Rowland Burdon (1756-1838)
Rowland Burdon MP
1756 Born in Newcastle upon Tyne, son of Rowland Burdon (1724–1786) and his wife, Elizabeth Smith.
1768 His father founded the Exchange Bank in Newcastle in partnership with Aubone Surtees.
1790 Elected MP for the County of Durham
Promoted a turnpike road between Stockton and Sunderland
1792 Burdon obtained an Act of Parliament for the construction of a bridge across the Wear at Sunderland.
1793-5 Mayor of Stockton.
1793 Construction of the bridge began. The foundation stone was laid by Burdon himself, with the provincial grand master leading a procession of 200 brethren. The abutments took two years to complete, and the gorge was bridged in 1795. The bridge was opened in 1796
His personal contribution to the venture, which laid the foundation of Sunderland’s prosperity, was put at £30,000; but the royal architect John Nash later complained to Glenbervie that the iron bridge ‘was first projected by himself, and the design stolen from him by Mr Burdon’.
1795 Gained a patent defining the use of cast blocks with cast iron or wrought iron braces fixed to their sides between the ribs.
1802 Burdon, with Thomas Wilson, was granted a further patent concerning "certain new methods of uniting, combining and connecting the metallick patent blocks of Rowland Burton for the construction of arches"[1], providing greater rigidity.
1803 The bank failed. This led to Burdon leaving Parliament. The bank’s creditors sought permission to acquire his interest in the tolls on the Sunderland bridge and in a ropery. Eventually many of his debts were settled.
1838 He died at Castle Eden.
See Also
Sources of Information
- [2] Parliament online
- A Biographical Dictionary of Civil Engineers in Great Britain by A. W. Skempton
- Biography of Rowland Burdon, ODNB