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Frederick Slessor

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Frederick George Slessor
M. Inst. C.E. ACK
Born1831
Sidmouth, Devon, England
Died(1905-10-15)15 October 1905
Somerset, England
OccupationEngineer
Known forDesigning and building railways

Frederick George Slessor (1831 - 1905) was a British railway engineer who worked in England, India, South Africa, and continental Europe.

Early life

Slessor was born in 1831 in Sidmouth, Devon, England to Major General John Henry Slessor. He attended the Sherborne School[1] and later trained as civil engineer as a pupil of M. W. Peniston M. Inst. C.E..

Career

Slessor was responsible for sewerage works at Haileybury, Mortlake, Richmond, Barnes, and other places in the Thames valley; a large road bridge at Addison Gardens, Kensington; the renewal of the Cliff Bridge at Scarborough; and, in conjunction with Professor Aitchison, the enlargement of the Rotherhithe repairing dock. Abroad, he conducted an important railway trial at Riga and designed the drainage of that city; in Oporto he designed and built the Crystal Palace exhibition building; he reported on sulphur springs in Iceland and on a government harbour at Heligoland, and carried out various works in other countries.[2]

In December1874, following nomination by Sir Charles Hutton Gregory, he was appointed by Cape Government Railways, first as Chief Officer of Surveys and Resident Engineer, and then as Chief Resident Engineer of the Eastern system. After 16 years’ service at the Cape he retired on a pension and returned home.[3][4] Alicedale, a village in the Albany district, was named after his wife Alice Slessor.[5][a] His wife died in Queenstown, Eastern Cape, in September 1882.[8]

Slessor died 15 October 1905 in Somerset, England[2]

Publications

  • Reports by Mr. Slessor, Chief Resident Engineer and Mr. Tilney, Locomotive Superintendent of the East London and Queens's Town Railway, of Trials of Coal from the Indwe and Molteno Mines. South Africa: Cape of Good Hope. 1880. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help) with J D Tilney
  • Report of His Recent Examination of the Country to be Traversed by a Junction Line Between the Midland and Eastern Railways. Cape of Good Hope (South Africa): Richards. 1886. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

See also

  • See also: Guybon Atherstone and South African locomotive history

Notes and references

  1. ^ A number of sources including Raper assert that Alice Slessor's maiden name was Dale. This is incorrect, the record of their marriage at St John's Church in the Parish of Paddington, on 10 September 1867[6] clearly indicates that Alice's name was Malton and that she was a spinster at the time of her marriage.[7]
  1. ^ Sherborne Register 1842, p. 41.
  2. ^ a b ICE 1907.
  3. ^ "Obituary. Frederick George Slessor, 1831-1905". Minutes of the Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers. 168: 354–355. 1907.
  4. ^ "Cultural & Historical interest". Archived from the original on 26 September 2014. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
  5. ^ Raper 1989, p. 56.
  6. ^ Marriage Registers 1867.
  7. ^ "Marriages". Exeter and Plymouth Gazette. 20 September 1867. p. 5 col F. Retrieved 27 September 2014 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. ^ Queenstown Free Press & 21 September 1882.
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