Person    | Male  Born 8/6/1724  Died 28/10/1792

John Smeaton

Categories: Engineering

Civil engineer. Born and died at Austhorpe Lodge, Whitkirk, near Leeds. In 1748 he moved to London initially at Great Turnstile and set up in business first as a scientist and maker of instruments but he soon got involved in engineering projects.

Considered by some the "father of civil engineering". Designed bridges, canals, harbours and lighthouses. His most famous work being the third Eddystone Lighthouse, which became the model for all other lighthouses, and appeared on the tail of the old penny, behind Britannia.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
John Smeaton

Commemorated ati

Ship Tavern

Founded: AD 1549. Rebuilt: AD 1923 The Ship Tavern This tavern was establ...

Read More

Skempton Building plaques

2018: Eamonn Doyle has written to correct our "east to west", saying that the...

Read More

Other Subjects

William Oxtoby, A.M.I.C.E.

William Oxtoby, A.M.I.C.E.

Appointed Surveyor/Engineer for the Borough of Camberwell c.1898. William Oxtoby was born on 7 February 1862 in Hull, Yorkshire. He was the fourth of the five children of Robert Oxtoby (1823-1874)...

Person, Architecture, Engineering

2 memorials
F. Douglas Barton

F. Douglas Barton

Borough Engineer and Surveyor in the Borough of Hammersmith in 1948. Our colleague Andrew Behan has researched this man: Frank Douglas Barton was born in 1888 in Stockport, Cheshire, the son of Fr...

Person, Engineering

1 memorial
Norwood pumping station

Norwood pumping station

This building provided the propulsion for the Croydon atmospheric railway. We don't know when the building was demolished. This 1868 map shows a building approximately '50m north of the bridge' whi...

Place, Engineering

1 memorial
Sir Alexander Gibb

Sir Alexander Gibb

Civil engineer. FRS.  Born Scotland into a long line of civil engineers.  In London worked on: Metropolitan Railway extension Whitechapel tp Bow and Kew Bridge.  Died at his home, The Anchorage, Ha...

Person, Engineering, Scotland

1 memorial
Institution of Mechanical Engineers

Institution of Mechanical Engineers

Represents mechanical engineers and the engineering profession. It has over 120,000 members in 140 countries, working across industries such as railway, automotive, aerospace, manufacturing, energy...

Group, Engineering, Science

3 memorials

Previously viewed

Cyclist deaths

Cyclist deaths

Much of the street research for LondonRemembers is done by bike. 820 cyclists were killed or seriously injured in 2009 on roads in Britain. Many of these deaths are avoidable. Many of the drivers o...

Event, Tragedy

49 memorials
Pickwick Bicycle Club

Pickwick Bicycle Club

The oldest surviving cycling club in the world was founded at Downs Hotel, during the craze for the newly evolving bicycle, just 2 weeks after Charles Dickens died. The founding members honoured hi...

Group, Community / Clubs, Sport / Games

1 memorial