James Walker's grave, St Johns, Edinburgh

James Walker (14 September 1781 – 8 October 1862) was an influential

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

civil engineer.

Life

Born in Law Wynd in

Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a ...

, the eldest of five children of John Walker and his wife Margaret, James was educated at the local school and was sent to

Glasgow University , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

in October 1794, aged 13. He studied Latin and Greek for two years, and

logic Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from premises ...

during his third year. During his final two years he studied

natural philosophy Natural philosophy or philosophy of nature (from Latin ''philosophia naturalis'') is the philosophical study of physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior throu ...

and mathematics, taking the first prize. He returned to Falkirk in May 1799, aged 18, and his family discussed a career in business or

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

. But, by chance, in the summer of 1800, he was asked to accompany his ill brother-in-law on a sea journey to London. Once there, he visited his uncle Ralph Walker in Blackwall, intending to return to Scotland after a week. However, Ralph discussed his work at the

West India Docks The West India Docks are a series of three docks, quaysides and warehouses built to import goods from and export goods and occasionally passengers to the British West Indies on the Isle of Dogs in London the first of which opened in 1802. Follow ...

, and was so impressed by his young nephew's grasp of engineering that he immediately took him on as his apprentice. Around 1800 they worked on the design and construction of London's West India and

East India Docks The East India Docks were a group of docks in Blackwall, east London, north-east of the Isle of Dogs. Today only the entrance basin and listed perimeter wall remain visible. History Early history Following the successful creation of the W ...

. At the age of 21 he took on his first engineering work in his own right: the construction of Commercial Road in London, connecting the West India Docks to the warehouses of the

City A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

. Later, he worked on the

Surrey Commercial Docks The Surrey Commercial Docks were a large group of docks in Rotherhithe, South East London, located on the south bank (the Surrey side) of the River Thames. The docks operated in one form or another from 1696 to 1969. Most were subsequently fi ...

from about 1810 onwards, remaining as engineer to the Surrey Commercial Dock Company until his death in 1862. In 1821 Walker built his first

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...

, the West Usk Lighthouse, near Newport,

South Wales South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...

. He went on to build another 21 lighthouses. Walker was the senior partner of the consulting engineering firm of ''Messrs. Walker and Burges'' (of Limehouse), Burges having first became his pupil in 1811 and risen to partner in 1829. In 1832 their offices moved to 44 Parliament Street,

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

(which lies at southern end of

Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London. The road forms the first part of the A roads in Zone 3 of the Great Britain numbering scheme, A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea, London, Chelsea. It is the main ...

) and then to 23 George Street. In 1853 he promoted James Cooper, one of his assistants, to the partnership with the firm then being known as ''Messrs. Walker, Burges & Cooper''. Walker succeeded his associate

Thomas Telford Thomas Telford FRS, FRSE, (9 August 1757 – 2 September 1834) was a Scottish civil engineer. After establishing himself as an engineer of road and canal projects in Shropshire, he designed numerous infrastructure projects in his native Scotla ...

as President of the

Institution of Civil Engineers The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) is an independent professional association for civil engineers and a charitable body in the United Kingdom. Based in London, ICE has over 92,000 members, of whom three-quarters are located in the UK, whi ...

, serving from 1834 to 1845. One of his first major roles as President was to oversee the choice of three new harbours to serve

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 ...

: a major extension to

Leith Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by '' Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world. The earliest ...

Docks; a new harbour at

Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the F ...

; or a new harbour at Granton. The choice resulted in the building of Granton Harbour. He was also chief engineer within

Trinity House "Three In One" , formation = , founding_location = Deptford, London, England , status = Royal Charter corporation and registered charity , purpose = Maintenance of lighthouses, buoys and beacons , he ...

, hence his considerable involvement with

coastal engineering Coastal engineering is a branch of civil engineering concerned with the specific demands posed by constructing at or near the coast, as well as the development of the coast itself. The hydrodynamic impact of especially waves, tides, storm surges ...

and

s. He was conferred with Honorary Membership of the

Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland The Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland (IESIS) is a multi-disciplinary professional body and learned society, founded in Scotland, for professional engineers in all disciplines and for those associated with or taking an interes ...

in 1857. He died at 23 Great George Street in

, London on 8 October 1862. He is buried beneath a humble gravestone in St Johns churchyard in

against a retaining wall on one of the southern terraces.

