James Mansergh FRS (29 April 1834 – 15 June 1905) 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 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 ...

. Mansergh was born in Lancaster. He started his career in

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

work and then designed many

sewerage Sewerage (or sewage system) is the infrastructure that conveys sewage or surface runoff (stormwater, meltwater, rainwater) using sewers. It encompasses components such as receiving drainage, drains, manholes, pumping stations, storm overflows, a ...

schemes and fresh water schemes. His most famous projects were: * Elan Valley Dam and Elan aqueduct for

Birmingham Corporation Water Department The Birmingham Corporation Water Department was responsible for the supply of water to Birmingham, England, from 1876 to 1974. It was also known as Birmingham Corporation Waterworks Department. Early History 1808 - 1876 The earliest formal supp ...

, England (water supply). *

Hury Reservoir Hury Reservoir is a reservoir in County Durham, England situated in Baldersdale. The reservoir is located about four miles south of Middleton-in-Teesdale and about three miles west of Cotherstone. It supplies water for Teesdale and is owned by No ...

for Stockton and

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

, England (water supply). *Abbeystead Dam, one of the first stone-faced concrete dams. *

Werribee Werribee is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Wyndham local government area. Werribee recorded a population of 50,027 at the 2021 census. Werribee i ...

sewage works and farm for

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. *

Claymills Pumping Station Claymills Pumping Station is a restored Victorian sewage pumping station on the north side of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. It was designed by James Mansergh and used to pump sewage to the sewage farm at Egginton. The main pum ...

for

Burton upon Trent Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a market town in the borough of East Staffordshire in the county of Staffordshire, England, close to the border with Derbyshire. In United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011, it had a ...

, England (sewage disposal). *Laid out parts of

Ramsey Ramsey may refer to: Geography British Isles * Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, a small market town in England * Ramsey, Essex, a village near Harwich, England ** Ramsey and Parkeston, a civil parish formerly called just "Ramsey" * Ramsey, Isle of Man, t ...

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

(drainage).

Biography

He became a member of the council 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 1884, vice-president in 1895 and was elected to the chair of the institution from November 1900 to November 1901. He became the elected chairman of the Engineering Standards Committee, when it was formed in 1901 from a combination of organizations, which later became the

British Standard British Standards (BS) are the standards produced by the BSI Group which is incorporated under a royal charter and which is formally designated as the national standards body (NSB) for the UK. The BSI Group produces British Standards under the a ...

s Institution. He served as

High Sheriff of Radnorshire History The office of High Sheriff is over 1000 years old, with its establishment before the Norman Conquest. The Office of High Sheriff remained first in precedence in the counties until the reign of Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; ...

for 1901. He was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in 1901. His candidature citation read:

President of the Institution of Civil Engineers. Author of 'Lectures on Water Supply, Prospecting for Water, Prospecting and Boring' delivered at the School of Military Engineering, Chatham, also of 'The Supply of Water to Towns,' and other works. The designer of the waterworks and sewerage of Lancaster, Lincoln, Stockton, Middlesbrough, Rotherham, Southport, Burton-on-Trent, Melbourne (Australia), Birmingham, and many other towns. These designs include some of the largest schemes of water supply, sewerage or sewage disposal for Halifax, Herford, St Helens, Darlington, Whitby, the Potteries, Derby, Southampton, Durham, Shrewsbury, Malvern, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Plymouth, York, Antigua, Philadelphia (US), and other places. Was a member of the Royal Commission on Metropolitan Water Supply. Eminent as a hydraulic engineer.

In March 1903 he received the honorary freedom of his native town of Lancaster. He died at 51 Fitzjohn's Avenue, Hampstead, London and was buried in

Hampstead Cemetery Hampstead Cemetery is a historic cemetery in West Hampstead, London, located at the upper extremity of the NW6 district. Despite the name, the cemetery is three-quarters of a mile from Hampstead Village, and bears a different postcode. It is j ...

References

External links

Elan ValleyClaymills ArchivesReport of a 1901 lecture by James Mansergh, on the Elan Valley scheme
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mansergh, James 1834 births 1905 deaths People from Lancaster, Lancashire English civil engineers Presidents of the Institution of Civil Engineers Fellows of the Royal Society High Sheriffs of Radnorshire