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Obituary. Sir Joseph William Bazalgette, C.B., 1819-1891

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Obituary. Sir Joseph William Bazalgette, C.B., 1819-1891 302 SIR SOSEPH WILLIAM BAZALGETTE. [Obituary. OBITUARY. SIR JOSEPH WILLIAM BAZALGETTE, C.B., Past-President, was born at Enfield onthe 28th of March, 1819. The family was of French extraction, and the name figures in the fifteenth century amongthe old noblesse. Hisfather was a Commander inthe British Navy, from which, after much active service, he retired in 1815. Having been educated in private schools, Joseph was articled at the age of seventeen to Mr. (afterwards Sir John) Macneill, and wasemployed at his recommendation as ResidentEngineer on drainageand reclamation works inthe North of Ireland. He subsequentlydirected his attention more particularlyto this subject, and visited the principal worksof that nature inHolland. In 1842 he was practising on his own account in Great George Street, Westminster, and in 1845-6 was busily engaged in railway and other works of considerable magnitude, exerting himself to such an extent that his health suffered, and hewas obliged to cease work and go into the country, where a year of perfect rest restored his energy. On resumingbusiness he accepted, in 1849, an appointment under the Metropolitan Commission of Sewers, and thus began his connexion withthe twogreat municipal works by which his name has become so widely and so honourably known, namely, the MainDrainage of Londonand the Embankment of theRiver Thames.The best record of Sir Joseph’s lifeand labours will, indeed, be formed by a brief history of these works, with which hewas mostspecially identified from their inception to their successful completion. Down to 1547 the drainage of the Metropolis ww under the charge of no less than eight separate municipal bodies, each exer- cising an independentsway over its owndistrict. With such division it wasimpossible that any advantageousprinciples of drainage could be acted on, and the evils became so apparent that in 1848 an Act was passed to consolidate the whole management This account of the MainDrainage Works is taken from the published Report of the Royal Ccmmission on Metropolitan Sewage Discharge, 1884. Downloaded by [] on [12/09/16]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved. Obituary.] SIR WILLIANJOSEPH BAZALGETTE. 303 under one “ Metropolitan Comlnission of Sewers.’’ The Commis- sioners, an unpaid body of twelve gentlemen, began zealously to improve some details, butin 1849 they were superseded by a second body, which advertised for competitive designs for a com- pletesystematic drainage of London. This body also resigned before the plans were examined, and their successors, among whom wereincluded several eminent engineers, appointed an engineer of their own selection, Mr. Frank Forster, toprepare, partly incon- junction with Mr. Haywood, the Engineer of the City Commission of Sewers, a complete drainage scheme. This was done ; and the scheme was described intwo reports, dated respectivelyMarch 1850, andJanuary 1851. Thethird Commission had, however, no power to carry out suchworks, and was superseded by a fourth, and this again gave way to a fifth, appointed late in 1852. Still, however, nothing practical ensued, and the Engineer, Mr. Forster, whose health had given way under the anxieties of his position, resigned his office, and shortly afterwardsdied. At this time Mr. Bazalgette came prominently forward in the matter.He had since 1849 held office underthe successive Commissions, and on the death of his chief he was selected, out of thirty-six candidates, as the most suitable person to fill the vacant post. He was immediatelyinstructed, in conjunction with Mr. Haywood, to prepare a scheme for the main drainage, and the joint engineers, taking as abasis the proposals of Mr. Forster, presented a modified and improved plan in the early partof 1854. The progress of this scheme was, however, frustrated by the inter- ference of a public departmentcalled the GeneralBoard of Health, andafter further changes inthe Commission the Government resolved to create a new representative body, an Act to effect this object being passed on the16th August, 1855. This was the origin of the Metropolitan Board of Works, one of whose first acts was to appoint Mr. Bazalgette as their Chief Engineer, and to instruct him to report at the earliest possible period as to the works necessary for the main drainageof the Metropolis. It might be supposed that under these circumstances the work would henceforth go on smoothly; but this was not to be. It wa8 a proviso in the Act that the designs of the Board were to be submitted for approval to the Government, and in accordance with this Mr. Bazalgette’s plans were sent to Sir Benjamin Hall, theChief Commissioner of H.M. Works, in June 1856. Questions were then raised about the outfalls and otherdetails, and after the plans had been twice modified, the Government, being still dissatisfied, determined to refer the whole question to a Committee of three Downloaded