Telford, Thomas

Telford, Thomas (1757-1834), engineer, b. Westerkirk, Dumfriesshire, Scotland.

Thomas Telford was the son of a Scottish shepherd.

He trained to be a stone-mason but afterwards moved to England and became an engineer.

He became well known through building the Ellesmere Canal linking three rivers, the Mersey, the Dee and the Severn.

He designed and built many other canals as well as roads, bridges, harbors and docks.

In the north of Scotland alone, he built 120 bridges and 920 miles (1,480 km) of road.

He built the road from London to Holyhead on the Isle of Anglesey, including the famous Menai Suspension Bridge.

He built the Caledonian Canal across Scotland from 1804-22 and he designed the Gotha Canal in Sweden linking the Baltic and the North Sea.

See Thomas Telford ~ Anthony Burton