Benjamin Blyth II
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Birth name | Benjamin Hall Blyth | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Date of birth | 25 May 1849 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Edinburgh, Scotland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Date of death | 13 May 1917 | (aged 67)||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Place of death | North Berwick, East Lothian, Scotland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
School | Merchiston Castle School | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
University | University of Edinburgh | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Notable relative(s) | Benjamin Hall Blyth I Mary Dudgeon Wright (parents) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Spouse | Millicent Taylor | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Children | Benjamin Edward Blyth Elsie Winifred Blyth | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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3rd President of the Scottish Rugby Union | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In office 1875–1876 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Preceded by | Albert Harvey | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Succeeded by | William Hamilton Kidston | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Benjamin Hall Blyth FRSE (25 May 1849 – 13 May 1917), often called Benjamin Blyth II, was a Scottish civil engineer.[1]
Family
[edit]Blyth, who was born at 36 Minto Street,[2] Edinburgh,[3] was the eldest of the nine children of Mary Dudgeon Wright and the railway engineer Benjamin Blyth.[1] He was educated at Merchiston Castle School between 1860 and 1864 before studying for a Master of Arts degree from the University of Edinburgh, graduating in 1867.
After the death of both parents – Benjamin Blyth in 1866 and Mary Dudgeon Wright in 1868 – Blyth and his siblings were brought up by their mother's sister, Elizabeth Scotland Wright.[4][5]
Rugby Union career
[edit]Amateur career
[edit]Blyth played for Merchistonians.[6]
Provincial career
[edit]Blyth played in the world's very first representative provincial match in November 1872. This was the 'Inter-City': the match between Glasgow District and Edinburgh District. Blyth represented the Edinburgh side.
Administrative career
[edit]He became the 3rd President of the Scottish Rugby Union, holding the post between 1875 and 1876.[7]
Engineering career
[edit]Following his father's death, Blyth entered the family engineering consultancy and became a partner five years later. Blyth served as a consultant to the North British Railway and the Great North of Scotland Railway and served in an advisory capacity to the British Army with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the Engineer and Railway Staff Corps. In 1872, he married Millicent Taylor[8] with whom he had a son, Benjamin Edward, who died in infancy,[9] and a daughter, Elsie Winifred.[1] He became a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1877, being elected to its council in 1900. He served as vice-president in 1911 and in 1914 became the first practising Scottish engineer to serve as president.[10] On 7 February 1898 he became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.[11]
Political career
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6a/17_Palmerston_Place%2C_Edinburgh.jpg/170px-17_Palmerston_Place%2C_Edinburgh.jpg)
In later life, Blyth lived in a large Victorian townhouse at 17 Palmerston Place in Edinburgh's West End.[12]
Blyth stood as the Unionist candidate for the East Lothian by-election of 1911, but lost to the Liberal candidate, John Deans Hope by 468 votes. One of his policies was opposing giving home rule to Ireland.[13]
Death
[edit]Blyth was widowed on 12 September 1914. He died in North Berwick on 13 May 1917, of "spittielioma of tongue"[14] and was survived by his daughter. His nephew, Benjamin Hall Blyth (sometimes referred to as Benjamin Blyth III) was the son of his brother Francis Creswick Blyth – who was taken on by Blyth and Blyth in 1909,[15] continued the consultancy after his death.[1]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b5/The_grave_of_Benjamin_Hall_Blyth%2C_Dean_Cemetery.jpg/220px-The_grave_of_Benjamin_Hall_Blyth%2C_Dean_Cemetery.jpg)
He is buried on the obscured southern terrace of Dean Cemetery in Edinburgh, towards the east. His wife, Millicent Taylor (1852-1914) is buried with him. Their infant son, Benjamin Edward Blyth, who died in 1875 aged six weeks lies at their feet.
Legacy
[edit]He trained James Simpson Pirie FRSE (1861-1943), founder of J S Pirie & Sons. Pirie ran Blyth & Blyth from his death until the end of the war.[16]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d "Dictionary of Scottish Architects entry". Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 5 January 2008.
- ^ Edinburgh Post Office Directory 1849
- ^ Old Parish Record of birth
- ^ Will of Mary Dudgeon Wright, held by Scottish records
- ^ Census of Scotland 1871
- ^ "Football - Inter-City Football Match". The Glasgow Herald. 25 November 1872. p. 5.
- ^ "Past Presidents of Scottish Rugby Union" (PDF). Scottish Rugby Record 2018/19: 107. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 November 2019. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
- ^ "Former Fellows of The Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783 – 2002" (PDF). p. 94. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 September 2015. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
- ^ Blyth, E.L.I. 1893, The family of Blythe or Blyth of Norton and Birchet
- ^ Watson, Garth (1988). The civils : the story of the Institution of Civil Engineers. London: Thomas Telford. p. 252. ISBN 0-7277-0392-7. OCLC 16866651.
- ^ Royal Society of Edinburgh fellows list Archived 4 October 2006 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Edinburgh and Leith Post Office Directory 1905-6
- ^ The Scotsman, various editions from 1911
- ^ Death certificate, held by Scottish records office
- ^ Blyth and Blyth: The First 100 Years, historical records held by company
- ^ "Dictionary of Scottish Architects - DSA Architect Biography Report (May 26, 2019, 3:37 pm)". www.scottisharchitects.org.uk. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
- Scottish civil engineers
- 1849 births
- 1917 deaths
- Presidents of the Institution of Civil Engineers
- Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
- People educated at Merchiston Castle School
- Alumni of the University of Edinburgh
- Engineers from Edinburgh
- Engineer and Railway Staff Corps officers
- Scottish soldiers
- Unionist Party (Scotland) politicians
- Presidents of the Scottish Rugby Union
- Merchistonian FC players
- Edinburgh District (rugby union) players
- Scottish rugby union players