Hugh Leonard
Hugh Leonard (1823-1901)
1902 Obituary [1]
HUGH LEONARD, born in Dublin on the 23rd September, 1823, was educated mainly by a private tutor, receiving his early technical training at Fox's Engineering School, Castlepollard, Ireland.
In 1846 he was engaged by the Irish Board of Public Works as an Assistant Engineer on the arterial drainage and navigation works then being carried out by the Board. He remained nine years in the service of the Board, being mainly employed on the Shannon and Erne Junction Canal Works, of which he was in sole charge when he left the Irish Government service.
In 1855 Mr. Leonard was offered an appointment in the Indian Government Public Works Department, and went to India as a Special Assistant Engineer under covenant. There he rose steadily through the different grades, ending his career in that country as Engineer-in-Chief of the Lahore and Peshawar Railway.
In 1864 he was deputed to visit those rivers of Europe on which works for the improvement of navigation were being carried out, and presented his report in 1865. On his return to India, he was appointed a Member of the Ganges Canal Commission.
In 1867 he was instructed to report on the improvement of the Moulmein River, and in the same year was appointed Member of a Committee to report on Lighthouses for the Indian Coast. He was Engineer for the improvement of the Port of Calcutta, and in 1869 designed and started the first jetty works for the Port.
In 1871-72 he acted as Chief Engineer and Secretary to the Public Works Department of the Government of Bengal. He was a Fellow of the Calcutta University, and was elected President of the Faculty of Engineering. Mr. Leonard left India in 1874 on account of his health, and in 1875 he was appointed by the Secretary of State for Indict in Council, to serve temporarily as Inspecting Engineer of Stores for Indian State Railways.
In 1877 he finally retired from all engineering practice, but continued to take much interest in scientific and sanitary work in London. He was a Member of the Sanitary Institute, a Member of the Committee of the Health Society and of the Metropolitan Public Gardens Association, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Mansion House Council on the Dwellings of the Poor, Vice-President of the London Sanitary Protection Association, an Honorary Associate and Member of the Science Committee of the Royal Institution of British Architects, a Manager of the Royal Institution, and a Member of the Board of Visitors of the Royal Indian Engineering College at Coopers Hill.
Mr. Leonard died at 7 Hanover Square, London, on the 15th December, 1901.
He was elected a Member of the Institution on the 5th December, 1866.