Henry Norris (engineer)

Henry Norris
Born	3 March 1816 Poplar, London, England
Died	11 May 1878 (aged 62) Stratford, London, England
Nationality	British
Citizenship	Great Britain
Engineering career
Discipline	civil engineering
Practice name	Messrs. Walker & Burges
Projects	Eddystone lighthouse Smeaton's Tower repairs, Trevose Head lighthouse, East Bute docks Cardiff, Spurn Low lighthouse, Whitby lighthouse, Europa Point Gibraltar, St Bees lighthouse, Souter lighthouse, Hartland Point lighthouse

Souter lighthouse tower at Lizard Point, Marsden

The newly built Trevose Head lighthouse, Cornwall, England from "The Illustrated London News" 1847

Spurn Low lighthouse, Spurn Point while still operational

Whitby Lighthouse, Ling Hill, Whitby

Hartland Point Lighthouse, Devon

St Bees lighthouse, St Bees Head, Cumbria

Europa Point Lighthouse, Gibraltar in 1879

North Foreland lighthouse at Broadstairs, Kent about 1880 with modernised light as it was after 1860

Henry Norris (1816–1878) was a British civil engineer born in Poplar, London the son of several generations of house carpenters. He was the resident engineer for lighthouse construction projects under contract to Trinity House from civil engineers Messrs. Walker & Burges, the firm of James Walker and Alfred Burges, and later on oversaw the building of Souter Lighthouse, the world's first lighthouse specifically designed & built to be powered by electricity.

He died at Stratford, London and is buried at Tower Hamlets Cemetery. His grave was located during ground clearing work in 2013 a few metres from that of John Buckley (VC).

Henry Norris noted projects around the coast of England and Wales, included:

Projects

• Eddystone Lighthouse repairs to Smeaton's Tower in 1841 "The Eddystone Lighthouse has within the past few months undergone a complete renovation, under the direction of Mr. Henry Norris, engineer, from the establishment of Messrs. Walker and Burges, the contractors under the Trinity Board. The exterior of the building has been pointed with cement, a large cavity in the rock, close to the foundation of the light-house has been filled up and the water casks formerly in use have been removed, and commodious tanks erected in their stead."^[1] Despite these repairs to the foundations, later failure of the rock itself upon which the tower was built led to Smeaton's Tower replacement.
• Trevose Head Lighthouse^[2] (1844-47) built at Trevose Head, Cornwall. During his time there he met & in 1847 married Anna Maria Morcumb a daughter of the farmer at the adjacent Trevose Farm, they would return here to have most of their children baptised at St Merryn church.
• East Bute Dock at Cardiff Docks, survey in 1851 for their designer James Walker of Messrs. Walker & Burges
• Spurn Low^[3] lighthouse at Spurn on the point at the mouth of the Humber in 1852
• Whitby Lighthouse - the twin lights of Whitby North^[4] and Whitby South,^[5] near Ling Hill, High Whitby (1857-58) "Messrs. Walker, Burgess, and Cooper, of Great George Street, London, are the engineers, and Mr. Henry Norris, of London, is the superintendent of the works"^[6]
• North Foreland lighthouse March 1860, conversion of the light to a dioptric^[7] & experiments with alternating current arc lighting conducted by Professor Frederick Hale Holmes which were included in a lecture by Michael Faraday at the Royal Institution.^[8]
• Europa Point Lighthouse, Gibraltar Repairs and upgrade of the lamp (1863-64) "The lighthouse at Gibraltar is undergoing considerable alterations and repairs, under the directions of Mr. Norris, of the Trinity House, who has been sent out from England for this purpose."^[9]
• St Bees Lighthouse (1865-66) "The new lantern was originally intended for Gibraltar, Mr Norris,the resident engineer, who has the superintendence of the work for Trinity House, says that it is one of the clearest and most perfect pieces of mechanism he ever saw in his life."^[10][11]
• Souter Lighthouse (1869-71) "This new lighthouse has been completed so far that it is ready for the lantern, the top-stone of the tower having been fixed on Saturday. The remainder of the works are being pushed rapidly forward under the supervision of Mr H. Norris, the board and resident engineer. The new lighthouse is expected to be in working order for December and will be one of the best structures of its kind on the coast."^[12][13]
• Hartland Point Lighthouse 1873-74 ^[14]

References

1. "Plymouth", Woolmer's Exeter and Plymouth Gazette, p. 3, May 15, 1841
2. "Lighthouse management : the report of the Royal Commissioners on Lights, Buoys, and Beacons, 1861, examined and refuted Vol. 2". pp. 92, 93.
3. "Lighthouse management,". p. 69.
4. "Lighthouse management,". p. 67.
5. "Lighthouse management,". p. 68.
6. "The New Lighthouses", The Whitby Gazette, p. 4, May 22, 1858
7. "Lighthouse management,". p. 79.
8. "Magneto-Electric Light for Lighthouses", Newcastle Courant, p. 3, March 30, 1860, MAGNETO-ELECTRIC LIGHT FOR LIGHTHOUSES - Professor Faraday, in a lecture delivered at the Royal Institution, says: "By means of a magnet, and of motion, we can get the some kind of electricity as from the battery; and, under the authority of the Trinity House, Professor Holmes has been occupied in introducing the magneto-electric light in the lighthouse at the North Foreland...For the last six months the North Foreland has been shining by means of this electric light beyond all comparison better than its former light. Never for once during six months has it failed in doing its duty
9. "The Army - Gibraltar Garrison", Saunders's News-Letter, p. 3, Sep 8, 1863
10. "St. Bees New Lighthouse", Cumberland Pacquet, and Ware's Whitehaven Advertiser, p. 5, May 16, 1865
11. "County Courts - Whitehaven Tuesday Nov. 27", The Whitehaven News, p. 5, Nov 29, 1866, PEARSON v. NORRIS - In this case Charles Pearson, painter,Whitehaven, sued Mr. Norris, Government inspector at the St. Bees lighthouse, now in course of erection, for 10s 3d for work executed by plaintiff.- Plaintiff said the sum claimed was for lettering a notice-board at the St. Bees lighthouse.
12. "The New Lighthouse on Souter Point", Shields Gazette and Daily Telegraph, p. 3, September 9, 1870
13. "Shipping", Shields Gazette and Daily Telegraph, p. 3, June 10, 1869, The foundation-stone of the lighthouse at Souter Point was laid yesterday afternoon by Mrs Blain (sister to Admiral Collinson) in the presence of the committee of the Elder Brethren of the Trinity House, London, Admiral Collinson, Captain Nesbitt, Captain Webb, Mr G. N. Douglas[sic], engineer to the Corporation, and friends. Robert [sic] Norris is the superintendent of the works, and Mr James Todd is the contractor.
14. "Hartland", Exeter and Plymouth Gazette, p. 7, Apr 18, 1874, Hartland Point Lighthouse - Since the latter part of November, when the foundation stone of this work was laid, and the rough weather soon after set in, the building has been suspended and only a few hands partially employed on the works. We are happy to note the return to business this week of Mr. Ferward, the contractor, and Mr. Norris, the engineer of the works.