12 Facts About Benjamin Outram

Benjamin Outram was an English civil engineer, surveyor and industrialist.

Benjamin Outram was a pioneer in the building of canals and tramways.

James and Benjamin Outram disagreed and they appealed and in 1803 the Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench, Lord Ellenborough agreed with them.

In 1803 he had a son, James Benjamin Outram, who became a general in the Indian Army and was later knighted.

Benjamin Outram died of a "brain fever" while visiting London in 1805.

Benjamin Outram died in Edinburgh and is buried in St John's churchyard in one of the lower terraces.

Joseph Outram was a promoter of the Cromford Canal, and when William Jessop was approached to design and build it he found an able assistant in 24-year-old Benjamin.

Benjamin Outram leased it on a moiety to Outram until the latter had acquired enough capital for a fifty per cent holding.

Benjamin Outram became a leading advocate in the construction of tramways using L-section rails, which along with the wagons were manufactured at his Butterley Ironworks.

Benjamin Outram's first tramway was a line slightly over 1 mile in length, built to carry limestone from quarries at Crich to Bullbridge Wharf on the Cromford Canal, for use by his works.

Benjamin Outram was the consulting engineer for the construction of the Huddersfield Narrow Canal, which included the pioneering Standedge Canal Tunnel.

Benjamin Outram predicted within a few years of their introduction that railways would become the principal mode of transport.