Sir William Matthews (8 March 1844 – 8 January 1922)''Times Obituary'', 10 January 1922 was a British

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 Glenalmond College and

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

. Matthews was born in

Penzance Penzance ( ; kw, Pennsans) is a town, civil parish and port in the Penwith district of Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is the most westerly major town in Cornwall and is about west-southwest of Plymouth and west-southwest of London. Situated ...

to John and Alice Matthews. John Matthews was, at that time, the borough surveyor for Penzance. William spent a few years working for his father as an assistant surveyor before gaining work as chief assistant to John Coode. He was eventually made a partner in Coode's firm which became Coode, Son and Matthews. His most notable works with the firm were harbours and docks, many of which were undertaken for the Admiralty, and include works on Dover Harbour, Singapore Docks and the Grand Harbour in Valletta, Malta. He also undertook inspections of Cape Colony,

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

, Cyprus, Hong Kong and Malta harbours for the

British Admiralty The Admiralty was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for the command of the Royal Navy until 1964, historically under its titular head, the Lord High Admiral – one of the Great Officers of State. For much of it ...

. On 9 July 1906 he was appointed to a Royal Commission to investigate tidal and coastal flooding in the United Kingdom, and in 1912 he was appointed to the Royal Commission on Fuel and Engines. He became an associate member of the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1870, a full member in 1876 and served as president between November 1907 and November 1908. He was appointed a Companion of the

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, George III, King George III. ...

(CMG) in 1901, and a Knight Commander (KCMG) of the same order in 1906. He was also made an officer of the Belgian Order of Léopold in 1894 in recognition of his work on Zeebrugge Harbour. His brother, Thomas Matthews, was from 1892 the Engineer-in-Chief of Trinity House, the British

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 ...

authority.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Matthews, William 1844 births 1922 deaths Alumni of King's College London Burials in Cornwall Engineers from Cornwall English civil engineers People from Penzance People educated at Glenalmond College Presidents of the Institution of Civil Engineers Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George