London Underground's South African connection

[John Ashworth]

The London Underground and its South African connection

11 January 2010 13:45
The South African

Although a profusion of South Africans use the London Underground railway system on a daily basis, not many are aware of the famous transport system’s South African connection. Historian ROSS DIX-PEEK takes a look at the life of engineer James Henry Greathead, the South African who pioneered this hub of London life

editor@thesouthafrican.co.uk

The veritable maze that is the London Underground owes its existence, at least in part, to a brilliant railway-engineer named James Henry Greathead, born in Grahamstown, South Africa, on 6 August 1844.

He was the son of the Hon. James Henry Greathead, M.L.C., an 1820 settler to South Africa, and a resident of Grahamstown. Greathead attended St. Andrew’s College, in Grahamstown from 1855-1856, later proceeding to the Diocesan College (“Bishop’s”), Newlands, Cape Town, and Westbourne College School in London. Greathead was then apprenticed as an engineering pupil to the gifted and famous British Engineer, Peter Barlow. He served on the Midland railway, then served as an assistant engineer on the Hammersmith Extension, and Resident Engineer at the Tower Subway, Thames (1868).

He invented the Greathead Shield for Underground Tunneling, and also pioneered the use of compressed air, as well as the Injector Hydrant for the extinguishing of fires (1878), and was the first to substitute cast-iron plates for mason work.

Greathead was also engaged on the Richmond Extension of the District Railway, and designed and carried out, as Engineer-in-Chief, the construction of the City and South London Electric Railway, utilising his “Shield” and “Grouting Machine” (1891), as well as constructing the Overhead Electric Railway at the Liverpool Docks (1894).

He also initiated the following underground electric railways: Central London, Baker Street and Waterloo, Great Northern and City, Hampstead, St. Pancras and Charing Cross, and Waterloo and City. This gifted man also served as consulting engineer for the Metropolitan Outer Circle Line and Blackwall Tunnel, and was a member of the Council of the Institute of Civil Engineers, and also contributed various papers to Engineering, Iron and other periodicals.

The “Greathead Shield” was an adaptation of a tunneling shield invented by the legendary French-born British Engineer, Marc Brunel, used in the construction of the Rotherhithe Tunnel under the Thames River, which was rather large and unwieldy.

Greathead’s shield was designed by him in 1869 and was used in the completion of the Tower Subway which ran under the Thames River, close to the Tower of London. The shield was circular in design and was advanced by screw jacks, the tunnel subsequently lined with cast-iron rings for support.

Greathead’s inventions were subsequently incorporated in tunnel construction, and are still a feature of engineering to this day.

The London Illustrated says of Greathead: “Hamlet thought that a man must build churches if he would have his memory outlive his lifetime, but Mr James Henry Greathead, the well-known engineer, has left a name which seems likely to survive him for some time by the less picturesque work of making subterranean tunnels.”

It goes on to say, “He developed to its highest pitch the system of tunneling which had been introduced by Brunel, who constructed the tunnel under the Thames at Wapping by means of a shield. Mr Greathead improved this shield and drove it forward by hydraulic rams, while he made such subaqueous work easier by the use of compressed air. The greatest feat in subaqueous boring that has ever been undertaken is the new tunnel under the Thames at Blackwell. It is a curious fact that the great engineer just lived to see the Blackwell tunnel brought to a successful completion and then died...”

A statue was erected in Greathead’s honour, in London in 1994, and stands next to the Royal Exchange. Although Greathead’s inventions and methods are still in use to this day, very few South Africans and southern Africans, are aware of his contribution to the railway infrastructure of the London metropolitan area, and that their experience of the “London Underground” can in part be attributed to a fellow countryman.

So when you next use the London underground system, spare a thought for this fellow South African, James Henry Greathead, whose genius, enterprise and skill helped make your journey a far better experience.