Hamilton Owen Rendel (1843–17 September 1902) designed and installed the original raising mechanism of the Tower Bridge while working for Sir W. G. Armstrong Mitchell & Company of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Family

Rendel was a member of a notable family of engineers. His father,

James Meadows Rendel James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

, was a civil engineer who married his mother, Catherine Jane Harris. His siblings were: * Sir Alexander Meadows Rendel (1829–1918) – civil engineer * George Wightwick Rendel (1833–1902) – naval architect and civil engineer * Emily Frances Rendel (1836–1897) married

Charles Bowen, 1st Baron Bowen Charles Synge Christopher Bowen, Baron Bowen, (1 January 1835 – 10 April 1894) was an English judge. Early life Bowen was born at Woolaston in Gloucestershire – his father, Rev. Christopher Bowen, originally of Hollymount, County Mayo, ...

in 1862. * Emily Catherine Rendel (1840–1921) married

Clement Francis Wedgwood Clement Francis Wedgwood (25 February 1840 – 24 January 1889) was an English businessman, a partner in the Wedgwood pottery firm. The son of Francis Wedgwood and his wife Frances Mosley. He was a great-grandson of the potter Josiah Wedgwood ...

in 1866 *

Stuart Rendel, 1st Baron Rendel Stuart Rendel, 1st Baron Rendel (2 July 1834 – 4 June 1913), was a British industrialist, philanthropist and Liberal politician. He sat as a Liberal Member of Parliament for Montgomeryshire between 1880 and 1894, and was recognised as the lead ...

A cousin,

James Murray Dobson ''This article contains text derived from th"Obituary", Institution of Civil Engineers (UK), vol. CCXVII a document now in the public domain'' James Murray Dobson ( Plymouth, England 1846 – Pescot, Longfield near Dartford, Kent, England, 27 Fe ...

, became resident engineer of the Buenos Aires harbour works in the 1880s and 1890s.

Career

Rendel took his degree at Cambridge University, and immediately after leaving started at the Armstrong, Mitchell and Company at Elswick, Tyne and Wear, where he later became head of the engineerings department. He retired in early 1902 due to ill health, and died later the same year on 17 September 1902 as he was visiting his sister Mrs. Wedgwood at her residence The Lea, in Barlaston,

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

. He was buried at Kensal Green Cemetery in London.

Tower Bridge hydraulics

The mechanism was powered by pressurised water stored in several hydraulic accumulators. Water, at a pressure of , was pumped into the accumulators by two

stationary steam engine Stationary steam engines are fixed steam engines used for pumping or driving mills and factories, and for power generation. They are distinct from locomotive engines used on railways, traction engines for heavy steam haulage on roads, steam cars ...

s, each driving a force pump from its piston tail rod. The accumulators each comprise a ram on which sits a very heavy weight to maintain the desired pressure.

References

1843 births 1902 deaths Engineers from Tyne and Wear Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery {{UK-engineer-stub