FW75 Programme 2014

SOME EMINENT VICTORIANS
Dublin towards the end of the Nineteenth Century is captured in the Bird’s Eye View,
published by the London-based Graphic Newspaper in December 1890 when James
Joyce was nearly nine. In the Bird’s Eye view, the line of the river is clearly captured,
showing the influence on the city of three men in particular:
Nicholas Proud was the Secretary or Chief Executive
Officer of the Dublin Port & Docks Board. He was
appointed at its inception in 1867, when it replaced the old
Dublin Ballast Board (with its headquarters still in the
Ballast Office). He served until just two weeks before his
death in 1921. Both Bindon Blood Stoney and John Purser
Griffith were appointed Chief Engineer by the Secretary,
By Order, Nicholas Proud (FW12).
Hence when the clouds rolled by Jamey, a proudseye view is
enjoyable of our mounding’s mass (FW7-8)
Bindon Blood Stoney, Executive Engineer, to the Dublin
Ballast Board and, from 1867, Chief Engineer at Dublin
Port. He designed the quay walls at the River Liffey,
making it a deepwater port. He designed Grattan Bridge,
O'Connell Bridge, and the original Butt Bridge [replaced
in 1932]. He invented a diving bell, which can be seen to
this day on Sir John Rogerson’s Quay and the means to use
pre-cast concrete. His brother, the physicist George
Johnstone Stoney coined the term ‘electron’ for the
fundamental unit of electricity.
John Purser Griffith served a two-year apprenticeship
under Bindon Blood Stoney at the Dublin Port and Docks.
In 1871, he was appointed Dr. Stoney's assistant, becoming
the Chief Engineer in 1898. His achievements included
substantial rebuilding of the quays and the deepening the
approaches.
His North Quay extension involved the use of the great
concrete blocks, each containing more than 5,000 cubic feet
of masonry, weighing about 360 tons. These were built
above high-water level, and when sufficiently set were set
were lifted and transported by a floating shears crane and
deposited on a bed provided by steam dredging, and
levelled by men working in a diving bell. When he retired
in 1913, His son, John William Griffith, succeeded him. In
1936, he was awarded the honorary freedom of the city of
Dublin. He died on 21 October 1938.
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