William George Macneill Thompson
William George Macneill Thompson (1833-1903)
1903 Obituary [1]
WILLIAM GEORGE MACNEILL THOMPSON, son of the late Major George Ash Thompson, of H.M. 85th Regiment, died at St. Catherine’s, Ontario, Canada, on the 12th May, 1903, aged 70.
Born in Portsmouth, England, he obtained his early professional experience in Canada on the construction of the Grand Trunk Railway.
From 1886 to 1859 he was engaged on the survey and construction of the Welland Railway, in 1859-60 he was employed as Engineer for the contractor on the Riviere du Loup section of the Grand Trunk Railway, and from 1860 to 1863 he had charge of the contract for the reconstruction of the Northern Railway of Canada.
Leaving Canada for a time in 1863, Mr. Thompson acted for a year as Engineer and Manager to the Dyphwys Casson Slate Company, North Wales, and was then engaged from 1864 to 1868 as agent for the late W. F. Faviell on the construction of Government railways in Ceylon.
Returning to Canada, he was Resident Engineer, under Mr. (now Sir) Sandford Fleming, on the Inter-Colonial Railway from 1868 to 1872, when he entered the service of the Canadian Public Works Department as Resident Engineer on the Southern Division of the Welland Canal enlargement.
He held that post until 1888, and after taking charge of the construction of the Sault Ste. Marie Canal, he succeeded in 1892 the late Mr. Thomas Monro as Superintendent of the Canal, the duties of which post he continued to discharge until his resignation in 1900, when he was appointed Consulting Engineer to the Canal. Mr. Thompson was a Past-President of the Society of Canadian Engineers.
He was elected a Member of the Institution on the 29th May, 1877.