THOMAS, a very able and distinguished engineer, was born in the parish of Westerkirk and county of Dumfries, on the 9th of August 1757. His father, who followed the occupation of a shepherd, died before the close of that year; and the orphan boy was thus left to the sole care of his mother, whose maiden name was Janet Jackson. She survived till the year 1794, and had the high satisfaction of seeing him already entered upon a very prosperous career. In his correspondence with her, he is said to have written all his letters in printed characters, that she might be able to read them without assistance. His very limited education he received at Westerkirk school; and, during the summer season, was employed by his uncle as a shepherd boy. This occupation left him abundant leisure for reading; and his early and eager love of knowledge he was enabled to gratify by the kindness of some individuals, who accommodated him with the loan of books. At an early age he quitted Westerkirk school and the care of his uncle's flock, in order to learn the trade of a mason in the neighbouring town of Langholm. After the completion of his apprenticeship, he continued for some time to work as a journeyman. Langholm Bridge, over the River Esk, was partly reared by hands which were destined for more scientific occupations. At this early period of his life, he was remarkable for his elastic spirits and gay humour. In his native district of Eskdale, he was long remembered as "laughing Tom." His favourite pursuits were not yet scientific, but literary, and he even aspired at the reputation of a poet. He was a contributor to the Weekly Magazine; and one of his compositions, entitled Eskdale, a Poem, appeared with the name of the author in a provincial miscellany. It is in imitation of Pope's Windsor Forest, and at least displays some command of poetical language and imagery. He subsequently wrote many verses; and from a poetical epistle which he had addressed to Burns, some extracts were printed by Dr Currie. Telford at length quitted Eskdale, and sought for better employment in Edinburgh, where he is said to have continued, with unremitting application, to study architecture on scientific principles. In the meantime, however, he must have earned his daily bread by the labour of his hands. Here he remained till the year 1782, when he was emboldened to try his fortune in London. He had now reached the age of twenty-five, and seems to have acquired new confidence in the resources of his own talents.

John Pasley, a wealthy merchant, the brother of Sir Thomas Pasley, and the uncle of Sir John Malcolm, was remarkable, even in a proverbial degree, for his anxious attention to the welfare of the Eskdale youth who repaired to the metropolis. This ingenious young man, then a journeyman mason, he received with his habitual kindness, and not only treated him with hospitality, but we have every reason to believe, rendered him very important services, and greatly contributed to his subsequent advancement. In his account of his own life, it is observable that Telford makes not the slightest allusion to his benefactor. As to his occupation, he states that he was fortunate in being employed at the quadrangle of Somerset Place, where he acquired much practical information, both in the useful and ornamental branches of architecture. After a residence of two years in London, he was engaged in superintending the building of a house in the dock-yard at Portsmouth, intended for the resident commissioner. "During the three years," he remarks, "that I attended the building of the commissioner's house, and of a new chapel for the dock-yard, I had an opportunity of observing the various operations necessary in the foundations and construction of graving-docks, wharf-walls, and similar works, which afterwards became my chief occupation."

