John Hill (1812-1894)
John Hill (1812-1894)
1843 to 1853 Superintendent of roads under the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland.
1894 Obituary [1]
JOHN HILL, born on the 18th of December, 1812, was a native of Co. Meath. Early in life, having manifested a strong partiality for engineering pursuits, he was apprenticed to Mr. William Armstrong of Dublin.
On the completion of his professional education Mr. Hill joined the staff of the late Mr. (afterwards Sir John) Macneill, and was for several years actively engaged in preliminary surveys for railways.
He also acted for twelve months as Resident Engineer of the Dundalk Western Railway (now a portion of the Great Northern Railway of Ireland).
Subsequently, about the year 1838, he started on his own account as an engineer ; but on different occasions worked in partnership with Mr. James Thomson, of Glasgow, when he gained a large experience in Scotland in surveying, drainage works, building and road-making.
In 1842 Mr. Hill passed a qualifying examination for the post of County Surveyor, and in the following year was appointed superintendent of roads and bridges under the Commissioners of Public Works, in which capacity he constructed nearly three hundred miles of roads in the counties of Clare, Galway and. Limerick. In 1845 he received the appointment of County Surveyor of Clare, which post he occupied for ten years. During the latter part of that time he also acted as Engineer-in-Chief of the Limerick and Ennis Railway....[more]