Telford

Telford, THOMAS (1757-1834), civil engineer, was the son of a shepherd in Eskdale, Dumfriesshire. He was apprenticed to a stonemason, and removed to Edinburgh in 1780, and to London in 1782. In 1787 he became surveyor of public works for Shropshire. His chief works are the Ellesmere Canal (1793-1805), the Caledonian Canal (opened in 1823), the road from London to Holyhead (completed in 1815), the Menai Suspension Bridge (1819-26), and the St. Katherine's Docks in London (1826-28).