Benjamin Blyth II

Infobox Engineer


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name = Benjamin Blyth II
nationality = Scottish
birth_date = 25 May 1849
birth_place = North Berwick, East Lothian
death_date = Death date and age|1917|5|13|1849|5|25
death_place = North Berwick, East Lothian
education = Edinburgh University
spouse = Millicent Taylor
parents = Benjamin Hall Blyth I, Mary Dudgeon Wright
children = Benjamin Edward Blyth, Elsie Winifred Blyth
discipline = Civil
institutions = Institution of Civil Engineers (president),
Royal Society of Edinburgh (fellow)
practice_name = Blyth and Blyth
significant_projects =
significant_design =
significant_advance =
significant_awards =

Benjamin Hall Blyth II (25 May 1849 – 13 May 1917) was a Scottish civil engineer. [http://www.codexgeo.co.uk/dsa/architect_full.php?id=M000436 Dictionary of Scottish Architects entry] ]

Blyth, who was born in North Berwick, East Lothian, was the eldest of the nine children of the railway engineer Benjamin Blyth. He studied at Merchiston Castle School between 1860 and 1864 before studying for a Master of Arts degree from Edinburgh University.

After the death of both parents - Benjamin Blyth in 1866 and Mary Dudgeon Wright in 1868 - Blyth and his siblings were brought up by their mother's sister, Elizabeth Scotland Wright. [Will of Mary Dudgeon Wright, held by Scottish records] [Census of Scotland 1871]

Following his father's death Blyth entered the family engineering consultancy and became a partner five years later. Blyth served as a consultant to the North British Railway and the Great North of Scotland Railway and served in an advisory capacity to the British Army with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the Engineer and Railway Staff Corps. In 1872 he married Millicent Taylor with whom he had a son, Benjamin Edward, who died in infancy, [Blyth, E.L.I. 1893, The family of Blythe or Blyth of Norton and Birchet] and a daughter, Elsie Winifred. He became a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1877, being elected to its council in 1900. He served as vice-president in 1911 and in 1914 became the first practising Scottish engineer to serve as president.Citation | first = Garth | last = Watson| title = The Civils | publisher = London: Thomas Telford Ltd | page = 252
year = 1988 | isbn = 0-727-70392-7] On 7 February 1898 he became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. [http://www.rse.org.uk/fellowship/all_fellows.pdf Royal Society of Edinburgh fellows list] ]

Blyth stood as the Unionist candidate for the East Lothian by-election of 1911. He lost. One of his platforms was opposing the giving of home rule to Ireland. [The Scotsman, various editions from 1911 [http://www.scotsman.com/] ]

He was widowed on 12 September 1914 and died in North Berwick on 13 May 1917, of "spittielioma of tongue" [Death certificate, held by Scottish records office] . He was survived by his daughter. His nephew, Benjamin Hall Blyth III - the son of his brother Francis Creswick Blyth - who was taken on by Blyth and Blyth in 1909, [Blyth and Blyth: The First 100 Years, historical records held by company] continued the consultancy after his death.

References

s-start s-npo|pro s-bef|before=Anthony George Lyster s-ttl|title=President of the Institution of Civil Engineers
years=November 1914 – November 1915 s-aft|after=Alexander Ross end