James Balfour (engineer)

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James Melville Balfour (* 1831 in Edinburgh , † December 1869 in Timaru Harbor ) was a Scottish- New Zealand engineer, who is particularly known for its lighthouses.

He was born in Edinburgh and joined the company D & T Stevenson & Co one. This company was the contractor for engineering services for the lighthouses in Scotland. On the recommendation of the company - the technical equipment for New Zealand lighthouses came from Scotland or England at the time - Balfour was given the post of marine engineer for the province of Otago. He arrived in New Zealand on September 14, 1863.

He is best known for his contribution to building the New Zealand lighthouse network. Although he also designed two brick towers, he preferred wooden structures because of the shorter construction time. His designs - several of which are now registered as architectural monuments - include:

His designs also include the dry dock in Dunedin.

He also wrote the first service regulations for the country's lighthouse keepers and introduced the optics developed by Stevenson to New Zealand. He wrote reports on port construction projects in New Plymouth , Timaru and Wanganui .

In October 1866 he was from the central government for Marine Engineer, Inspector of Steamers and Superintendent of Lighthouses ( , steamship inspector and overseer of the lighthouses Seeingenieur ) appointed. Balfour drowned in Timaru Harbor in December 1869 at the age of 38 while on a business trip .

Web links

Commons : James Balfour (engineer)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f Taiaroa Head Lighthouse Summary
  2. ↑ Balfour, James Melville - Engineer on Heritage New Zealand ( Memento from December 28, 2012 in the web archive archive.today )
  3. ^ Port Chalmers . In: Otago Daily Times , September 14, 1863, p. 4. Retrieved January 6, 2015. 
personal data
SURNAME Balfour, James
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Balfour, James Melville (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Scottish New Zealand engineer
DATE OF BIRTH 1831
PLACE OF BIRTH Edinburgh
DATE OF DEATH December 1869
Place of death Timaru Harbor