by [] on [12/09/16]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved. 304 SIR ’WILLIAMJOSEPH BAZALGETTE. [Ohituary. engineers, Captain DouglasGalton, R.E., Mr. James Simpson, and Mr. Thos. E. Blackwell. The submission was made in December 1856, and, after a long inquiry, the referees, in July 1857, reported on several points unfavourably to the Board’s plan, and recommended a scheme of a much larger character. After some ineffectual negotiations the Board instructed Mr. Bazalgette, in conjunction with two other engineers, Mr. G. P. Bidder and Mr. Thos. Hawksley,to reconsider thematter. A reply, from these gentlemen jointly,,to the Government referees was delivered in April 1858, and led to a discussion between the parties which lasted some time. Meanwhile the state of, the River Thames was daily becoming worse, and Parliament was in despair at seeing that nothing was being done. But there had been a change of Ministry, and, on theurgent application of theMetropolitan Board, Mr. Disraeli succeeded, in August 1858, in passing an Act which relieved them from the necessity of Government sanction, on the ground that, as the Metropolis paid for the works, they had a right to con- struct them in any way theypleased, or, as the FirstCommissioner afterwards expressed it, “He who pays the fiddler has a right to callthe tune.” Thissettled this matter. Immediately after the passing of the Act the Metropolitan Board instructed Mr. Bazal- gette to complete the detailed designs, and contracts were entered into for the construction of the works. Theengineer seconded their wishesmost energetically. In 1865 thegreat drainage system was formally opened by H.R.H. the Prince of Wales; but the latter portions took considerable time, and it was not finally completed until 1875. The works of the Metropolitan Main Drainage have been fully described in a Paper given by Mr. Bazalgette to the Institution in 1865, for which he was awarded a Telford Medal and Premium.‘ It will suffice hereto say that they consisted of 83 miles of large intercepting sewers, draining more than 100 square miles of land covered with buildings, and estimated to deal 420,000,000 with gallonsper diem. Theamount expended on the works bythe Board wa.s ;E4,600,000. As a conclusion to the remarkable history of this remarkable work it is only just to Sir Joseph‘s memory to insert the following observations by a body especially competent to judge of its merits, namely, the Royal Commission on the MetropolitanSewage “On the Main Drainage of London, and the Interception of the Sewage from the River Thames,” Minutes of Proceedings Inst. C.E., vol. xxiv. p. 280. Downloaded by [] on [12/09/16]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved. Obituary.] SIR JOSEPR WILLIAN BAZALGETTE. 305 Discharge, of which Lord Bramwell was President. In their First Report of 31 January, 1886, they say :- “The historical notice we have given will show that the drainage systemwas decided on under great difficnltics, thc differcnces of opinion as to some of the principles of the scheme bcingvcry formidable. It became, therefore, au arduous task to settle the plans tobe adopted, but the stateof the river rendered n prompt decision necessary, and it cannot be questioned that the Metropolitan Board of Works had good grounds for the course they took in the matter. The arguments in favour of a larger scheme, with more distant outfalls, were urged with much force, and by very competent. authorities, but the Board had to con- sider the important conditions of promptness of execution and economy of cost; and as they had reasonable justification for believing in the sufficiency of the scheme theyadopted, thcy cannot be blamed fordeclining to commit their constituency to what they thought an unnecessary expenditure, especially as an estension of the outfall sewers to a lower point, if necessary, could always be effected at a future time ; and, lmving once decided on their plans, the energy shown in carrJing them out with all expeditionis deserving of great credit. ‘‘ To their engineer also, who has been fortunate enough to se0 the great work carriedthrough from its inception toits successful completion, highpraise is due. “It is true that the main features had been proposed before he took charge of the n-ork, but this fact in no wise detracts from Sir Joseph Bazalgette’s pro- fessional skill in re-designing thewhole scheme, in all itscomprehensive details, and in carrying it through all the intricate difficulties of its construction, so makingthat practical which before was theoretical only. Andit must be observed that, whatever differences of opinion may exist as to disputed pointsin the design of the works, no question has ever been raised as to their excellence of construction. ‘‘ Then, further, no one can deny the great benefit that has arisen from the main drainage works. The dischargc of the sewage into the river within the heart of London had become intolerable, and its interception has exercised a powerful influence in improving the general health of the metropolis.
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