Thomas Page (engineer)

Thomas Page (26 October 1803 – 8 January 1877) was a British architect & civil engineer,who was responsible for the design and construction of many bridges, including Westminster Bridge and the first Chelsea Bridge (both crossing the River Thames).

Page was born in London on 26 October 1803. The education he received whilst growing up in Romaldkirk (a village in the North Riding of Yorkshire, as it was then termed, by the River Tees) was designed to prepare him for life as a sailor. However, the engineer Thomas Tredgold suggested that Page become a civil engineer, advice that Page followed.

Page worked in Leeds and then moved to the London office of Edward Blore before working on the Thames Tunnel from 1835, initially as an assistant to Isambard Kingdom Brunel before becoming acting engineer in 1836 upon the retirement of Richard Beamish. His design for the Thames Embankment from Westminster to Blackfriars was recommended by the Commissioners for Metropolis Improvements in 1842, and he became consulting engineer for the Office of Woods and Forests, including responsibility for the Thames Embankment Office. In this role, his approval was required for any railway works affecting Crown land, and he would sometimes suggest changes (as happened at the Old Deer Park, Richmond, and at Windsor Home Park). The Thames Embankment project failed to progress after disagreements between the Crown Estate and the City of London corporation about riparian rights.

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