Projects and other work

Walker worked on various engineering projects, including: *

Greenland Dock Greenland Dock is the oldest of London's riverside wet docks, located in Rotherhithe in the area of the city now known as Docklands. It used to be part of the Surrey Commercial Docks, most of which have by now been filled in. Greenland Doc ...

, London (c. 1808 – c. 1862) *

Vauxhall Bridge Vauxhall Bridge is a Grade II* listed steel and granite deck arch bridge in central London. It crosses the River Thames in a southeast–northwest direction between Vauxhall on the south bank and Pimlico on the north bank. Opened in 1906, it ...

, London (1816, since demolished) * Poplar Workhouse, London (c. 1815 - c. 1817), designer * West Usk Lighthouse, near Newport,

*Survey for the

Leeds and Selby Railway The Leeds and Selby Railway was an early British railway company and first mainline railway within Yorkshire. It was opened in 1834. As built, the line ran west/east between two termini, Marsh Lane station, Leeds and Selby railway station. The ...

(1829) *Brunswick Wharf Warehouse, Blackwall, London (1832–34) designer, for the East India Dock Company and built by contractor Messrs. Horne & Gates of Poplar *Survey for the

Leipzig–Dresden Railway The Leipzig–Dresden line is a German railway line. It was built by the Leipzig–Dresden Railway Company between 1837 and 1839. It was the first long-distance railway and the List of the first German railways to 1870, first railway using only st ...

(1835) *

Hull and Selby Railway The Hull and Selby Railway is a railway line between Kingston upon Hull and Selby in the United Kingdom which was authorised by an act of 1836 and opened in 1840. As built the line connected with the Leeds and Selby Railway (opened 1834) at Selby ...

(survey and consulting engineer, 1834, 1836–40). * Start Point lighthouse, Devon (1836) *

Maplin Sands The Maplin Sands are mudflats on the northern bank of the Thames estuary, off Foulness Island, near Southend-on-Sea in Essex, England, though they actually lie within the neighbouring borough of Rochford. They form a part of the Essex Estuarie ...

Lighthouse (1838) *Advice on alignment of

Hereford and Gloucester Canal The Herefordshire and Gloucestershire Canal (sometimes known as the Hereford and Gloucester Canal) is a canal in the west of England, which ran from Hereford to Gloucester, where it linked to the River Severn. It was opened in two phases in 179 ...

(1838) * Victoria Viaduct (or Bridge) on the Durham Junction Railway (1838) *Improvements to

Aberdeen Harbour Aberdeen Harbour, rebranded as the Port of Aberdeen in 2022, is a sea port located in the city of Aberdeen on the east coast of Scotland. The port was first established in 1136 and has been continually redeveloped over the centuries to provide ...

(1838) *

South Bishop Lighthouse The South Bishop Lighthouse is a lighthouse on South Bishop Island (also known as Emsger), a small rock approximately west of St Davids Head in Pembrokeshire, Wales. History In 1831 the traders of the port of Cardigan made an application t ...

(1839) * Wolf Rock beacon and lighthouse (1840–1862) * Coquet Lighthouse (1841) *Plans for River Thames embankments, later known as 'Walker's lines,' upon which the present

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

and

Victoria Embankment Victoria Embankment is part of the Thames Embankment, a road and river-walk along the north bank of the River Thames in London. It runs from the Palace of Westminster to Blackfriars Bridge in the City of London, and acts as a major thoroughfare ...

s are largely based (c. 1842) *

South Foreland Lighthouse South Foreland Lighthouses are a pair of Victorian lighthouses on the South Foreland in St. Margaret's Bay, Dover, Kent, England, used to warn ships approaching the nearby Goodwin Sands. There has been a pair of lighthouses at South Forelan ...

rebuilt with a taller tower (1841-1842) * Trevose Head Lighthouse (1844–1847) * ''River Severn and South Wales Railway'' (1845), a report that blocked Brunel's plans for railway bridges across the

River Severn , name_etymology = , image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG , image_size = 288 , image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle , map = RiverSevernMap.jpg , map_size = 288 , map_c ...

