James Nicholas Douglass
Sir James Nicholas Douglass , FRS , (born October 16, 1826 in the London borough of Bow, † June 19, 1898 on the Isle of Wight ) was an English engineer who was known for the construction of the fourth Eddystone lighthouse and was knighted for it.
Act
James Douglass joined the engineering department at Trinity House after completing his training . Together with his younger brother, William Douglass, he assisted his father, Nicholas Douglass, with the new construction of the lighthouse on Bishop Rock until 1858 .
As a first independent project, James Douglass was commissioned to build a new lighthouse for Trinity House on The Smalls , a group of rocks in St. George's Canal . His design was based on the experience of John Smeaton , who used granite blocks to reinforce the structure when building the third Eddystone lighthouse . Smalls Lighthouse was completed in 1861 after a construction period of only two years.
After the death of James Walker , James Douglass was appointed to supervise the Wolf Rock Lighthouse and in 1862 was appointed chief engineer of Trinity House. In the meantime, the design of Smalls Lighthouse had proven itself and James Douglass designed around twenty other lighthouses for Trinity House and the Imperial Lighthouse Service , including Great Basses Reef Lighthouse , Little Basses Reef Lighthouse and Dondra Head Lighthouse in British Ceylon .
With the construction of the fourth Eddystone lighthouse, James Douglass reached the height of his career. In 1877 he was commissioned to replace the tower by John Smeaton. The project was completed in 1882 without fatal accidents or serious injuries, and the budget was well undercut. For its engineering services he received soon after the knighting as a Knight Bachelor .
James Douglass also dealt with the modernization of the lighting and used the lighthouse he had built at Trinity Buoy Wharf . In 1887 he was made a member of the Royal Society and in 1892 he retired. He died six years later at his Isle of Wight home.
Web links
- Thomas William: Life of Sir James Nicholas Douglass. (PDF) Longman, Green and Co, 1900, pp. 101–110 , accessed on January 19, 2018 (English).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Knights and Dames: DOO – FOW at Leigh Rayment's Peerage
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Douglass, James Nicholas |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | English engineer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 16, 1826 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | London borough of Bow |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 19, 1898 |
| Place of death | on the Isle of Wight |