William Yolland
Career
Yolland was born in
Ordnance Survey
After army service in Britain, Ireland and Canada he was posted to the Ordnance Survey in 1838. He made a strong impression there, particularly with his mathematical knowledge and publications on astronomy, and in 1846 he was nominated to head the organisation by its departing Superintendent, General Thomas Colby.[2][3] He was, however, thought too young for the post and an older officer (a sapper who had no survey experience) was appointed instead.[4] This new Superintendent, Colonel Lewis Hall, despatched Yolland back to Ireland to avoid his embarrassment in commanding a more qualified officer, but the survey there was of greater importance than Hall had realised: Parliament had noticed that revenue was being lost as land assessments for tax were not up to date and Yolland's progress there was followed with interest. In 1849, he was called to appear before a parliamentary select committee to explain how his method of mapping settlements in Ireland could be applied in England, as more detailed town maps were urgently needed to assist in the planned reforms of town sanitation. The interest in Yolland's work in Ireland survives to this day: as a young man he appears as a leading character in Brian Friel's play Translations, a modern play set in nineteenth century Co. Donegal.[5] The character of Yolland in Translations is fictionalised, however, as he is called George Yolland and is missing, possibly dead, at the play's end. General Colby appears as "Captain Lancey".[5] Yolland's technical account of establishing a triangulation base near Lough Foyle (1827-9) was incorporated as the "geodesy" section of the Royal Military Academy's curriculum for the training of military engineers.[6]
On his return to England he was placed in charge of the Ordnance Survey's new offices in Southampton, where he produced a set of maps of the City itself; in 1852, with Captain Tucker of the Royal Engineers, he completed a plan of the city of York.[7]
In 1851, Yolland was appointed to one of the judging panels for
When Colonel Hall retired in 1854 it was expected that, at the second opportunity, Yolland would be offered the Superintendent's post. However Hall, who had continued to resent his subordinate's abilities, succeeded in blocking the appointment.
Railway Inspectorate
Yolland retired from the army in 1863, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel, although he retained his position with the Railway Inspectorate. At a time when Britain's railway mileage was expanding at a great rate, his duties included the inspection of new lines and he took full opportunity to insist that the latest safety features, such as
In 1877 he was appointed HM Chief Railway Inspector in succession to
Shipton-on-Cherwell accident (1874)
One of the worst railway crashes he investigated occurred on the
Tay bridge disaster (1879)
He was a member of the Board of Inquiry into the Tay Bridge disaster, with fellow members
Honours and awards
- Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society1840
- Fellow of the Royal Society 1859
- Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts1860
- Companion of the Order of the Bath 1881
Notes
- Bury, Lancashire, was carriage builder to the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway. He also was patentee for a gas-fuelled carriage lighting system.[13][14][15]
- ^ The Railway Inspectorate was not granted this enforcement power until 1889, with the passing of the Regulation of Railways Act of that year.[16]
References
- ^ a b Vetch (2004)
- ^ .
- ^ ISBN 0-319-00498-8.
- ISBN 9781847080981.
- ^ ISSN 1092-3977.
- ^ a b c "Obituary". The Times: 6. 7 September 1885.
- ^ Plan of York, 1852 (Sheets 1 - 21): Surveyed in 1850, by Captain Tucker; R.E. Engraved in 1851, under the direction of Captain Yolland, R.E. at the Ordnance Map Office, Southampton, and Published by Lt. Colonel Hall R.E. Superintendent, 1st. Sept., 1852.
- OCLC 606234586.
- ^ "Office of Ordnance Corps of Royal Engineers". The London Gazette. 23 January 1855.
- OCLC 612532779.
- ^ Gordon, William John (1910). "Interlocking Signals". Our Home Railways. Vol. 1. London: Frederick Warne and Co. p. 198.
- OCLC 952817846.
- Nock, O.S.(1955). The Railway Engineers. London: B.T.Batsford Ltd. p. 239.
- ^ Fairbairn, William (November 1859). "On experiments to determine the efficiency of self-acting brakes for railway trains". The Civil Engineer and Architect's Journal. xxii (308): 357.
- ^ Bradshaw's General Railway Directory, Shareholders' Guide, Manual and Almanack (XVI ed.). London: W.J. Adams. 1864. Front matter.
- ISBN 9780711025516.
- Eyre & Spottiswoode.
- ^ "Railway Viaducts over South Esk River". portal.historicenvironment.scot. Historic Environment Scotland. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
- ^ "Site Record for Montrose, South Esk Viaduct". Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. Retrieved 19 January 2012.
- ^ Yolland, William; Calcraft, Henry (29 November 1880). "North British Railway". Return of Accidents and Casualties. London: HMSO. pp. 277โ280.
Further reading
- Jack Simmons; Gordon Biddle, eds. (1997). The Oxford companion to British railway history from 1603 to the 1990s. Oxford: Oxford University Press. OCLC 38062800.
- Vetch, R. H., revised Matthew, C. G. (2004): Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. The first edition of this text is available at Wikisource: Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885โ1900. .
- Lewis, P. R. (2004). Beautiful railway bridge of the silvery Tay : reinvestigating the Tay Bridge disaster of 1879. Stroud: Tempus. OCLC 57612655.
- Lewis, P. R. (2008). Wheels to disaster! : the Oxford train wreck of Christmas Eve 1874. Alistair Nisbet. Stroud: Tempus. OCLC 195680623.