Lieutenant-General William Skinner (1700 – 25 December 1780) was

Chief Royal Engineer The Chief Royal Engineer (CRE) is the official head of the Corps of Royal Engineers of the British Army. Origin and development Before the English Restoration a Chief Engineer was a pay grade and not defined. In 1660 King Charles II appointed S ...

of Great Britain from 1757 until his death in 1780. He is best known for his work on the fortifications of

Menorca Menorca or Minorca (from , later ''Minorica'') is one of the Balearic Islands located in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to Spain. Its name derives from its size, contrasting it with nearby Mallorca. Its capital is Maó, situated on the isl ...

and

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

although he considered his work on Fort George to be his "monument".

Life

Skinner was born in

St. Kitts Saint Kitts, officially Saint Christopher, is an island in the West Indies. The west side of the island borders the Caribbean Sea, and the eastern coast faces the Atlantic Ocean. Saint Kitts and the neighbouring island of Nevis constitute one ...

in 1700; his parents Thomas and Elizabeth died when he was young and he was adopted by his aunt, Mrs Lambert. She remarried Captain Talbot Edwards, chief engineer in

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

and the

Leeward Islands The Leeward Islands () are a group of islands situated where the northeastern Caribbean Sea meets the western Atlantic Ocean. Starting with the Virgin Islands east of Puerto Rico, they extend southeast to Guadeloupe and its dependencies. In Engl ...

, who was later appointed Deputy Chief Engineer of Great Britain. He was educated in Paris and Vienna.

Career

Skinner was accepted as a practitioner engineer on 11 May 1719. William Skinner, DNB, accessed 31 January 2013 The next few years were spent working on defences in Devonport,

and

; his survey of the peninsula proved of great value during the 1727 Thirteenth Siege of Gibraltar where he was rewarded with additional pay for his achievements. He was promoted steadily serving eventually as Director of engineering in Gibraltar. In 1746 he was sent to Scotland where the government intended to increase the fortifications now that the Jacobite Rebellion had been ended. In 1751, he began work on Fort George which cost over 100,000 pounds and was made to Skinner's design. Skinner was to refer to the fort as his "monument" and would manage every detail which John Adam oversaw as the main contractor.

James O'Hara, 2nd Baron Tyrawley Field Marshal James O'Hara, 2nd Baron Tyrawley and 1st Baron Kilmaine, PC (1682 – 14 July 1774) was a British Army officer. After serving as a junior officer in Spain and the Low Countries during the War of the Spanish Succession, he went ...

became

Governor of Gibraltar The governor of Gibraltar is the representative of the British monarch in the British overseas territories, British overseas territory of Gibraltar. The governor is appointed by the monarch on the advice of the British government. The role of ...

in 1756 and set about improving the fortifications. These changes came under the notice and criticism of Lord George Sackville and Skinner wrote a report describing their inefficiency and arbitrariness. The two of them attended the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

in 1758 where O'Hara harangued Skinner who took the anger in good humour.Paul Latcham, ‘Skinner, William (1699/1700–1780)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 200
accessed 1 Feb 2013
/ref> There appears to have been no long term damage as O'Hara was given the rank of

field marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army (in countries without the rank of Generalissimo), and as such, few persons a ...

in 1763.Stuart Handley, ‘O'Hara, James, second Baron Tyrawley and Baron Kilmaine (1681/2–1773)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 200
accessed 2 Feb 2013
/ref> Skinner died in

Greenwich Greenwich ( , , ) is an List of areas of London, area in south-east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London, east-south-east of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime hi ...

still working on Christmas Day 1780. His widow, Margaret, and his granddaughter both received exceptional annuities as there was some regret that Skinner had not been as well as he might have been. Despite spending huge sums his personal wealth at his death was a single house and a £500 annuity. Skinner's son was drowned in 1861 but his grandson, William Campbell Skinner was a successful American engineer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skinner, William 1700 births 1780 deaths Royal Engineers officers People from Saint Kitts British Army lieutenant generals British military personnel of the Anglo-Spanish War (1727–1729)