Basic Biographical Details | Name: | (Sir) John Benjamin MacNeill | | Designation: | | | Born: | 1792 or 1793 | | Died: | 2 March 1880 | | Bio Notes: | Sir John Benjamin MacNeill was born in 1792 or 1793 in County Louth, Ireland. He began his career as a surveyor but on meeting Thomas Telford during a visit to England in 1820, he was inspired to become a civil engineer. He worked as Telford's chief assistant for ten years, and established his own consultancy following Telford's death in 1834, practising in London and Glasgow. He became an eminent engineer in his own right, principally involved in railway work. In the late 1830s and early 1840s he focused on work in his native Ireland, and he became a noted teacher, being appointed first Professor of the Practice of Engineering at Trinity College Dublin. At the end of his life he returned to London, dying blind and impoverished at his son's house in Cromwell Road, south-west London on 2 March 1880. | Private and Business Addresses| The following private or business addresses are associated with this : | | | Address | Type | Date from | Date to | Notes |  | London, England | Business | Before 1824 | Late 1830s | | | Glasgow, Scotland | Business | 1834 | Late 1830s | | | Eire | Business | Early 1840s | Before 1880 | | | London, England | Private | 2 March 1880 * | | |
* earliest date known from documented sources.
Employment and TrainingEmployees or Pupils| The following individuals were employed or trained by this (click on an item to view details): | | | Name | Date from | Date to | Position | Notes | | Duncan MacFarlane | Before 1868 | Before 1868 | Apprentice | |
ReferencesBibliographic References| The following books contain references to this : | | | Author(s) | Date | Title | Part | Publisher | Notes | | Fleming, Diarmaid | 2001 | Macneill: remembering engineering's forgotton hero | | 'New Civil Engineer' magazine, London, 19 July 2001, pp24-5 | |
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