Alexander Meadows Rendel


Sir Alexander Meadows Rendel, was an English civil engineer.

Early life

Rendel was born in Plymouth, the eldest son of the engineer James Meadows Rendel and his wife Catherine Harris. Three of his brothers were civil engineers: George Wightwick Rendel, Stuart Rendel, 1st Baron Rendel, and Hamilton Owen Rendel.
He was educated at The King's School Canterbury and Trinity College, Cambridge.

Career

Rendel was appointed as engineer to the London Dock Company in 1856, and was responsible for the enlargement of the Shadwell Basin and the construction of the Royal Albert Dock including the Connaught tunnel to divert the railway. He was also responsible for the Albert and Edinburgh Docks in Leith, and the Workington Dock and Harbour in Cumbria. In 1857-1858 he visited India, and was consulting engineer to the India Office, the East India Railway and other Indian railways, and was a member of the commission to determine narrow gauge for Indian Railways, in 1870.
He designed the Lansdowne Bridge Rohri at Sukkur over the Indus River, which was made and constructed in London then shipped out and when it was completed in 1889 was the largest cantilever bridge in the world. The climax of his bridge-building career was considered to be the Howrah or Jubilee Bridge allowing trains to cross the Hooghly River near Calcutta; this was opened by the Viceroy on 21 February 1887. He was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire in 1897.
He was the designer of Hardinge Bridge in Bangladesh.

Personal life

Rendel married Eliza Hobson, daughter of Captain William Hobson RN, the late first Governor of New Zealand. The ceremony was held on 27 January 1853 at the Parish Church of Stoke Damerel, Devonport by the Rev James Elliot, uncle of the bride. They had five sons and three daughters, including:
  • Dr. Arthur B. Rendel, who married Elizabeth Cecilia Blair, daughter of Colonel H. F. Blair of the Royal Navy, in 1902.
  • Catharine Jane Rendel, who married architect Halsey Ricardo.
Rendel had a 400 acre estate Rikketswood in Charlwood purchased before his brother Stuart bought the upstaging Hatchlands.
Rendel died at 51 Gordon Square, London, on 23 January 1918. He is buried with his family in Brookwood Cemetery.