Joseph Cubitt (24 November 1811 – 7 December 1872) 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 ...

. Amongst other projects, he designed the Blackfriars Railway Bridge over the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

in London.

Early life

Cubitt was born in

Horning Horning is an ancient village and parish in the English county of Norfolk. It covers an area of 11 km2 and had a population of 1,033 in the 2001 census. Horning parish lies on the northern bank of the River Bure south of the River Thurne ...

, Norfolk, on 24 November 1811. He was the son of

Sir William Cubitt Sir William Cubitt FRS (bapt. 9 October 1785 – 13 October 1861) was an eminent English civil engineer and millwright. Born in Norfolk, England, he was employed in many of the great engineering undertakings of his time. He invented a type o ...

and Abigail Sparkhall (1785-1813). After his mother's death, his father married Elizabeth Jane Tiley in 1820. From his father's second marriage, he had a younger half-brother, William, born 1830. He was educated at

Bruce Castle School Bruce Castle School, at Bruce Castle, Tottenham, was a progressive school for boys established in 1827 as an extension of Rowland Hill's Hazelwood School at Edgbaston. It closed in 1891. Origins In 1819, Rowland Hill moved his father's Hill Top ...

Tottenham Tottenham () is a town in North London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, bordering Edmonton to the north, Waltham ...

. He was trained for the profession of civil engineer by his father.

Career

Cubitt constructed a great part of the

London and South-Western Railway The London and South Western Railway (LSWR, sometimes written L&SWR) was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Originating as the London and Southampton Railway, its network extended to Dorchester and Weymouth, to Salisbury, Exeter ...

, the whole of the Great Northern Railway, the London, Chatham, and Dover Railway, the

Rhymney Railway The Rhymney Railway was a railway company in South Wales, founded to transport minerals and materials to and from collieries and ironworks in the Rhymney Valley of South Wales, and to docks in Cardiff. It opened a main line in 1858, and a limite ...

, the

Oswestry and Newtown Railway The Oswestry and Newtown Railway was a British railway company that built a line between Oswestry in Shropshire and Newtown Montgomeryshire, now Powys. The line opened in stages in 1860 and 1861. It was conceived to open up the area to rail tran ...

, and the

Colne Valley Railway The Colne Valley Railway is a heritage railway based at Castle Hedingham Station, near Halstead in Essex, England. The railway consists of a long running line, with a fully reconstructed station, signal box and railway yard. History The ra ...

. He was appointed engineer to the

Oswestry & Newtown Railway The Oswestry and Newtown Railway was a British railway company that built a line between Oswestry in Shropshire and Newtown Montgomeryshire, now Powys. The line opened in stages in 1860 and 1861. It was conceived to open up the area to rail tran ...

on 3 October 1856. Cubitt was responsible for

Weymouth Pier Weymouth Pier is a peninsula between Weymouth Harbour and Weymouth Beach, in Dorset, England. It was intended to extend Weymouth's esplanade, and consists of a theatre, Weymouth Pavilion; pleasure pier; car parking and a cross-channel ferry te ...

, the extension of the north pier and other works of

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth (), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside town and unparished area in, and the main administrative centre of, the Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. A pop ...

haven, and the new Blackfriars Bridge. He was a member of the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

, and for many years vice-president of the Institution of Civil Engineers. He was also a lieutenant-colonel of the Engineer and Railway Staff volunteers.

Personal life

Cubitt died on 7 December 1872 in

St George Hanover Square St George Hanover Square was a civil parish created in 1724 in the Liberty of Westminster, Middlesex, which was later part of the metropolitan area of London, England. The creation of the parish accompanied the building of St George's, Hanove ...

London London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Ancestry

References

Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Cubitt, Joseph 1811 births 1872 deaths British railway civil engineers British bridge engineers People of the Industrial Revolution

Early life

Career

Personal life

Ancestry

See also

References