The grave of James Carswell, Dean Cemetery, Edinburgh

James Carswell (1830–1897) was a Scottish railway engineer largely remembered for his design of glazed roof on Queen Street Station, Glasgow and the huge approaches to the

Forth Bridge The Forth Bridge is a cantilever railway bridge across the Firth of Forth in the east of Scotland, west of central Edinburgh. Completed in 1890, it is considered a symbol of Scotland (having been voted Scotland's greatest man-made wonder in ...

Life

He was born in

Bonhill Bonhill ( sco, B'nill; gd, Both an Uillt) is a town in the Vale of Leven area of West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. It is sited on the Eastern bank of the River Leven, Dunbartonshire, River Leven, on the opposite bank from the larger town of Alexa ...

Dunbartonshire Dunbartonshire ( gd, Siorrachd Dhùn Breatann) or the County of Dumbarton is a historic county, lieutenancy area and registration county in the west central Lowlands of Scotland lying to the north of the River Clyde. Dunbartonshire borders P ...

in 1830 the son of Anne and Thomas P. Carswell. His father was an iron-founder and merchant and it is likely that he was initially apprenticed as an iron-founder. His depth and understanding of iron construction shows both a practical knowledge and a strong design understanding. In 1851 he moved with his family to 106 South Portland Street in the

Gorbals The Gorbals is an area in the city of Glasgow, Scotland, on the south bank of the River Clyde. By the late 19th century, it had become densely populated; rural migrants and immigrants were attracted by the new industries and employment opportun ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

. At this time James is described as a mining and land engineer. Here he began working as Resident Engineer for the Monklands Railways. Through amalgamation this then became the

Edinburgh & Glasgow Railway The Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway was authorised by Act of Parliament on 4 July 1838. It was opened to passenger traffic on 21 February 1842, between its Glasgow Queen Street railway station (sometimes referred to at first as Dundas Street) and ...

before finally becoming the

North British Railway The North British Railway was a British railway company, based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1844, with the intention of linking with English railways at Berwick. The line opened in 1846, and from the outset the company followe ...

in 1865. In 1861 he was living with his wife and family in

Chapel-en-le-Frith Chapel-en-le-Frith () is a town and civil parish in the Borough of High Peak in Derbyshire, England. It has been dubbed the "Capital of the Peak", in reference to the Peak District, historically the upperland areas between the Saxon lands (belo ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

doing project work in northern England. In 1879 he became Chief Engineer to the

. From 1882 he spent most of his time working on the huge engineering task of designing the approach structures to the

Forth Rail Bridge The Forth Bridge is a cantilever railway bridge across the Firth of Forth in the east of Scotland, west of central Edinburgh. Completed in 1890, it is considered a symbol of Scotland (having been voted Scotland's greatest man-made wonder in ...

. However, unlike the engineers of the bridge itself, he received no knighthood or indeed any other civil recognition. In later life he lived at 7 Western Terrace in western Edinburgh. He died aged 66 on 20 January 1897 at his son’s house, Killin House on St Thomas Road in the

Grange, Edinburgh The Grange (originally St Giles' Grange) is an affluent suburb of Edinburgh, just south of the city centre, with Morningside and Greenhill to the west, Newington to the east, The Meadows park and Marchmont to the north, and Blackford Hill ...

. His son James Smith Carswell (1862–1942) is described as a "steel manufacturer".Edinburgh and Leith Post Office Directory 1897-8 James senior is buried in the

Dean Cemetery The Dean Cemetery is a historically important Victorian cemetery north of the Dean Village, west of Edinburgh city centre, in Scotland. It lies between Queensferry Road and the Water of Leith, bounded on its east side by Dean Path and on ...

on the west side of the city in the northern Victorian extension. His wife and children lie with him. His father lies two plots to the west.

Known Works

*Rebuilding of the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway Station (now known as

Glasgow Queen Street railway station Glasgow Queen Street ( gd, Sràid na Banrighinn) is a passenger railway terminus serving the city centre of Glasgow, Scotland. It is the smaller of the city's two mainline railway terminals (the larger being Glasgow Central station, Glasgow Central ...

) (1878) *

Springburn railway station , symbol_location = gb , symbol = rail , image = Springb099.JPG , borough = Springburn, Glasgow , country = Scotland , coordinates = , grid_name = Grid reference , ...

(1875) *Approach bridges and engineering supporting the

(1882–1890) *

Inverkeithing railway station , symbol_location = gb , symbol = rail , image = Inverkeithing Railway Station (geograph 5416914).jpg , caption = Looking south from the station footbridge , borough = Inverkeithing, Fi ...

(1890) *Covered platforms at

Haymarket railway station , symbol_location = gb , symbol = rail , symbol2 = edinburgh , image = New entrance to Haymarket station, Edinburgh.jpg , caption = New entrance to Haymarket railway station. , borough = Haymarket, Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh , country ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

(1894) *Railway Workers Houses, Fort William (1895) *

Helensburgh Central railway station , symbol_location = gb , symbol = rail , image = Helensburgh Central railway station - geograph.org.uk - 3609430.jpg , caption = The station seen in 2013 , borough = Helensburgh, Argyll and Bute , country = Scotland , coordinates = , g ...

(1897) completed after his death

Family

He was married to Annie Porter (1835–1897) who died a few months after he did.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carswell, James 1830 births 1897 deaths Scottish civil engineers British railway civil engineers People from Bonhill Burials at the Dean Cemetery British bridge engineers