William Bryson (civil engineer)

William Edward Bryson (1823 – 24 June 1903) was a British civil engineer, surveyor and architect who was involved in major railway projects in Ireland, Scotland, the United States, and Australia. He was born in Edinburgh on 1823, educated at the Academy of Design in Dublin, and worked initially in Ireland in the construction of the Dublin and Mullingar Railway, and then in Scotland, on the Dumfries and Glasgow Railway.^[1]

William Edward Bryson
Born	1823 Edinburgh, Scotland
Died	24 June 1903(1903-06-24) (aged 79) Melbourne, Australia
Nationality	British
Citizenship	British
Education	Academy of Design in Dublin
Occupation	Engineer
Engineering career
Discipline	engineer
Institutions	Institution of Civil Engineers
Projects	Malmsbury Viaduct, Taradale Viaduct

Railway work

Bryson worked on the Midland and Great Western railway lines in Ireland under G. W. Hemans, who was engineer-in-chief. These lines included substantial bridges on the River Shannon, River Suck and an arm of the sea, where Bryson may have gained experience in large bridge designs. He served as resident engineer in 28 miles of the line, which was completed in 1850.^[1] With the decline of railway work in Britain, Bryson emigrated to the USA in 1847, where he was involved in the construction of the Hudson River Railway^[2] and the LaSalle Street Tunnel in Chicago.^[3]

Bryson then journeyed to Australia and commenced work with the newly-formed Victorian Railways Department on the Melbourne to Bendigo railway line. He was responsible for designing most of the large structures on the line including bridges and viaducts under the supervision of George Christian Darbyshire. Captain Andrew Clarke, R. E., Surveyor-General of Victoria was the overall design engineer for the line.^[4] Bryson stated to the Select Committee of the Legislative Assembly on Railway Contracts that he had designed most of the large bridges on the line. Clarke clearly influenced the design of the railway in setting the standards for the line. However, this was also a very costly undertaking, which stretched the colonial finances and this approach was later abandoned for more economic light lines in later Australian Railways.^[5]

Bryson was described as a Civil and Mechanical Engineer in 1857 when he became a member of the Philosophical Institute of Victoria.^[6] He was also a member of the Royal Society of Victoria 1859–60 and employed at the "Government Railway Office". He published "Resources of Victoria & their development" in 1860 in the Royal Society’s Transactions.^[7]

Work after the railways

Bryson was surveyor and engineer for the shires of Boroondara, Goulburn, Nunawading and Oakleigh, and took an interest in defence matters, writing to the papers advising of possible protection measures and holding the position of Acting Lieutenant of the Collingwood Company of Volunteer Rifles.^[8] In his retirement, he lived in Toorak Road Camberwell and spent some if his time inventing. He obtained a patent (No 5,436 1859) for "Socketted insulator supports" on 3 November 1894.^[9]

Bryson died on 24 June 1903 at 27 Melville-street, Hawthorn, aged 80 years.^[10]

Major works

• Sunbury Viaduct
• Malmsbury Viaduct
• Taradale Viaduct
• LaSalle Street Tunnel
• Saltwater River Rail Bridge over the Maribyrnong River (stone abutments)^[11]

References

1. Brian C S Harper, Engineering Challenges in 19th Century Victoria, the author, 2016. ISBN 9780994467508
2. Manuscript Journal – Urban Infrastructure – Railways (note Ancestry.com records indicate the American WE Bryson is the same person, but that the quoted dates are wrong)
3. Berlow, Lawrence H (1998), The reference guide to famous engineering landmarks of the world : bridges, tunnels, dams, roads, and other structures, Chicago, Ill. Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, ISBN 978-1-135-93254-1
4. Brian Harper, The true history of the design of the Melbourne, Mount Alexander and Murray River Railway, presented at the 12th National Conference on Engineering Heritage, Toowoomba, Institution of Engineers, Australia, 2003, pages 83–84
5. Victorian Parliamentary Papers 1882 No 33
6. "PHILOSOPHICAL INSTITUTE OF VICTORIA". The Argus (Melbourne). No. 3427. Victoria, Australia. 5 June 1857. p. 6. Retrieved 6 July 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
7. Bryson, William E. 1860 "On the resources of Victoria and their development" Reprinted from the Royal Society's Transactions, Read before the Institute, 5 October and 16 November 1859 (Melbourne : Mason & Firth)
8. "YESTERDAY'S GAZETTE". The Age. No. 1, 611. Victoria, Australia. 21 December 1859. p. 6. Retrieved 6 July 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
9. "Government Gazette Notices". New South Wales Government Gazette. No. 179. New South Wales, Australia. 13 March 1895. p. 1793. Retrieved 6 July 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
10. "Family Notices". The Argus (Melbourne). No. 17, 770. Victoria, Australia. 26 June 1903. p. 1. Retrieved 5 July 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
11. "THE RAILWAY STAFF". The Colonial Mining Journal, Railway And Share Gazette. Vol. I, no. 6. Victoria, Australia. 3 February 1859. p. 3. Retrieved 6 July 2017 – via National Library of Australia.