Colonel William Patrick Anderson (1851–1927) was a Canadian civil engineer. He was Superintendent of Lighthouses for almost 40 years, and was responsible for many of the more notable lighthouses in Canada.

Early life and career

He was born September 4, 1851 at

Lévis, Quebec Lévis () is a city in eastern Quebec, Canada, located on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River, opposite Quebec City. A ferry links Old Quebec with Old Lévis, and two bridges, the Quebec and the Pierre-Laporte, connect western Lévis wit ...

, and educated at what is now

Bishop's University Bishop's University (french: Université Bishop's) is a small English-language liberal arts university in Lennoxville, a borough of Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. The founder of the institution was the Anglican Bishop of Quebec, George Mountain, w ...

. After studying for a year at

Manitoba College Manitoba College was a college that existed in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, from 1871 to 1967, when it became one of the University of Winnipeg's founding colleges. It was one of the first institutions of higher learning in the city of Winnipeg and t ...

, he began work as a railway and township surveyor. In 1874, he began work as a

draftsman A drafter (also draughtsman / draughtswoman in British and Commonwealth English, draftsman / draftswoman or drafting technician in American and Canadian English) is an engineering technician who makes detailed technical drawings or plans for ...

at the Department of Marine and Fisheries in Ottawa, working on the design of lighthouses. In 1876 he married Dorothea Susannah Small.

Later career

Anderson became Chief Engineer of the department in 1880, and served continuously until his retirement in 1919. During his career, he designed and built more than 500 lighthouses and fifty fog-alarm stations across Canada. Among the more important works may be mentioned the Colchester Reef lighthouse (1885) on a caisson in

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also h ...

, the construction and installation in 1898 of the first-order fog siren station on

Belle Isle (Newfoundland and Labrador) Belle Isle (French for "Beautiful Island") is an uninhabited island slightly more than off the coast of Labrador and slightly less than north of Newfoundland at the Atlantic entrance to the Strait of Belle Isle, which takes its name. Named ...

, and the nine

flying buttress The flying buttress (''arc-boutant'', arch buttress) is a specific form of buttress composed of an arch that extends from the upper portion of a wall to a pier of great mass, in order to convey lateral forces to the ground that are necessary to pu ...

lighthouses at Pointe-au-Pere, Escarpment Bagot,

Estevan Point Estevan Point is a lighthouse located on the headland of the same name on the Hesquiat Peninsula on the west coast of Vancouver Island, Canada. During World War II, in 1942, the Estevan Point lighthouse was fired upon by the Japanese submarine ...

Michipicoten Island Michipicoten Island is an island in Ontario, Canada, in the northeastern part of Lake Superior, about northwest of Sault Ste. Marie and southwest of Wawa, Ontario. At its closest point to mainland Ontario, the island is located about from t ...

Caribou Island Caribou Island may refer to: Places * Caribou Island, Alaska, USA; an island; see List of islands of Alaska Ontario, Canada There are six different islands in the province of Ontario called "Caribou Island" including: * Caribou Island (near Mich ...

, Belle Isle Northeast,

Cape Bauld Cape Bauld is a headland located at the northernmost point of Quirpon Island, an island just northeast of the Great Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Cape Bauld, slightly north and east of ...

, Cape Norman, and Cape Anguille. Near the end of his career, Anderson designed the visually appealing Point Abino Lighthouse near Fort Erie, Ontario. Anderson had an active interest in military matters. He joined the Canadian

Militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

in 1864, when he was 14 years old, saw active service during the First and Second Fenian Raids, and later commanded the Ottawa and Carleton Rifles regiment in the militia. He was made a companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George in 1913. He was a crack marksman, winning ten Dominion and Provincial Rifle medals, the McDougall Cup in 1879, and winning a place in the Governor General's Cup in 1879, 1880, 1885 and 1887 as well as being a member and commandant on two Canadian Bisley teams. He was Chair of the Small Arms Committee of Canada, as well as a Member of Council and Life Governor of the Dominion Rifle Association. He was founder and editor of the Canadian Militia Gazette, and Chairman of the

Geographic Board of Canada The Geographical Names Board of Canada (GNBC) is a national committee with a secretariat in Natural Resources Canada, part of the Government of Canada, which authorizes the names used and name changes on official federal government maps of Canada ...

, 1911-1913 and 1925-26, being a member from 1898-1926. Also a charter member of the

Canadian Society of Civil Engineers The Engineering Institute of Canada (EIC) (French: l'Institut canadien des ingénieurs; ICI) is a federation of fourteen engineering societies based in Canada, covering a broad range of engineering branches, and with a history going back to 1887. F ...

and the Engineering Institute of Canada. He was Chair of the

Ottawa Public School Board Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and f ...

, as well as contributing many articles to ''

Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various t ...

''. Colonel William P. Anderson died at home in Ottawa on February 1, 1927, and was survived by his wife, a daughter, and four sons. His grave is in Beechwood Cemetery.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, William P. 1851 births 1927 deaths Bishop's University alumni Canadian civil engineers Canadian Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George People from Lévis, Quebec University of Winnipeg alumni Marine engineers Contributors to the Encyclopædia Britannica Burials at Beechwood Cemetery (Ottawa)

Early life and career

Later career

See also

References

External links