- Thomas Meik
Thomas Meik (birth date|1812|1|20 - death date|1896|4|22) was a British
engineer , born inDuddingston ,Midlothian . He was particularly associated with ports andrailway s inScotland and northernEngland , and fathered two prominent engineering sons:Patrick Meik andCharles Meik . The firm they founded remains active, though it is today known asHalcrow Group Limited , taking its name from SirWilliam Halcrow , who joined the company in the early years of the 20th century.After attending the
University of Edinburgh , Thomas Meik was apprenticed toJohn Steedman , an engineer and contractor who was working inGlasgow on the Hutcheson Bridge (designed byRobert Stevenson , grandfather of authorRobert Louis Stevenson ).His first long-term post was as assistant engineer to
William Chadwell Mylne of the New River Company,London . In 1845, at the age of 33, Meik was appointed engineer to theRiver Wear Commission (responsible for maritime works aroundSunderland ). In 1859, the commission took over the construction of theHendon Dock on the south side of the Wear, and Meik was responsible for the entire works (the task included a grain warehouse and alighthouse - which, although relocated when the South Pier was shortened in 1983, still stands today). Just a few miles further north, he was also consulting engineer to Blyth Harbour from 1862.In 1871, Meik was commissioned to design a rail freight link. The
Hilton, Southwick and Monkwearmouth Railway transported coal from collieries sited along the line to the nearby port at Sunderland. The railway was subsequently acquired by the North Eastern Railway. However, later railway designs were to prove more successful for Meik. In Scotland he designed a rail link toEyemouth , an extension to theForfar toBrechin line, the Newburgh and North Fife Railway and the EastFife Central Railway.Meik continued to undertake harbour commissions. His work in Sunderland gave him a reputation and he set up a practice based in
Edinburgh . From here he designed the Scottish ports ofAyr ,Burntisland andBo'ness .He retired in 1888 and died in Edinburgh in 1896 aged 84, leaving his business in the more than capable hands of his sons, Patrick and Charles.
Persondata
NAME= Meik, Thomas
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Civil Engineer
DATE OF BIRTH=1812-1-20
PLACE OF BIRTH=
DATE OF DEATH=1896-4-22
PLACE OF DEATH=
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