John Hannay Thompson

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 ...

MICE (1869–c.1940) was a British civil engineer and technical author. He specialised in harbour works and made studies on the unintentional interaction of ships in the water.

Life

He was born in

Newcastle-upon-Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is als ...

the son of

John Thompson John Thompson may refer to: Academics * J. A. Thompson (1913–2002), Australian biblical scholar * John D. Thompson (1917–1992), nurse and professor at the Yale School of Public Health * John G. Thompson (born 1932), American mathematician * ...

, also 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 ...

. He was educated at Trinity College, Harrogate then studied engineering at

Durham University , mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills (Psalm 87:1) , established = (university status) , type = Public , academic_staff = 1,830 (2020) , administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19) , chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen , vice_chan ...

and at the Armstrong College in Newcastle. His working career began around 1890, his first project being the graving dock for

Wallsend Wallsend is a town in North Tyneside, England, at the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall. It has a population of 43,842 and lies east of Newcastle upon Tyne. History Roman Wallsend In Roman times, this was the site of the fort of Segedunum. This fo ...

Slipway Company. He then worked on the new graving docks at both

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. Historically, it was known in Roman times as Arbeia, and as Caer Urfa by Early Middle Ages. According to the 20 ...

and Blyth, before venturing to Europe to work on the graving dock at

Bilbao ) , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = 275 px , map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao , pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe , pushpin_map_caption ...

. He then obtained the highly prestigious position as Engineer-in-Charge of the No1 Admiralty Harbour Works at

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

, Britain's premier port. From this role he was appointed General Manager and Chief Engineer of

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

Harbour Trust. In 1907, 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 Johannes Kuenen, Sir D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson,

Angus McGillivray Angus McGillivray (January 22, 1842 – May 4, 1917) was a lawyer and political figure in Nova Scotia, Canada. He represented Antigonish County in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly as a Liberal member from 1878 to 1891 and from 1895 to 1902. ...

and Sir James Walker. He resigned from the Society in 1915. In the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he was a Captain in the Volunteer Brigade of the Black Watch. He lived his later live at "Sorbie" a large villa in Broughty Ferry.

Publications

*''Suction or Interaction Between Passing Vessels'' *''Dundee Harbour Trust Centenary'' (1930) *''Dundee Harbour Trust'' (1933) *'' Granton Harbour'' (1934) *''Granton Harbour Centenary'' (1937)

Family

His son, John Horace Hannay-Thompson, was also a civil engineer, graduating from St Andrews University in 1924.The St Andrews Citizen (newspaper) 7 June 1924

References

1869 births People from Newcastle upon Tyne British civil engineers Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1940s deaths Alumni of Armstrong College, Durham British Army personnel of World War I Black Watch officers {{UK-engineer-stub