Having terminated his engagement at Portsmouth in 1787, he was employed by Sir William Pulteney to superintend some alterations in Shrewsbury Castle, which he wished to fit up as a temporary residence. This baronet likewise belonged to Westerkirk, being a younger son of Sir James Johnstone of Westerhall. It is more than probable that Telford had been recommended to him by Mr Pasley; and to this new connection he was indebted for a very favourable opening of his career as a civil engineer. He was appointed surveyor of the public works in the rich and extensive county of Salop; and this office he retained till the time of his death. His chief attention was thus devoted to building and repairing bridges; but, as an architect, he was likewise employed in superintending the erection of churches and other edifices. His politics did not coincide with those of his patron. "Telford in his youth," says Mr Rickman, "is known to have been tinctured with the then fashionable doctrines of democracy, while the strong mind of his patron derided and detested the flimsy tissue, as might be expected from his penetration and experience. A dangerous rupture was once likely to ensue, when Telford rather improperly transmitted some of the political trash of the day under his patron's frank; but the latter pardoned him, after due animadversion." Telford's progress in his professional career, though not uncommonly rapid, was steady and certain; and every new opportunity of exerting his talents contributed to extend a reputation which at length became unrivalled. In 1790 he was employed by the British Fishery Society to inspect the harbours at their several stations, and to devise a plan for an extensive establishment in the county of Caithness; and after an interval of three years he was intrusted with the management of the Ellesmere Canal. In 1803 the parliamentary commissioners for making roads and building bridges in the Highlands, as well as the commissioners for the Caledonian Canal, appointed him their engineer. Under the former board, 1117 bridges were erected, and 920 miles of new roads were made; and under the latter board was completed the Caledonian Canal, a work of great labour and expense. Under the road commissioners on the Carlisle, Glasgow, and Lanarkshire roads, 30 bridges were erected; one of them having a span of 150 feet, and another being 122 feet high. In both parts of the kingdom, he afterwards conducted a great variety of public operations; and in 1808 he was employed by the Swedish government to execute a regular survey, and lay down correct plans and sections of the country between Lake Wener and the shore of the Baltic, near Soderkoping, and to make a detailed report on the subject, with the view of connecting the great fresh-water lakes, and forming a direct communication between the North Sea and the Baltic. Having completed this service, he em- harked at Gottenburg early in October. In August 1813 he again visited Sweden, and inspected all the works then commenced, which chiefly consisted of excavations. The king bestowed on him a Swedish order of knighthood, but his good sense prevented him from assuming the title. As a further mark of the royal approbation, he received the king's portrait set in valuable diamonds. He continued for many years to be engaged in a great variety of similar undertakings, indeed in all the most important undertakings that were then in progress; and a simple enumeration of his roads, bridges, canals, and harbours, would itself occupy even considerable space. "It has been said, and no doubt truly, that Mr Telford was inclined to set a higher value on the success which attended his exertions for improving the great communication from London to Holyhead, the alterations of the line of road, its smoothness, and the excellence of the bridges, than on that of any other work he executed. The Menai Bridge will unquestionably be the most imperishable monument of Mr Telford's fame. This bridge over the Bangor Ferry, connecting the counties of Carnarvon and Anglesea, partly of stone and partly of iron, on the suspension principle, consists of seven stone arches, exceeding in magnitude every work of the kind in the world."

Telford was possessed of a robust frame, and, till he reached the age of seventy, he had never been visited with any serious illness. While at Cambridge in the year 1827, he was afflicted with a severe and dangerous disorder; and although he gradually recovered a certain degree of health, he never recovered his former vigour. He became subject to bilious derangements in an alarming degree; and these recurring in the spring and autumn of 1832 and 1833, and again in the spring of the ensuing year, greatly impaired his strength. On the 23d of August 1834 he experienced an attack, which, after affording some delusive expectations of his recovery, reached its fatal termination on the 2d September of the same year, after he had completed the seventy-seventh year of his age. He died at his house in Abingdon Street, Westminster, and his remains were deposited in the Abbey.

He bequeathed legacies to the amount of L16,600, but his own relations were entirely overlooked. "After his mother's death, Telford had few family connections to provide for; and although he was ready to help these, when occasionally in want of pecuniary assistance, yet he did not divide his property amongst them, having from experience formed a strong opinion against the removal of any man from his station in life." To Colonel Pasley, the nephew of his early benefactor, he bequeathed a legacy of L500. We likewise mention to his credit that he bequeathed L1,000 to the subscription library of Westerkirk, and the same amount to that of Langholm. The defects of his early education he had endeavoured to remedy by his own unaided exertions in his mature years. We are informed that he had taught himself Latin, French, and German, and could read those languages with facility, and converse freely in French. He is likewise said to have been well acquainted with algebra, but to have placed more reliance on experiment than on mathematical investigation. A combination of science with experiment he doubtless understood and practised, as the best method of proceeding in his more difficult undertakings. He was a lover of literature, and was fond of miscellaneous reading. His relish for poetry never deserted him; and two poets, Campbell and Southey, were remembered in his will. To the Edinburgh Encyclopaedia he contributed the articles "Architecture," "Bridge-building," and "Canal-making." His account of his own life is however the most lasting monument of his professional talents. Of his personal history, the details are very meagre and unsatisfactory; but the record of his proceedings, and the result of his experience, as an engineer who had been engaged in such important and multifarious operations, constitute it a work of great interest. (Life of Thomas Telford, civil engineer, written by himself. Edited by John Rickman, one of his executors; with a preface, supplement, annotations, and index, Lond. 1833, 4to. See also Dissertation Sixth, prefixed to this work, § 351.)