George Fosbery Lyster

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

(1821–1899) succeeded John Hartley as Engineer in Chief to the

Mersey Docks and Harbour Board The Mersey Docks and Harbour Company (MDHC), formerly the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board (MDHB), owns and administers the dock facilities of the Port of Liverpool, on the River Mersey, England. These include the operation of the enclosed north ...

. He is usually referred to as G. F. Lyster.

Life

He was born on 7 September 1821 at

Mount Talbot Mount Talbot is located on the northern side of Shale Pass on the Alberta-British Columbia border. It was officially named on 4 November 1925 after Senator Peter Talbot (1854-1919), an early pioneer of the Lacombe region of central Alberta. A t ...

County Roscommon "Steadfast Irish heart" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Roscommon.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Connacht , subdi ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. He was the third son of Col Anthony Lyster of Lysterfield and Bushey Park (1775-1841), and his wife, Jane Fosbery, the daughter of George Fosbery of

Kildimo Kildimo () is a village in County Limerick, Ireland. The village is located on the N69 National Route about 13 km west of Limerick city close to the River Shannon estuary. The population was 417 at the 2016 census. Kildimo/Pallaskenry P ...

. He was educated at

King William's College King William's College (nicknamed KWC or King Bill's; gv, Colleish Ree Illiam) is an independent school for pupils aged 3 to 18, located near Castletown on the Isle of Man. It is a member of the International Baccalaureate and Headmasters' and ...

on the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

. He was apprenticed as an engineer under James Meadows Rendel. He was responsible for most of the Birkenhead docks and docks at the north end of the dock estate. He also built the

Herculaneum Dock Herculaneum Dock was part of the Port of Liverpool in Liverpool, England. It was at the south end of the Liverpool dock system, on the River Mersey. To the north it was connected to Harrington Dock. The dock was named after the Herculaneum Pott ...

Harrington Dock Harrington Dock was a dock on the River Mersey and part of the Port of Liverpool. Situated in the southern dock system, it was connected to Toxteth Dock to the north and Herculaneum Dock to the south. History The first dock on the site was kno ...

and

Toxteth Dock Toxteth Dock was a dock on the River Mersey that was part of the Port of Liverpool. Part of the southern dock system, it was connected to Brunswick Dock to the north and Harrington Dock to the south. History The dock was originally opened ...

. He widened the

River Shannon The River Shannon ( ga, Abhainn na Sionainne, ', '), at in length, is the longest river in the British Isles. It drains the Shannon River Basin, which has an area of , – approximately one fifth of the area of the island of Ireland. The Shan ...

and in the 1850s built the Great Harbour of Refuge at

Holyhead Holyhead (,; cy, Caergybi , "Cybi's fort") is the largest town and a community in the county of Isle of Anglesey, Wales, with a population of 13,659 at the 2011 census. Holyhead is on Holy Island, bounded by the Irish Sea to the north, and is ...

. In 1861 he succeeded John Bernard Hartley as Engineer-in-Chief to

Liverpool Docks The Port of Liverpool is the enclosed dock system that runs from Brunswick Dock in Liverpool to Seaforth Dock, Seaforth, on the east side of the River Mersey and the Birkenhead Docks between Birkenhead and Wallasey on the west side of the ...

. In 1886 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh 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 established i ...

. His proposers were

Thomas Stevenson Thomas Stevenson PRSE MInstCE FRSSA FSAScot (22 July 1818 – 8 May 1887) was a pioneering Scottish civil engineer, lighthouse designer and meteorologist, who designed over thirty lighthouses in and around Scotland, as well as the Stevenson sc ...

, James Leslie,

George Miller Cunningham George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Preside ...

and

David Alan Stevenson David Alan Stevenson (21 July 1854 in Edinburgh – 11 April 1938) was a lighthouse engineer who built 26 lighthouses in and around Scotland. Life He was born on 21 July 1854 the son of David Stevenson and his wife, Elizabeth Mackay. His ...

. He died of acute pneumonia on 11 May 1899.

Family

He married twice: firstly, in 1848, to Martha E. Sanderson; secondly, in old age, in 1898 to Blanche E. I. Maude. He was father to

Anthony George Lyster Anthony George Lyster (1852 – 17 March 1920) was born in Hollyhead, Wales. He was engineer-in-chief to the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board from 1897, when he succeeded his father, George Fosbery Lyster, until his retirement in 1913, when he w ...

(1852-1920), also a harbour engineer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lyster, George Fosbery Irish engineers 1821 births 1899 deaths 19th-century British engineers People educated at King William's College