George Robert Jebb (1838–16 February 1927) was a

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...

from the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. Prominent in the field of

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

and

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow un ...

engineering, he became Vice-President of the Institution of Civil Engineers. Born in 1838 in

Baschurch Baschurch is a large village and civil parish in Shropshire, England. It lies in North Shropshire, north-west of Shrewsbury. The village has a population of 2,503 as of the 2011 census. The village has strong links to Shrewsbury to the south-e ...

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...

, where his father John was

stationmaster The station master (or stationmaster) is the person in charge of a railway station, particularly in the United Kingdom and many other countries outside North America. In the United Kingdom, where the term originated, it is now largely historical ...

of Baschurch station, Jebb completed his engineering training under Alexander Mackintosh, working on the lines of the former

Shrewsbury and Chester Railway The North Wales Mineral Railway was formed to carry coal and ironstone from the mineral-bearing area around Wrexham to the River Dee wharves. It was extended to run from Shrewsbury and formed part of a main line trunk route, under the title ...

.Obituary of George Robert Jebb, ''Minutes of the Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers'', Volume 224, Issue 1927, pp. 375–376 He was subsequently appointed the Resident Engineer of the

Wrexham and Minera Railway The Wrexham and Minera Railway or Wrexham and Minera Branch was a railway line in North Wales between the city of Wrexham, the village of Brymbo where it served the Brymbo Steelworks, and the lead mines and limeworks at Minera. A further bran ...

along with a number of other lines in Wales. Jebb was later appointed as the Chief Engineer of the Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company (for whom he designed many of the docks and warehouses of Ellesmere Port) and of the Birmingham Canal Navigations and was a director of the Glyn Valley Tramway. He was involved with many other engineering projects around the world, such as planning the route of the railway between

Lviv Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine ...

and

Chernivtsi Chernivtsi ( uk, Чернівці́}, ; ro, Cernăuți, ; see also other names) is a city in the historical region of Bukovina, which is now divided along the borders of Romania and Ukraine, including this city, which is situated on the upp ...

. Jebb was an officer of the

London and North Western Railway The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom. In 1923, it became a constituent of the Lo ...

through his Shropshire Union post, and was a close friend and associate of the LNWR's CME Francis Webb; a

LNWR Claughton Class The London and North Western Railway (LNWR) Claughton Class was a class of 4-cylinder express passenger 4-6-0 steam locomotives. History The locomotives were introduced in 1913, the first of the class No. 2222 was named in honour of Sir Gil ...

locomotive, number 5930, was named ''G R Jebb'' after him. Although he became Vice-President of the ICE, he declined to be nominated as President and stepped down in 1912, although in that year he did become President of the

Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers The Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers was founded in England in 1771. It was the first engineering society to be formed anywhere in the world, and remains the oldest. It was originally known as the Society of Civil Engineers, being renamed fo ...

. Jebb lived in Great Barr,

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, in his later years. He was a keen amateur

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

and corresponded with several journals of the period on British flora: he was a particular authority on the flora of

North Wales , area_land_km2 = 6,172 , postal_code_type = Postcode , postal_code = LL, CH, SY , image_map1 = Wales North Wales locator map.svg , map_caption1 = Six principal areas of Wales common ...

.Desmond, R. ''Dictionary of British and Irish Botanists'', CRC, 1994, p. 380 George Jebb died after a short illness on 16 February 1927. He was the paternal grandfather of the architect

Philip Jebb Philip Vincent Belloc Jebb (15 March 1927 - 7 April 1995), was a British architect and Liberal Party politician. Background Jebb was the son of Reginald Jebb and Eleanor Belloc. He was a grandson of the writer and Liberal MP Hilaire Belloc. He was ...

.Obituary, Philip Jebb
''The Independent'', 13-04-95

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jebb, George Robert Presidents of the Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers 1838 births 1927 deaths English canal engineers Engineers from Shropshire People from Great Barr British railway civil engineers Institution of Civil Engineers