John Frederick Bateman
Encyclopedia
John Frederick Bateman was an English
civil engineer
whose work formed the basis of the modern United Kingdom
water supply industry. For over 50 years from 1835 he designed and constructed reservoirs and waterworks. His largest project was the system that supplied Manchester with much of its water during the 19th century. The construction of what was in its day the largest chain of reservoirs in the world began in 1848 and was completed in 1877. Bateman became "the greatest dam-builder of his generation".
Bateman also worked on water supply systems for Glasgow
, Belfast
, Bolton
, Chester
, Dublin, Newcastle upon Tyne
, Oldham
, Perth
, Stockport
and Wolverhampton
, amongst many others. He carried out projects abroad as well, including designing and constructing a drainage and water supply system for Buenos Aires
, and water supply schemes for Naples
, Constantinople
and Colombo
.
In 1883, Bateman assumed his mother's family surname of La Trobe, by royal licence, becoming John Frederic La Trobe Bateman.
, on 30 May 1810, and was the eldest son of John Bateman and his wife Mary Agnes, daughter of Benjamin La Trobe, a Moravian missionary at Fairfield, near Ashton-under-Lyne
. At the age of seven he was sent to the Moravian school at Fairfield, and two years later to the Moravian school at Ockbrook
, returning after four years more to the Fairfield school.
and mining engineer in Oldham
named Dunn. In 1833, he commenced business on his own account as a civil engineer. In 1834 he investigated the causes of the floods in the River Medlock
, which led him to study hydraulic
questions more closely. In 1835 he was associated with Sir William Fairbairn
, who early appreciated his ability, in laying out the reservoirs on the River Bann
in Ireland
. From that time he was almost continually employed in the construction of reservoirs and waterworks. In all his undertakings he advocated soft water in preference to hard
, and favoured gravitation schemes where they were practicable to avoid the necessity of pumping. He devoted much attention to methods of measuring rainfall, accumulated a quantity of statistics on the subject, and wrote several papers describing his observations.
. In 1844 he was first consulted in regard to the Manchester and Salford
water supply. About 1846 the project was formed of obtaining water from the Pennine hills
; the works in Longdendale
were commenced in 1848 and were finished in the spring of 1877. In 1884 Bateman published a History and Description of the Manchester Waterworks, which dealt with many points of interest to the student of hydraulic engineering. The Longdendale scheme, however, had been designed to supply a population less than half that of Manchester in 1882, and it was clear that additional sources of supply had to be found. At Bateman's suggestion the corporation resolved to construct new works at Thirlmere
. A bill was introduced into parliament
in 1878, and, after initial rejection, was passed in 1879. Bateman superintended the new works, assisted by George Hill.
in regard to the water supply of the city. In the parliamentary session of 1854–5, on Bateman's advice, a bill was obtained for the supply of water from Loch Katrine
. The works were commenced in the spring of 1856 and were completed by March 1860. They extend over thirty-four miles, and were described by James M. Gale as worthy to "bear comparison with the most extensive aqueducts in the world, not excluding those of ancient Rome".
In 1874 he prepared water schemes for Naples
and Constantinople
, and he was also engineer for some reclamation
schemes in Spain
and Majorca. The crown agents to the colonies employed him in Ceylon to design and carry out works for supplying Colombo
with water. For forty-eight years, from 1833 to 1881, Bateman directed his business alone. From 1881 to 1885 he was in partnership with George Hill, and in 1888 he took as partners his son-in-law, Richard Clere Parsons, and his son, Lee La Trobe Bateman.
Among other important waterworks by Bateman may be mentioned the systems for Warrington
, Accrington
, Oldham
, Ashton
, Blackburn, Stockdale
, Halifax
, Dewsbury
, St. Helens, Kendal
, Belfast
, Dublin, Newcastle-on-Tyne, Chorley
, Bolton
, Darwen
, Macclesfield
, Chester
, Birkenhead
, Gloucester
, Aberdare
, Perth
, Forfar
, Wolverhampton
, Colne Valley
, Marsden
, and Cheltenham
.
s of water a day. Bateman was connected with various harbour and dock trusts throughout the British Isles, including the Clyde Navigation Trust, for which he was consulting engineer, and the Shannon Inundation Inquiry in 1863, on which he was employed by government.
