James Beatty (31 March 1820 – 11 March 1856) was an
Irish railway engineer.
The son of a doctor from
Enniskillen, Beatty was first employed in 1842 at the age of 22 by
Peto
Peto may refer to:
People
*Peto (surname), includes a list of people with the surname Peto
*Kawu Peto Dukku (1958–2010), Nigerian politician, Senator for the Gombe North constituency of Gombe State, Nigeria
Other uses
* PETO, a German party
*Pe ...
and
Betts Betts is an English Patronymic surname, deriving from the medieval personal name Bett, a short form of Bartholomew, Beatrice, or Elizabeth. It is also the americanized spelling of German Betz. The surname may refer to
* Alejandro Jacobo Betts (1947 ...
on building the
Norwich and
Lowestoft
Lowestoft ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . As the most easterly UK settlement, it is north-east of London, north-east of Ipswich and sou ...
line. In 1853 he was in
Nova Scotia surveying the
European and North American Railway and despite adverse weather conditions, the line was staked out in good time. Towards the end of 1854 he was appointed by Peto,
Brassey and Betts as Chief Engineer of the
Grand Crimean Central Railway, built to convey supplies to the Allied forces in the
Crimean War. He arrived in
Balaklava in January 1855 to join Donald Campbell and his team who had already started to survey the line. Beatty's energy and enthusiasm ensured that the line, which included a stretch at a gradient of 1 in 14, was laid in a very short time.
In April, Beatty was involved in an accident on the line when a train went out of control. He sustained an injury which appeared originally not to be serious but he never fully recovered from it. With the railway substantially complete in November he was still far from well and he left for England. His condition continued to deteriorate and he died in March 1856 at the age of 35 from an
aortic aneurysm
An aortic aneurysm is an enlargement (dilatation) of the aorta to greater than 1.5 times normal size. They usually cause no symptoms except when ruptured. Occasionally, there may be abdominal, back, or leg pain. The prevalence of abdominal aortic ...
which was possibly the result of the accident. His widow was awarded a pension equivalent to that of a colonel dying on active service.
References
Citations
Sources
*Cooke, Brian (1990) ''The Grand Crimean Central Railway'', Cavalier House, Knutsford, .
*Marsh, Philip (2000) ''Beatty's Railway'', Paperback, New Cherwell Press, .
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beatty, James
1820 births
1856 deaths
Deaths from aortic aneurysm
People from Enniskillen
People from County Fermanagh
British people of the Crimean War
Irish people in rail transport
Date of birth unknown
Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery
19th-century Irish engineers