William Chadwell Mylne, FRS (6 April 1781 – 25 December 1863) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

civil engineer and

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

. He was descended from a Scottish family of masons and architects, and was the second son of Robert Mylne (1733–1811), surveyor to the

New River Company The New River Company, formally The Governor and Company of the New River brought from Chadwell and Amwell to London, was a privately-owned water supply company in London, England, originally formed around 1609 and incorporated in 1619 by roy ...

, and builder of the first

Blackfriars Bridge Blackfriars Bridge is a road and foot traffic bridge over the River Thames in London, between Waterloo Bridge and Blackfriars Railway Bridge, carrying the A201 road. The north end is in the City of London near the Inns of Court and Temple Ch ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Career

Initially, William's elder brother Robert was intended to take over his father's business, but when Robert opted for a military career, William began to assist his father, surveying land for the Eau Brink Cut, on the River Great Ouse, in 1797.Colvin, pp.686-687 He also undertook work on the Gloucester and Berkeley Canal. In 1804, Mylne was employed by the

as assistant to his father, and upon his father's retirement in November 1810, he became chief engineer of the Company, a post he held until 1861. From 1819 he was engaged in laying out residential streets on the New River Company's property at

New River Head New River Head is a historic site located adjacent to Sadler's Wells Theatre on Rosebery Avenue and Amwell Street in the Clerkenwell area of London, England. Originally it was the London terminus of the New River, an artificial watercourse ope ...

in Clerkenwell, including Myddelton Square, Amwell Street, Inglebert Street, and River Street. Mylne later designed the

gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

St Mark's Church, Myddelton Square (1826–1828), and Clerkenwell Parochial Charity Schools (1828). Mylne designed several bridges, including the iron Garret Hostel Bridge in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

(1835–1837, demolished 1960), and repairs to the

Caversham Bridge Caversham Bridge is a bridge across the River Thames between Caversham and the town centre of Reading. The bridge is situated on the reach above Caversham Lock, carrying the A4155 road across the river and also providing pedestrian access to t ...

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...

(1815). He also entered the 1827 competition to design Clifton Bridge in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

. Other architectural works include a card room at Stationers' Hall, London,

Harpole Harpole is a village west of Northampton, England, along the A4500 road (formerly the A45) about east of the M1 Motorway junction 16. The village's name means "filthy pool". Governance Harpole is in the unitary authority area of West North ...

Rectory in

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

(1826), and his own home, Flint House,

Great Amwell Great Amwell is a village and civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district, in the county of Hertfordshire, England. It is southeast of Ware and about north of London. History On a hill above the church there are some traces of an Iron Ag ...

(1842–1844). Mylne was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

in 1826. He was a member of the

Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers The Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers was founded in England in 1771. It was the first engineering society to be formed anywhere in the world, and remains the oldest. It was originally known as the Society of Civil Engineers, being renamed fo ...

from 1811, serving as treasurer from 1822 until his death, and as president in 1842 and 1859. He joined the Institute of British Architects on its foundation in 1834, and 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 ...

in 1842. He gave evidence to Edwin Chadwick's Health of Towns reports of 1844-1845.

Personal life

Mylne married Mary Smith, the daughter of George Coxhead, and had three sons and three daughters. One son, Robert William Mylne, FRS (1817–1890) also became an architect and geologist. He died in Great Amwell.
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References

Bibliography

*Colvin, Howard (1995) ''A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1600-1840'' 3rd edition. Yale University Press. *Ward, Robert (2007) ''The Man Who Buried Nelson: The Surprising Life of Robert Mylne''. London:

Tempus Publishing The History Press is a British publishing company specialising in the publication of titles devoted to local and specialist history. It claims to be the United Kingdom's largest independent publisher in this field, publishing approximately 300 ...

. *Watson, Garth (1989) ''The Smeatonians: The Society of Civil Engineers''. Thomas Telford.

External links

Portraitengineering timeline of the new river company
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mylne, William Chadwell 1781 births 1863 deaths Architects from London English civil engineers Fellows of the Royal Society Presidents of the Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers Thames Water People from Great Amwell