Thomas Wicksteed

Thomas Wicksteed (26 January 1806 - 15 November 1871) was a notable English civil engineer of the 19th century. As engineer to the East London Waterworks Company he was responsible for introducing the Cornish pumping engine. He oversaw many improvements, and was approached for advice by a number of water companies elsewhere in the country, later turning his attention to the efficient handling of sewage.

Born in Shrewsbury, the fourth son of John Wicksteed, he was educated at Shrewsbury School, and at sixteen years of age he was sent to London, to reside with his father's old friend, Arthur Aikin, Secretary of the Society of Arts, with whom he lived. He was articled to a mechanical engineer in Smithfield, and at the end of his apprenticeship, became an assistant to Henry R. Palmer, Engineer to the London Docks, at a time when extensive additions were being made.

In 1829, he became the Engineer to the East London Waterworks Company. It was a time when costly additions to the reservoirs and pumping-engines had to be made, but these were offset by the large saving he was able to make, particularly in the consumption of fuel.

In 1835 his attention was directed to the Cornish engine as a replacement for the less economical condensing engine. He visited the Cornish mines, conducted experiments, and prevailed upon the directors of the company to invest in this new technology. In 1837 an engine from Cornwall was installed in the works at Old Ford. The savings were such that he carried out careful measurements for a year, and published his findings in 1841 in a paper entitled "An Experimental Inquiry concerning the relative power of, and useful effect produced by, the Cornish and Boulton and Watt pumping-engines, and cylindrical and waggon-head boilers" read to the Institution of Civil Engineers. Following this, several large engines were installed under his direction by various water companies about London.

Meanwhile he carried out various additions to the reservoirs and other works of the company. Among these was to transfer the source of the company’s supply from Old Ford to Lea Bridge up river from the tidal flow.

Between 1838 and 1845, he was retained as Consulting Engineer to the Grand Junction, Vauxhall, Southwark, and Kent Waterwork Companies, while still Resident Engineer to the East London Water Works. He was thus, at one time, engineer to five out of the then nine London water companies. During this time, he constructed new waterworks at Hull and Wolverhampton, with extensions to those at Brighton and Scarborough. He was also consulted by the towns of Leeds, Liverpool, Dewsbury, Lichfield, Leamington, Cork, Kingston in Jamaica, Valparaiso, Boston, in the United States, the waterworks and sewerage of Berlin and consulted by the Pasha of Egypt in reference to the barrage of the Nile.

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