Newest Article
If you discover a civil engineer amongst your ancestors, prepare to embark on a voyage of discovery.
Coined in the 1770s by John Smeaton, the term ‘civil engineer’ was used to differentiate from military engineers.
In 1818, the ICE was founded primarily as a way for young engineers to meet and discuss engineering at a time when the only way to train was through an apprenticeship although established engineers were soon allowed to join. Prior to election, members had to complete an application form which included details of their training and engineering positions held.
From early on our membership was of an international nature with Captain Gustof Lagerheim, engineer of the Gotha Canal joining in 1820. Although the majority of members were involved in civil projects many military engineers also joined, particularly from the colonies such as Lieut. William Nairn Forbes, Bengal Engineer (joined 1820) and Captain John Hawkins of the Bombay Engineers (1822).
From about 1830 onwards British engineers travelled across the globe building railways, dams, harbours and lighthouses as well as reporting back on overseas projects. By 1890, 20 per cent of ICE Members had addresses outside the UK, of these about 40 per cent were in Asia, 40 per cent in the rest of the British Empire and 20 per cent in South America.
Members were encouraged to submit reports of projects they had seen or been involved in at meetings, and subjects include the monument to Peter the Great at St Petersberg (A Wilson, 1834), embankments made with seaweed in Holland (J Macneill, 1841), the waterworks at Victoria, Hong Kong (W Wilson, 1864), the Southern railway of Chile (William Cross Buchanan, 1866), the Rangitata Bridge, Canterbury, New Zealand (William Newshom Blair, 1873) and the Darjeeling and Himalayan Railway (S B Cary, 1883). These papers and more are listed on the Access to Archive website.
Of course our membership records include the `greats` – Robert Stephenson, I K Brunel, Joseph Bazalgette – but they were supported by great swathes of lesser known engineers. So why not see if you have any civil engineers in your family tree, you never know where your search may take you.
Click here to view the Civil and Mechanical Engineer Records or click here to view the a collection of photographs from the ICE.
Click here for more information about the ICE archives.
Images are reproduced by courtesy of The Institution of Civil Engineers.
Authored by Carol Morgan – Archivist at the Institution of Civil Engineers.
Past Articles
At the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, we aim to improve the world through engineering. Our membership has reflected the advances in technology and living standards since the start of the industrial revolution. The brilliant engineering feats of our members since we formed in 1847 have helped engineer and shape the world we live in today.… Read more
Surrey Parish Records 1538-1987 – now online The recently released Surrey Parish Records, 1538-1987 are the latest addition to our extensive family of UK parish registers. They include more than 2 million new records of baptisms, marriages and burials from the county. These records have been digitised in association with Surrey County Council’s Surrey History… Read more
We’ve been running our ‘Boxes’ TV ads for a while now. I’m sure most of you have seen them – with the animated vines and leaves, and the iconic Ancestry box. One of the key phrases in these ads is ‘Exploring your family’s past has never been easier’. I’ve always been delighted that this line… Read more
I have been exploring the records of the Foundling Hospital since the 1980s – and still enjoy every minute of the time I spend on them. Recent work on tokens that parents left at the Hospital with their babies as identifiers 250 years ago shows that the system in place was a simple one and… Read more
The predicted bad weather will be a rare opportunity to explore new records about my London-based ancestors. So many new records are now available for London on Ancestry.co.uk that a quick foray shows me I can add lots of data to what was previously exhausted research. To start things off nicely I have found a… Read more
Last weekend, I wrote about looking for a character in my tree that I was struggling with. I spent some much-needed time over the Bank Holiday researching him. As a reminder this is what I knew of him. Alexander Cumberbatche paid to become a Freeman of the City of Bristol on 17th May 1618. He… Read more
The long Easter weekend is coming. A four-day weekend can be a precious opportunity to get things done. Traditionally it coincides with the start of the DIY season and bringing our gardens back under control. Do spare a little time for your family history research though. This weekend you can enjoy free access to the… Read more
Free access – 1911 & 1901 Census Records – All Bank Holiday weekend! Many of my earliest memories centre around my grandparents. I remember their enormous conservatory, the ancient grandfather clock that woke me up every time I stayed over, and especially their unruly pack of long-haired dachshunds. But despite all the time I spent… Read more
I was nearing the end of my stint as an Ancestry Advocate on the stand at WDYTYA 2013, when a lady asked me to ‘help her find out where she had gone wrong’. … Let’s face it, we’ve all been there, haven’t we? She had obviously spent a great deal of time and money tracing… Read more