Sir John Fowler, 1st Baronet
| Sir John Fowler, Bt | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
15 July 1817 Wadsley, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England |
| Died | 20 November 1898 (aged 81) Bournemouth, Dorset, England |
| Engineering career | |
| Discipline | Civil engineer |
| Institutions |
Institution of Civil Engineers (president) Institution of Mechanical Engineers |
| Projects |
Metropolitan Railway Millwall Dock Forth Railway Bridge (A) Manchester Central (II*) Wicker Arches (II*) Torksey Viaduct (II*) |
| Significant design | Fowler's Ghost fireless locomotive |
Sir John Fowler, 1st Baronet, KCMG, LLD, FRSE (15 July 1817 – 20 November 1898) was an English civil engineer specialising in the construction of railways and railway infrastructure. In the 1850s and 1860s, he was engineer for the world's first underground railway, London's Metropolitan Railway, built by the "cut-and-cover" method under city streets. In the 1880s, he was chief engineer for the Forth Railway Bridge, which opened in 1890. Fowler's was a long and eminent career, spanning most of the 19th century's railway expansion, and he was engineer, adviser or consultant to many British and foreign railway companies and governments. He was the youngest president of the Institution of Civil Engineers, between 1865 and 1867, and his major works represent a lasting legacy of Victorian engineering.
Fowler was born in Wadsley, Sheffield, Yorkshire, England, to land surveyor John Fowler and his wife Elizabeth (née Swann). He was educated privately at Whitley Hall near Ecclesfield. He trained under John Towlerton Leather, engineer of the Sheffield waterworks, and with Leather's uncle, George Leather, on the Aire and Calder Navigation and on railway surveys. From 1837 he worked for John Urpeth Rastrick on railway projects including the London and Brighton Railway and the unbuilt West Cumberland and Furness Railway. He then worked again for George Leather as resident engineer on the and was appointed engineer to the railway when it opened in 1841. Fowler initially established a practice as a consulting engineer in the Yorkshire and Lincolnshire area, but, a heavy workload led him to move to London in 1844. He became a member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in 1847, the year the Institution was founded, and a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1849. On 2 July 1850 he married Elizabeth Broadbent (died 19 November 1901), daughter of J. Boadbent of Manchester. The couple had four sons.
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