On 19th February 1789 Sir William Fairbairn was born.
William Fairbairn was the greatest mill-builder and experimental engineer of the middle quarters of the nineteenth century, a major contributor to iron shipbuilding during the critical decade 1835-44, and to wrought-iron bridges during two of the most formative decades in bridge-building, 1845-64.
He advanced understanding of material strengths and properties which he applied in the design of multi-storey iron-framed mills, wrought iron ships (where he made a significant contribution to understanding the response to changing forces on the hull) and bridges. Fairbairn built 1000 bridges and his major contribution was in the design, testing and manufacture of iron bridges made from long riveted tubular section girders. Of these the two best known are the Conwy (1848) and Britannia (1850) bridges, the building of both being overseen by Robert Stephenson. Fairbairn stands as an icon of the heroic age of Victorian engineering, straddling the era of practically-trained ingenious millwright and professional engineer.
Sir William was inducted into the Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame in 2017, read his full citation here