# Thomas Hawksley

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English civil engineer (1807–1893)

Thomas Hawksley Thomas Hawksley Born (1807-07-12)12 July 1807 Arnold, Nottinghamshire Died 23 September 1893(1893-09-23) (aged 86) Kensington, London Education Self-taught from age 15 Children Charles Hawksley Parent(s) John Hawksley and Sarah Thompson Engineering career Discipline Civil engineering Institutions Institution of Civil Engineers (president), Institution of Gas Engineers and Managers (president), Fellow of the Royal Society Projects Lindley Wood, Swinsty and Fewston reservoirs

**Thomas Hawksley** ((1807-07-12)12 July 1807 – (1893-09-23)23 September 1893) was an English [civil engineer](/source/Civil_engineer) of the 19th century, particularly associated with early [water supply](/source/Water_supply) and [coal gas](/source/Coal_gas) engineering projects. Hawksley was, with [John Frederick Bateman](/source/John_Frederick_Bateman), the leading British water engineer of the nineteenth century and was personally responsible for upwards of 150 water-supply schemes, in the British Isles and overseas.[1]

## Biography

The son of John Hawksley and Sarah Thompson and born in Arnot Hill House, [Arnold](/source/Arnold%2C_Nottinghamshire), near [Nottingham](/source/Nottingham) on (1807-07-12)12 July 1807,[2] Hawksley was largely self-taught from the age of 15 onwards—despite his education at [Nottingham High School](/source/Nottingham_High_School)[3]—having at that point become articled to a local firm of architects under the supervision of [Edward Staveley](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Edward_Staveley&action=edit&redlink=1) that also undertook a variety of water-related engineering projects.

Locally, he remains particularly associated with schemes in his home county. He was engineer to the [Nottingham Gas Light and Coke Company](/source/Nottingham_Corporation_Gas_Department#Nottingham_Gas_Light_and_Coke_Company) and [Nottingham Waterworks Company](/source/City_of_Nottingham_Water_Department) for more than half a century, having, early in his career, completed the Trent Bridge waterworks (1831). This scheme delivered Britain's first high pressure 'constant supply', preventing contamination entering the supply of clean water mains.[4]

Hawksley first rose to national prominence at the time of the [health of towns inquiry](/source/Health_of_Towns_Association) in 1844. His advocacy of a constant supply of water to consumers brought him immediate acclaim. [Edwin Chadwick](/source/Edwin_Chadwick) adopted Hawksley as an ally for a time, but Hawksley adopted a more pragmatic approach and was prepared to act for others' undertakings.[1] This approach led him to be appointed to many major water supply projects across England, including schemes for [Liverpool](/source/Liverpool), [Sheffield](/source/Sheffield), [Leicester](/source/Leicester), [Lincoln](/source/Lincoln%2C_England), [Leeds](/source/Leeds), [Derby](/source/Derby%2C_England), [Darlington](/source/Darlington), [Oxford](/source/Oxford), [Cambridge](/source/Cambridge), [Sunderland](/source/Sunderland%2C_Tyne_and_Wear), [Wakefield](/source/Wakefield) and [Northampton](/source/Northampton). He also undertook drainage projects, including schemes for [Birmingham](/source/Birmingham), [Worcester](/source/Worcester%2C_England) and [Windsor](/source/Windsor%2C_Berkshire).

In 1852, Hawksley set up his own engineering practice in Westminster, London. He was the first president of the [Institution of Gas Engineers and Managers](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Institution_of_Gas_Engineers_and_Managers&action=edit&redlink=1)[5] (serving for three years from 1863), a Fellow of the [Royal Society](/source/Royal_Society),[6] and was elected President of the [Institution of Civil Engineers](/source/Institution_of_Civil_Engineers) in 1871 (a post his son [Charles](/source/Charles_Hawksley) later occupied in 1901).[7]

Hawksley's grave in [Brookwood Cemetery](/source/Brookwood_Cemetery)

Between 1869 and 1879, Hawksley acted as consultant to the construction of [Lindley Wood](/source/Lindley_Wood_Reservoir), [Swinsty](/source/Swinsty_Reservoir) and [Fewston](/source/Fewston_Reservoir) reservoirs for [Leeds Corporation Waterworks](/source/Leeds_Corporation_Waterworks).[8] At [Tunstall Reservoir](/source/Tunstall_Reservoir) in 1876, and at [Cowm Reservoir](/source/Cowm_Reservoir) in 1877–78, he is credited with the first two uses of [pressure grouting](/source/Pressure_grouting) to control water leakage under an embankment dam.[1][9][10][11] [Glossop](/source/Rudolph_Glossop) comments, "This procedure of rock grouting, which is now standard practice in dam construction, was an invention of the greatest importance to engineering practice, but its adoption by civil engineers was slow."[12]

Hawksley died in [Kensington](/source/Kensington), London in 1893[13] and is buried in his family plot at [Brookwood Cemetery](/source/Brookwood_Cemetery), Surrey. In December 2007 a granite memorial was placed over his previously unmarked grave.[14]

Thomas Hawksley was the first of four generations of eminent water engineers, having been followed into the profession by his son, [Charles Hawksley](/source/Charles_Hawksley), grandson Kenneth Phipson Hawksley, and great grandson, Thomas Edwin Hawksley (died 1972). The Institution of Mechanical Engineers still holds an annual lecture in his memory.

