William Jaffrey
William Jaffrey (1854-1905), M. Inst CE., Westminster.
1887 Resident engineer on the St. Helier Harbour works
1905 Obituary [1]
WILLIAM JAFFREY, born at Johnstone, near Glasgow, in 1854, was educated at Wallace School, Elderslie, and served a pupilage to the late Mr. George Simpson, of Glasgow, and to his successors, Messrs. Dixon and Marshall, by whom he was subsequently employed in railway and mining work.
In June 1876, he had charge under Mr. Dixon of the sinking of shafts and the erection of machinery and works at the Bent coal-fields, near Hamilton, N.B.
On the completion of this work, he became an assistant to the late Mr. W. R. Kinipple, for whom he made surveys and contract-drawings for the James Watt Dock, Greenock, and contract-drawings for the Harbour Works of Quebec, Esquimalt, RC., and other places.
From 1875 to 1880, Mr. Jaffrey acted as Engineer to the Maryport Hematite Iron Company, at first as assistant, but afterwards in full charge of the mines, furnaces, machinery and works.
In the latter year, he returned to Mr. Kinipple as his principal assistant, and after representing his chief on the St. Helier Harbour Improvement Works, Jersey, from 1887 to 1889, he was taken into partnership, and carried on an extensive consulting practice in conjunction with Mr. Kinipple until the latter gentleman’s retirement in 1896, after which date Mr. Jaffrey conducted the practice alone.
While Mr. Jaffrey was Resident Engineer at St. Helier Harbour Works, Mr. Kinipple introduced his system of grouting sand and shingle under water, which has since been extensively employed on the Nile barrage. To Mr. Jaffrey fell much of the anxiety and responsibility attendant on the introduction of a new process, but thanks to the care exercised, the method proved a great success.
From 1896 to the time of his death, Mr. Jaffrey was responsible for the inception and execution of many important works, among which may be mentioned the Poole Harbour Works, the new Fish Quay at Great Yarmouth, the Union Graving-Dock, Limehouse, and the Nelson Dry Dock, Rotherhithe; the last-named giving considerable trouble, owing to the insecurity of the local strata. He also carried out extensions to the East India Graving-Dock, and to the Piers of Clacton-on-Sea, Walton-on-the-Naze, and Felixstowe.
He was Consulting Engineer to the Aden Port Trust; and as Engineer to Commissioners of Sewers, to the East Coast Development Company, and to various local and county authorities in Norfolk, Suffolk, and Essex, he was responsible for extensive shore-protection works at Sheringham, Southwold, and other places on that coast. His services were also frequently retained in connection with the valuation of buildings and machinery for rating purposes. Of strict integrity and upright character, Mr. Jaffrey was a loyal friend and colleague, whose worth was appreciated by all who had the privilege of his acquaintance. He died at his birthplace, Johnstone, near Glasgow, on the 9th January, 1905, in his fifty-first year.
Mr. Jaffrey was elected a Member of the Institution on the 1st April, 1890.
1905 Obituary [2]