ARCHITECT

Thomas Telford

1757 - 1834

Photo of Thomas Telford

Icon of person Thomas Telford

Thomas Telford (9 August 1757 – 2 September 1834) was a Scottish civil engineer. After establishing himself as an engineer of road and canal projects in Shropshire, he designed numerous infrastructure projects in his native Scotland, as well as harbours and tunnels. Such was his reputation as a prolific designer of highways and related bridges, he was dubbed the 'Colossus of Roads' (a pun on the Colossus of Rhodes), and, reflecting his command of all types of civil engineering in the early 19th century, he was elected as the first president of the Institution of Civil Engineers, a post he held for 14 years until his death. The town of Telford in Shropshire was named after him. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Thomas Telford is the 362nd most popular architect (down from 341st in 2019), the 3,226th most popular biography from United Kingdom (down from 2,626th in 2019) and the 23rd most popular British Architect.

Memorability Metrics

Loading...

Page views of Thomas Telford by language

Loading...

Among ARCHITECTS

Among architects, Thomas Telford ranks 362 out of 518Before him are Yvonne Farrell, Max Berg, Johan Otto von Spreckelsen, Jan Santini Aichel, Justus Dahinden, and Moisei Ginzburg. After him are Carl Fredrik Adelcrantz, Ralph Erskine, Francesco Laparelli, Peter Joseph Lenné, Karbalayi Safikhan Karabakhi, and Giuseppe Piermarini.

Most Popular Architects in Wikipedia

Go to all Rankings

Contemporaries

Among people born in 1757, Thomas Telford ranks 37Before him are Albrecht Wilhelm Roth, Étienne Pierre Ventenat, Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton, Alessandro Rolla, Pál Kitaibel, and Wojciech Bogusławski. After him are James Sowerby, Gervasio Antonio de Posadas, John Adair, Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth, James Wilkinson, and Józef Kozłowski. Among people deceased in 1834, Thomas Telford ranks 37Before him are Jacques Labillardière, Charles Lamb, Filip Višnjić, Albrecht Wilhelm Roth, Joseph Bové, and Infanta Maria da Assunção of Braganza. After him are Gamzat-bek, Thomas Say, George Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer, Alexius Frederick Christian, Duke of Anhalt-Bernburg, Pierre Adet, and William H. Crawford.

Others Born in 1757

Go to all Rankings

Others Deceased in 1834

Go to all Rankings

In United Kingdom

Among people born in United Kingdom, Thomas Telford ranks 3,227 out of 8,785Before him are Pippa Middleton (1983), Ken Aston (1915), Chris Wolstenholme (1978), Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of Somerset (1436), Walter Rutherford (1857), and Kate Greenaway (1846). After him are David Watson (1946), James Somerville (1882), Richard Dadd (1817), John Pond (1767), Justin Welby (1956), and Richard Cobden (1804).

Among ARCHITECTS In United Kingdom

Among architects born in United Kingdom, Thomas Telford ranks 23Before him are Archibald Leitch (1865), Glenn Murcutt (1936), William Kent (1685), Edwin Lutyens (1869), Richard Norman Shaw (1831), and Charles Barry (1795). After him are Ralph Erskine (1914), Charles Cameron (1746), John Douglas (1830), John Soane (1753), Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington (1694), and Edward Blore (1787).