James Falshaw

Who was James Falshaw?

Sir James Falshaw, 1st Baronet JP, DL, FRSE, was a British railway engineer and politician.

He was born in Leeds, of an "old yeoman family" and was the son of William Falshaw, wool merchant, and Hannah Shaw. He was the sixth of fourteen children. The family later lived in Caverdale in the North Riding of Yorkshire.

In youth he studied under Jonathan Lockwood and then, aged 14, he was articled to the architect and surveyor, Joseph Cusworth, and trained as an engineer and surveyor. There he befriended John Hawkshaw.

In 1836 he went to work for George Leather, an engineer. Here he worked on Leeds Water-Works situated in Eccup. From 1837 to 1841 he worked on the Stockton and Hartlepool railway line and began to specialise in that field of work. The most impressive structure on this line was the 92 arch brick viaduct over Greatham Marsh. From 1838 to 1844 he also worked on the Bradford Water works.

In June 1844 he moved to Kendal to oversee the major project of the Lansater and Carlisle Railway. In 1845 he took on a more important role as an advisor to the House of Commons on various forthcoming railway projects. In 1845 he moved to Stirling to oversee the building of the Caledonian Railway. This project involved joining to the existing Edinburgh to Glasgow line at Greenhill and extending 100 mile line in a broad loop via Stirling and Dunblane to reach Forfar. The most impressive part of this is the mile-long Moncrieff Tunnel. This was completed by 1848.