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

Stratford Depot

Stratford Depot

A Motive Power Depot (MPD) used for the storage of train engines when not in use.

Place, Engineering, Transport

1 memorial
Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company

Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company

Established as the Thames Bank Ironworks by Thomas Joseph Ditchburn and Charles John Mare. Renamed in 1860, it had by 1863 the capacity to build 25,000 tons of warships and 10,000 tons of mail stea...

Group, Engineering

2 memorials
Paddington Station centenary

Paddington Station centenary

London terminus for Great Western Railways since 1838. The current station was designed by Brunel in 1854. The underground arrived in 1863 and Paddington was the original western terminus for the...

Event, Engineering

1 memorial
Lesney Products & Co. Ltd.

Lesney Products & Co. Ltd.

The company's name came from the forenames of its founders Leslie Smith (1918 - 2005) and Rodney Smith (1917 - 2013). They were not related, but had been schoolfriends and also served together in t...

Group, Engineering

2 memorials
Sir Hugh Myddelton

Sir Hugh Myddelton

Goldsmith and entrepreneur. Born Denbigh, Wales sometime 1555-60, younger brother of Sir Thomas Myddelton (c1550-1631) who became Lord Mayor of London. 1576 came to London to be an apprentice golds...

Person, Engineering, Food & Drink, Wales

7 memorials