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125 years ago died William Lindley

William Lindley, founder of the dynasty of civil engineers died in London on 22 May 1900. Anniversary Memories

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125 years ago died William Lindley

Lindley, William (1808–1900), civil engineer, was born on 7 September 1808 at 1 Surrey Square, Old Kent Road, London, the youngest of four children of Joseph Lindley (1756–1808), of Heath, Yorkshire. In 1827 he became a pupil of Francis Giles and assisted him in the design of the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway and the London and Southampton Railway. In 1836–8 he worked on the regulation of the River Mersey and on the Thames Tunnel with Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

On Brunel's recommendation Lindley was in 1839 appointed engineer-in-chief to the Hamburg and Bergedorf Railway, and subsequently was responsible for a number of projects in Hamburg. However, Lindley's great reputation as an engineer largely stemmed from his role in halting the disastrous fire which raged in Hamburg in May 1842. Under his direction controlled explosions of threatened buildings retarded the conflagration and eventually extinguished the fire. The town council appointed him consulting engineer to the Hamburg water board and the board of works. In the years 1848–60 he supervised that great spate of urban reconstruction. He also designed, executed, and supervised the construction of the Hamburg sewage system and water supply, with later extensions, and the gas works on the Grasbrook.

In 1863 he was invited by the city authorities of Frankfurt am Main to report on its drainage and two years later he was appointed its consulting engineer. In 1868 he submitted a report to the city of Pest on its water supply. Construction of new waterworks began the following year and Lindley was assisted by his eldest son.

Warsaw Water Company

In later years Lindley senior was consulted on water supply systems by the authorities of Düsseldorf, Chemnitz, Basel, Galatz, Brăila, and Jassy. His last, extensive design was sewerage and water supply for the cities of St Petersburg and Warsaw. The latter was carried out by his three sons, William, Robert, and Joseph. Lindley retired from active work in 1879. He died at his home outside London, 74 Shooter's Hill Road, Blackheath, on 22 May 1900, in his ninety-second year.

Excerpts from R.Ż,, Lindley, William (1808-1900), civil engineer, The Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press 1965, Vol. XX, s. 968-969.

January 1880 William Heerlein Lindley first time in Warsaw

On January 16–19, 1880, William H. Lindley arrived in Warsaw for the first time to present water supply and sewage project for Warsaw.

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January 1880 William Heerlein Lindley first time in Warsaw

On January 16–19, 1880, William H. Lindley arrived in Warsaw for the first time. It was a stopover on his way to Saint Petersburg, where he was carrying plans for the city's sewerage system. By that time, he was already the chief engineer in Frankfurt am Main and his father's successor in the family business. On January 16 and 17, 1880, "oral hearings on Lindley's projects" were held at the Magistrate's Office. During the sessions of the Citizens' Committee for the Construction of Sewers (colloquially the Sewerage Committee), chaired by Baron Nikolai Medem (1833–1899), Governor-General and Governor of Warsaw, and assisted by Sokrates Starynkiewicz (acting President of Warsaw, 1875–1891), "exceptionally lively discussions" took place.

During three subsequent meetings, various aspects of the water supply and sewage project submitted by Father William Lindley to the city of Warsaw in 1878 were discussed. They were attended by, "apart from engineers, Warsaw civil and military dignitaries in large numbers, due to the importance of the subject." Although he seemed very young to the distinguished group (he was only 27 years old), but "as one could conclude, he was talented, and especially good at speaking", he made a very good impression on the gathered people. Starynkiewicz supported him with the means at his disposal. He not only responded in the press to all attacks on Lindley, the sewage system, the water supply system or the management of the Magistrate in general, but he was also able to reach individual people to prove his arguments in a personal conversation" - recalled the city engineer Julian Majewski.

Warsaw City Hall, 1878

The greatest advantage of these three-day sessions was that the Warsaw engineers could express their opinions, and Lindley had the opportunity to present his own point of view. Lindley himself was also given an excellent opportunity to meet Polish specialists whom he was to employ to carry out the project. The direct result of the discussion was the conclusion of a preliminary agreement with William H. Lindley, commissioning him to carry out the construction of water and sewage systems in Warsaw.