William Elsdon
| William Elsdon | |
|---|---|
| Born | Newburn/Lemington, Northumberland England. |
| Died | 10 March 1904 (aged 74) Melbourne, Victoria |
| Nationality | English |
| Occupation | Engineer |
| Engineering career | |
| Discipline | civil engineer |
| Projects | St Kilda railway line Victoria |
William Elsdon (c. 1829 – 3 March 1904) was an English civil engineer. He was also an architect and railway engineer who worked predominantly on early railways in Victoria, Australia.
William Elsdon was born c.1829 in Newburn near Lemington, Northumberland. In the 1851 census, he was recorded as a 21-year-old engine-wright, lodging at 6 Orchard Street, St Johns, Newcastle (fol 19 p. 30). His father Robert Elsdon was also an engineer living in Newburn. He was educated at local schools. He married Mary Ann Reid in 1854, at Ovingham. Mary was daughter of William Reid (born c. 1797) of Welton, who was himself a surveying engineer, who in the 1850s was superintendent of Whittle Dene Water Works near Welton, Northamptonshire. They had at least one daughter, Cecilia Reid, who married Edward George, youngest son of the late Douglas T. Kilburn in East Melbourne in 1889.
In the 1850s Elsdon commenced his professional career when he was articled to the English engineering firm of Messrs Robert Stephenson & Co.
He was appointed to the Hobson's Bay Railway company in Melbourne, Australia on 1 May 1854 as their chief engineer, "upon the recommendation of George Stephenson, with whom he served his time as a civil engineer at Newcastle Upon Tyne". He replaced the original engineer, James Moore (who had been considered incompetent) in December 1854. He remained in this post for 25 years and during this time he undertook the designs for the St.Kilda branch line, including three bluestone bridges built in 1857. He also carried out private practice in Melbourne designing a number of civic works including the Fitzroy Gasworks, City Abattoirs and some large public buildings. He took out a patent for the construction of rail and road carriages and improved wheel tires,' and an improvement in railway crossings, adapting them to such carriages in England on 21 September 1863, and was elected as a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers on 5 April 1870.
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