as ...
to
Tarkwa Tarkwa is a town and is the capital of Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipal District, Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipal district, a district in the Western Region, Ghana, Western Region southwest of South Ghana. Frequently dubbed as the "Golden City" by its indigenous ...
was begun in 1898 and completed in May 1901. By October 1903 the line had been extended as far as Kumasi, 168 miles from Sekondi. In the
colony of Lagos Lagos Colony was a British colonial possession centred on the port of Lagos in what is now southern Nigeria. Lagos was annexed on 6 August 1861 under the threat of force by Commander Beddingfield of HMS ''Prometheus'' who was accompanied by th ...
a line from
Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...
to
Ibadan Ibadan (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and most populous city of Oyo State, in Nigeria. It is the List of Nigerian cities by population, third-largest city by population in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano (city), Kano, with a total populatio ...
(123 miles) was completed in March 1901. A short railway, six miles in length, from Sierra Leone to the heights above Freetown, was opened in 1904, and road-bridges were built to connect the island of Lagos with the mainland. Shelford's services were recognised by the honour of the C.M.G. in 1901 and the K.C.M.G. in 1904. He had been elected a member of the
Institution of Civil Engineers The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) is an independent professional association for civil engineers and a Charitable organization, charitable body in the United Kingdom. Based in London, ICE has over 92,000 members, of whom three-quarters ar ...
on 10 April 1866, and from 1887 to 1897 and from 1901 till death was a member of the council. In 1888 he was a vice-president of the mechanical science section of the
British Association The British Science Association (BSA) is a charity and learned society founded in 1831 to aid in the promotion and development of science. Until 2009 it was known as the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BA). The current Chief ...
. He was a fellow of the Royal Geographical and other societies, and served on the engineering standards committee as a representative of the crown agents for the colonies. After his retirement from practice Shelford resided at 49 Argyll Road,
Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...
, where he died on 3 October 1905. He was buried in
Brompton cemetery Brompton Cemetery (originally the West of London and Westminster Cemetery) is since 1852 the first (and only) London cemetery to be Crown Estate, Crown property, managed by The Royal Parks, in West Brompton in the Royal Borough of Kensington a ...
.


Works

In 1869 Shelford presented to the
Institution of Civil Engineers The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) is an independent professional association for civil engineers and a Charitable organization, charitable body in the United Kingdom. Based in London, ICE has over 92,000 members, of whom three-quarters ar ...
a paper ''On the Outfall of the River Humber'', for which he received a
Telford medal The Telford Medal is a prize awarded by the British Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) for a paper or series of papers. It was introduced in 1835 following a bequest made by Thomas Telford, the ICE's first president. It can be awarded in gold ...
and premium. In 1879 he examined the
River Tiber The Tiber ( ; ; ) is the List of rivers of Italy, third-longest river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio, where it is joined by the R ...
and reported upon a modification of a scheme proposed by
Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as (). In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as () or (). 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, revolutionary and republican. H ...
for the diversion of the floods of that river. For his paper presented in 1885 to the institution, ''On Rivers flowing into Tideless Seas, illustrated by the River Tiber'', he was awarded a
Telford premium The Telford Medal is a prize awarded by the British Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) for a paper or series of papers. It was introduced in 1835 following a bequest made by Thomas Telford, the ICE's first president. It can be awarded in gold ...
. At the British Association Shelford read two papers, in 1885 on ''Some Points for the Consideration of English Engineers with Reference to the Design of Girder Bridges'', and in 1887 on ''The Improvement of the Access to the Mersey Ports''.


Family

Shelford married in 1863 Anna née Sopwith (1840–1921), daughter of
Thomas Sopwith Sir Thomas Octave Murdoch Sopwith, Order of the British Empire, CBE, Hon FRAeS (18 January 1888 – 27 January 1989) was a British aviation pioneer, businessman and yachtsman. Early life Sopwith was born in Kensington, London, on 18 ...
, who survived him; they had eight children. * Emily 'Lily' Shelford (1863–1891) who was the second wife of Clement Sneyd Colvin (1844–1901) * Mabel Shelford (1865–1944) * Leonard R Shelford (1867–1889) * William Sopwith Shelford (1868–1940) who married Flora Joan née McVean, he was a Commander in the Orient shipping line. * Frederick Shelford (1871–1943) who married Mildred Alice née Ommanney (1877–1965) daughter of Sir Montagu Frederick Ommanney * Arthur Shelford (1873–1873) * Anna Elizabeth Shelford (1875–1924) who married Robert Basil Feilden (1864–1927) * Thomas 'Tom' Shelford (1879–1931) an actor, who married Ellen Lett née Nuthall an actress with the stage name Ella Daincourt


Notes

Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Shelford, William 1834 births 1905 deaths English civil engineers People from Lavenham Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George