. *

Gunfleet Lighthouse Gunfleet Lighthouse is a derelict screw-pile lighthouse lying in the North Sea, six miles off the coast at Frinton-on-Sea in Essex, constructed in 1850 by James Walker of Trinity House. George Henry Saunders was the contractor. Walker and Burg ...

, off Frinton-on-Sea, Essex (1850) *Design of the East Bute Dock, Cardiff (1855) *

Whitby Lighthouse Whitby Lighthouse is a lighthouse operated by Trinity House. It is on Ling Hill, on the coast to the south-east of Whitby, beyond Saltwick Bay. To distinguish it from the two lighthouses in Whitby itself (which protect the town's harbour) it i ...

- the twin lights of

Whitby Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a maritime, mineral and tourist heritage. Its East Clif ...

North and

South lighthouses, near Ling Hill, High Whitby (1857–58) * Bishop Rock lighthouse (1858) *

Needles Lighthouse The Needles Lighthouse is an active 19th century lighthouse on the outermost of the chalk rocks at The Needles on the Isle of Wight in the United Kingdom, near sea level. Designed by James Walker, for Trinity House at a cost of £20,000. It was ...

, Isle of Wight (1859) *Completion of the Caledonian Canal (1838–1848) *

Alderney Alderney (; french: Aurigny ; Auregnais: ) is the northernmost of the inhabited Channel Islands. It is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown dependency. It is long and wide. The island's area is , making it the third-largest ...

breakwater,

Channel Islands The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...

(1847) and harbour (1862) *St Catherine's Harbour,

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...

, Channel Islands (1847–1856) *Improvements to navigation in the

River Tyne The River Tyne is a river in North East England. Its length (excluding tributaries) is . It is formed by the North Tyne and the South Tyne, which converge at Warden Rock near Hexham in Northumberland at a place dubbed 'The Meeting of the Wate ...

(1853–1861) *

Houses of Parliament The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parliament, the Palace lies on the north ban ...

, consulting engineer for the

Clock Tower Clock towers are a specific type of structure which house a turret clock and have one or more clock faces on the upper exterior walls. Many clock towers are freestanding structures but they can also adjoin or be located on top of another buildi ...

(also known as Big Ben) as well as the

Victoria Tower The Victoria Tower is a square tower at the south-west end of the Palace of Westminster in London, adjacent to Black Rod's Garden on the west and Old Palace Yard on the east. At , it is slightly taller than the Elizabeth Tower (formerly known ...

and Central Tower (1836–1859), cofferdam for the riverside foundations and terrace (1837–49) Walker was also involved in designing a dock harbour in Hamburg (1845, with

William Lindley William Lindley (7 September 1808 in London – 22 May 1900 in Blackheath, London), was an English engineer who together with his sons designed water and sewerage systems for over 30 cities across Europe. Life As a young engineer he worked t ...

and Heinrich Hübbe). He was also involved in the

Liverpool and Manchester Railway The Liverpool and Manchester Railway (L&MR) was the first inter-city railway in the world. It opened on 15 September 1830 between the Lancashire towns of Liverpool and Manchester in England. It was also the first railway to rely exclusively ...

, preparing a report on the merits of stationary and locomotive engines along with other notable engineers of the day. He was also for a long period consulting engineer to the Board of Admiralty.

Memorial

A memorial to Walker was commissioned by the

to stand at Greenland Dock and was unveiled in 1990.

References

Obituaries

*Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Volume 12, Royal Society (Great Britain), 1863, "Obituary Notices of Fellows Deceased", p. lxiv–lxvi
google books link
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, James Scottish civil engineers 19th-century British engineers Lighthouse builders People from Falkirk 1781 births 1862 deaths Presidents of the Institution of Civil Engineers Presidents of the Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Glasgow Burials at St John's, Edinburgh Fellows of the Royal Society Committee members of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge