Eight different men worked as dock engineers in Liverpool between 1710 and 1913:
- Thomas Steers (1710-1750)
- Henry Berry (1750-1788)
- Thomas Morris (1789-1799)
- John Foster (1799-1824)
- Jesse Hartley (1824-1860)
- John Hartley (1860-1861)
- George Fosbery Lyster (1861-1897)
- Anthony George Lyster (1897-1913)
Dock engineers were employed to plan and supervise the building of Liverpool’s docks. To begin with this job was not full-time and the job-title has changed many times over the years. Generally less is known about the early dock engineers because written records about them have not survived. Likewise, little has been written about the men who did this job in later years. After 1913 the job of dock engineer at Liverpool was more to do with looking after the port’s existing docks rather than building new ones. The three exceptions to this were Gladstone Dock (opened in 1927), Bidston Dock, Birkenhead (opened in 1933) and Seaforth Dock (opened in 1972). Only seven of the eight dock engineers listed above are discussed here as there is little information available about John Hartley. He only worked as Liverpool’s dock engineer for a very short period because of poor health.
The available evidence suggests that the men who worked as dock engineers at Liverpool had very different personalities. None more so than John Foster and the man who was dock engineer after him, Jesse Hartley. Foster appears to have been a corrupt man who was driven by personal gain. On the other hand Hartley was fully committed to doing his work for the dock committee efficiently. Yet in spite of his personal faults Foster still made a vital contribution to the growth of Liverpool’s docks. Admittedly there were some problems with the work of Liverpool’s earliest dock engineers: Thomas Steers, Henry Berry and Thomas Morris, but it should be remembered that they were doing groundbreaking work. Without their drive and imagination Liverpool may not have grown to become the major port which it did, for Liverpool was not a natural safe place for ships.
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