Alexander McKenzie Ross (25 December 1805 – 8 August 1862) was a British builder and engineer.

Career

In 1823, aged 18, he moved to London where his uncle, Hugh Ross, was working with Hugh McIntosh, a civil engineer and contractor for public works. He remained with McIntosh until 1836. He then joined with

Robert Stephenson Robert Stephenson Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS HFRSE FRSA Doctor of Civil Law, DCL (16 October 1803 – 12 October 1859) was an English civil engineer and designer of locomotives. The only son of George Stephenson, the "Father of Railway ...

and worked on numerous challenging projects in the UK, together with

Francis Thompson Francis Joseph Thompson (16 December 1859 – 13 November 1907) was an English poet and Catholic mystic. At the behest of his father, a doctor, he entered medical school at the age of 18, but at 26 left home to pursue his talent as a writer a ...

. He was appointed manager for a section of the

North Midland Railway The North Midland Railway was a British railway company, which opened its line from Derby to Rotherham (Masbrough) and Leeds in 1840. At Derby, it connected with the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway and the Midland Counties Railway at what ...

in Derbyshire. In 1842 he then worked with Stephenson as resident engineer on the

Chester and Holyhead Railway The Chester and Holyhead Railway was an early railway company conceived to improve transmission of Government dispatches between London and Ireland, as well as ordinary railway objectives. Its construction was hugely expensive, chiefly due to ...

and on completion of this work he became one of the two chief assistants to Stephenson, the other being Frank Foster. He was then involved in the construction of the

Conwy Railway Bridge The Conwy Railway Bridge carries the North Wales coast railway line across the River Conwy between Llandudno Junction and the town of Conwy. The wrought iron tubular bridge, which is now Grade I listed, was built in the 19th century. It is the ...

across the

River Conwy , name_etymology = , image = Boats in River Conwy.jpg , image_size = 300 , image_caption = Boats in the river estuary at Conwy , map = , map_size = , map_caption = , push ...

and the

Britannia Bridge Britannia Bridge ( cy, Pont Britannia) is a bridge across the Menai Strait between the island of Anglesey and the mainland of Wales. It was originally designed and built by the noted railway engineer Robert Stephenson as a tubular bridge of wr ...

across the

Menai Straits The Menai Strait ( cy, Afon Menai, the "river Menai") is a narrow stretch of shallow tidal water about long, which separates the island of Anglesey from the mainland of Wales. It varies in width from from Fort Belan to Abermenai Point to from ...

. In 1853 Ross was appointed chief engineer for Canada's

Grand Trunk Railway The Grand Trunk Railway (; french: Grand Tronc) was a railway system that operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and in the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The rai ...

. and together with

he designed the famous

Victoria Bridge Victoria Bridge may be a reference to: Bridges ;Australia * Victoria Bridge, Brisbane, a road bridge across the Brisbane River in Brisbane * Victoria Bridge, Devonport a road ridge across the Mersey River in Devonport, Tasmania * Victoria Bridge, M ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, Quebec, the first bridge to span the

St. Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connecting ...

. The bridge, opened in 1859, remains in use to this day, carrying both road and rail traffic.

Life

He was born in Ulladale,

Logie-Easter Kildary ( gd, Caoldaraigh) is a small village in Easter Ross, Ross and Cromarty, Scottish Highlands, Highland, Scotland. The village is located on the Balnagown River and is bordered by Balnagown Castle and the Balnagown estate, owned by Mohame ...

, Ross & Cromarty in Scotland, the 4th child of John Ross (1765-1812) farmer and wheelwright, and Barbara Boog (1773-1849). Aged 6 his father died, so his mother moved to

Dornoch Dornoch (; gd, Dòrnach ; sco, Dornach) is a town, seaside resort, parish and former royal burgh in the county of Sutherland in the Highlands of Scotland. It lies on the north shore of the Dornoch Firth, near to where it opens into the Moray ...

and he was educated at the local public school under John Davidson, a scholar of some note. His first wife Augusta died on 11 October 1853 in Montreal, Canada. He married Isabella Kerr (1825-1854) around 1854 in Montreal, Canada, and they had the following children: *Elizabeth Charlotte McKenzie Ross (1855-1935) *Robina Augusta Stephenson Ross (b. 1857) *Clemintina Louisa Ross (1858-1934) *John Ross (b.1860) Ross died in

Chiswick Chiswick ( ) is a district of west London, England. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist William Hogarth; Chiswick House, a neo-Palladian villa regarded as one of the finest in England; and Full ...

and is buried in

Brompton Cemetery Brompton Cemetery (originally the West of London and Westminster Cemetery) is a London cemetery, managed by The Royal Parks, in West Brompton in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is one of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries. Estab ...

, London.

References

1805 births 1862 deaths British railway civil engineers Burials at Brompton Cemetery {{UK-engineer-stub