Wyndham Harding (1817–1855)Obituary: Institute of Civil Engineers, 'Minutes of the Proceedings', Volume 15, Issue 1856, pages 97 –100 was an English

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 ...

and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

Biography

He was Secretary of the London and South-Western Railway Company. He was awarded the

Telford Medal The Telford Medal is a prize awarded by the British Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) for a paper or series of papers. It was introduced in 1835 following a bequest made by Thomas Telford, the ICE's first president. It can be awarded in gold ...

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 ...

in 1847, and 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 1852, his citation reading " ''The Author of A Paper "on the Laws of the Resistances experienced in Railway Trains," (printed in the Transactions of the Institution of Civil Engineers and used in the new edition of Tredgold on the Steam-Engine. "On the Statistics of the Railway system of Great Britain" (printed in the Journal of the Statistical Society). Of a Lecture, delivered to the Government School of Design, "on Geometry applied to the arts of design." Distinguished for his acquaintance with mathematical and mechanical science, and with the applications of Mechanical & Statistical results.'' " Apart from being an active supporter of Mechanics’ Institutes, Benefit Societies, and similar institutions, he expended a large portion of his wealth in promoting systematic emigration. As a philanthropist, he earned the well-merited gratitude of hundreds, whom he assisted in procuring a free passage to Australia, or to whom he advanced loans for that purpose, including working with

Caroline Chisholm Caroline Chisholm (born Caroline Jones; 30 May 1808 – 25 March 1877) was a 19th-century English humanitarian known mostly for her support of immigrant female and family welfare in Australia. She is commemorated on 16 May in the calendar of s ...

.
:"The inhabitants of Southampton will long remember the day when Mrs. Chisholm and Mr. Harding met, to witness the departure of the first Australian emigrant-ship which sailed from that port, freighted, under her superintendence, at his expense and risk."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harding, Wyndham 1817 births 1855 deaths English civil engineers English philanthropists Fellows of the Royal Society 19th-century British philanthropists