John Robinson McClean
| John Robinson McClean | |
|---|---|
| Born | 21 March 1813 Belfast, Northern Ireland |
| Died | 13 July 1873 (aged 60) |
| Nationality | British |
| Education | University of Glasgow |
| Engineering career | |
| Discipline | civil engineer |
| Institutions | Institution of Civil Engineers (president) |
| Practice name | South Staffordshire Water Works Company |
| Projects | South Staffordshire Railway, Suez Canal |
John Robinson McClean CB FRS FRAS (21 March 1813 – 13 July 1873), was a British civil engineer and Liberal Party politician.
He was born in Belfast. Educated at Belfast Academical Institution and University of Glasgow.
Whilst still young, he offered himself as candidate for the Office of Engineer to the Belfast Harbour Commissioners, but was refused. Upon leaving the Board Room, he said to Mr Edmund Getty, (an old family friend) “that he would let the Commissioners yet see what a man they had lost”.
With his partner, Francis Croughton Stileman, he founded McClean & Stileman, engineering consultants of Great George St, Westminster. Some of his positions were:
After an Act of Parliament was passed to allow it, he took a 25-year lease on the railway, thus becoming the first person ever to be the sole owner of a railway. With the financial backing of several businessmen, he planned and built "The South Staffordshire Water Works Company" which piped fresh water to all of the Black Country. He was also the owner, with partner Richard Chawner, of "The Cannock Chase Colliery Company".
He was President of the Institution of Civil Engineers from 1864-5.
He unsuccessfully stood for Parliament as a Liberal Party candidate for Belfast at the 1857 general election, the second time he had been rejected by his native town.
He was elected at the 1868 general election as the Member of Parliament (MP) for East Staffordshire, and held the seat until his death in 1873.
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