A memorial to him was placed in a stone wall at [Rivington](/source/Rivington) in 2023, the memorial reads 'In memory of Thomas Hawksley FRS, Civil Engineer and Architect, of the Rivington Reservoir System build 1850 to 1857' the memorial features [masonic](/source/Freemasonry) symbols.[15]

## Bibliography

- Douet, J. (2023). *The Architecture of Steam, Waterworks and the Victorian Sanitary Crisis*. Liverpool University Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9781802077537](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781802077537).

- Uhler, B, *et al*. (2018). *Pure and Constant, The Life and Legacy of Thomas Hawksley 1807-1893*. Arima Publishing. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9781845493042](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781845493042).

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-HawksBio_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-HawksBio_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-HawksBio_1-2) [Hawksley, Thomas](http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/12691), [Oxford Dictionary of National Biography](/source/Oxford_Dictionary_of_National_Biography)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-imeche_2-0)** ["Thomas Hawksley"](https://web.archive.org/web/20081011115644/http://presidentschoice.imeche.org.uk/thomashaksleyinfo.htm). Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Archived from [the original](http://presidentschoice.imeche.org.uk/thomashaksleyinfo.htm) on 11 October 2008. Retrieved 21 January 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Five of the best: Old boys who learnt the ropes at historic High School | Nottingham Post"](https://web.archive.org/web/20140203054925/http://www.nottinghampost.com/best-Old-boys-learnt-ropes-historic-High-School/story-19282550-detail/story.html). Archived from [the original](http://www.nottinghampost.com/best-Old-boys-learnt-ropes-historic-High-School/story-19282550-detail/story.html) on 3 February 2014. Retrieved 22 February 2014.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["Nottingham Water Supply – history"](https://web.archive.org/web/20070809211327/http://www.papplewickpumpingstation.co.uk/nottswh1.htm). Archived from [the original](http://www.papplewickpumpingstation.co.uk/nottswh1.htm) on 9 August 2007.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["IGEM History"](http://www.igem.org.uk/company/history.asp).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["Royal Society list of fellows"](http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk/page.asp?id=1727).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Civils_7-0)** Watson, Garth (1988). *The Civils*. London: Thomas Telford Ltd. p. 251. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-7277-0392-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-7277-0392-7).{{[cite book](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_book)}}: CS1 maint: publisher location ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_publisher_location))

1. **[^](#cite_ref-DALES_8-0)** Bowtell, Harold D. (1991). *Lesser Railways of the Yorkshire Dales and the Dam Builders in the Age of Steam*. Plateway Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [1-871980-09-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-871980-09-7).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** Robert William Rennison, [Civil Engineering Heritage: Northern England](https://books.google.com/books?id=Bv2BrOMo8cIC&pg=PA81&), p.81

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** A. Clive Houlsby, *Construction and Design of Cement Grouting; A Guide to Grouting in Rock Foundations* [John Wiley & Sons](/source/John_Wiley_%26_Sons), 1990, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-471-51629-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-471-51629-5)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** [Rudolph Glossop](/source/Rudolph_Glossop), *The Invention and Development of Injection processes Part II: 1850-1960*, [Geotechnique](/source/British_Geotechnical_Association#History), Vol. 11, 4, December 1961, p.255-279.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** Rudolph Glossop, p.259

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** [Oxford Dictionary of National Biography](http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/12691). Oxforddnb.com. Retrieved on 27 August 2011.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** Cemetery, Brookwood. (10 December 2007) [Brookwood Cemetery press release](https://brookwoodcemetery.blogspot.com/2007/12/new-memorial-to-thomas-hawksley.html) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20110708030047/http://brookwoodcemetery.blogspot.com/2007/12/new-memorial-to-thomas-hawksley.html) 8 July 2011 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine). Brookwoodcemetery.blogspot.com. Retrieved on 27 August 2011.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-memorial_stone_15-0)** Harrison, Zach (16 July 2023). ["Rivington is like a 'mini Lake District' - the history behind the popular area"](https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/23656357.rivington-thomas-hawksley-commemorative-stone-unveiled/). Bolton News. Retrieved 20 August 2023.

## External links

- [Chisholm, Hugh](/source/Hugh_Chisholm), ed. (1911). ["Hawksley, Thomas"](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Hawksley,_Thomas). *[Encyclopædia Britannica](/source/Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica_Eleventh_Edition)*. Vol. 13 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 100.

Professional and academic associations Preceded by Charles Blacker Vignoles President of the Institution of Civil Engineers December 1871 – December 1873 Succeeded by Thomas Elliot Harrison Preceded by Sir Frederick Bramwell President of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers 1876–1877 Succeeded by John Robinson

Authority control databases International VIAF WorldCat National United States Other Open Library 2 SNAC Yale LUX

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Thomas Hawksley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Hawksley) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Hawksley?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.