In addition to his many undertakings at home Bateman carried out several works abroad. In 1869 he proposed, in a pamphlet entitled Channel Railway, written in conjunction with Julian John Révy, to construct a submarine railway
between France and England in a cast-iron tube. In the same year he went out as representative of the Royal Society
, on the invitation of the khedive
, to attend the opening of the Suez Canal
, and wrote a long report of his visit, which was read to the Society on 6 January 1870, and published in the Proceedings. In the winter of 1870 he visited Buenos Aires
, at the request of the Argentine
government, for the purpose of laying out harbour works for that city. His plans were not adopted, but he was afterwards employed to design and carry out the drainage and water supply of the city.
Bateman was elected a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers
on 23 June 1840, and a fellow of the Royal Society of London on 7 June 1860. He was president of the Institution in 1878 and 1879. He was also a fellow
of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
, the Royal Geographical Society
, the Geological Society, the Society of Arts, and the Royal Institution
.
. By her he had three sons and four daughters. In 1883 he assumed by royal license the prefix, surname, and arms of La Trobe, in compliment to his grandfather. Bateman died on 10 June 1889 at his residence, Moor Park, Farnham
, an estate which he had purchased in 1859.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
civil engineer
Civil engineering
Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works like roads, bridges, canals, dams, and buildings...
whose work formed the basis of the modern United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
water supply industry. For over 50 years from 1835 he designed and constructed reservoirs and waterworks. His largest project was the system that supplied Manchester with much of its water during the 19th century. The construction of what was in its day the largest chain of reservoirs in the world began in 1848 and was completed in 1877. Bateman became "the greatest dam-builder of his generation".
Bateman also worked on water supply systems for Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
, Bolton
Bolton
Bolton is a town in Greater Manchester, in the North West of England. Close to the West Pennine Moors, it is north west of the city of Manchester. Bolton is surrounded by several smaller towns and villages which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, of which Bolton is the...
, Chester
Chester
Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...
, Dublin, Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
, Oldham
Oldham
Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amid the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers Irk and Medlock, south-southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of the city of Manchester...
, Perth
Perth, Scotland
Perth is a town and former city and royal burgh in central Scotland. Located on the banks of the River Tay, it is the administrative centre of Perth and Kinross council area and the historic county town of Perthshire...
, Stockport
Stockport
Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on elevated ground southeast of Manchester city centre, at the point where the rivers Goyt and Tame join and create the River Mersey. Stockport is the largest settlement in the metropolitan borough of the same name...
and Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...
, amongst many others. He carried out projects abroad as well, including designing and constructing a drainage and water supply system for Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, and water supply schemes for Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
, Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
and Colombo
Colombo
Colombo is the largest city of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, the capital of Sri Lanka. Colombo is often referred to as the capital of the country, since Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is a satellite city of Colombo...
.
In 1883, Bateman assumed his mother's family surname of La Trobe, by royal licence, becoming John Frederic La Trobe Bateman.
Early life
Bateman was born at Lower Wyke, near HalifaxHalifax, West Yorkshire
Halifax is a minster town, within the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale in West Yorkshire, England. It has an urban area population of 82,056 in the 2001 Census. It is well-known as a centre of England's woollen manufacture from the 15th century onward, originally dealing through the Halifax Piece...
, on 30 May 1810, and was the eldest son of John Bateman and his wife Mary Agnes, daughter of Benjamin La Trobe, a Moravian missionary at Fairfield, near Ashton-under-Lyne
Ashton-under-Lyne
Ashton-under-Lyne is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside, Greater Manchester, England. Historically a part of Lancashire, it lies on the north bank of the River Tame, on undulating land at the foothills of the Pennines...
. At the age of seven he was sent to the Moravian school at Fairfield, and two years later to the Moravian school at Ockbrook
Ockbrook
Ockbrook is an ancient village in Derbyshire, England. It is almost contiguous with the village of Borrowash, the two only separated by the A52. Ockbrook lies about east of Derby.-History:...
, returning after four years more to the Fairfield school.
Career
At the age of fifteen Bateman was apprenticed to a surveyorSurveying
See Also: Public Land Survey SystemSurveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, and science of accurately determining the terrestrial or three-dimensional position of points and the distances and angles between them...
and mining engineer in Oldham
Oldham
Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amid the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers Irk and Medlock, south-southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of the city of Manchester...
named Dunn. In 1833, he commenced business on his own account as a civil engineer. In 1834 he investigated the causes of the floods in the River Medlock
River Medlock
The River Medlock is a river of Greater Manchester in North West England. It rises near Oldham and flows, south and west, for ten miles to join the River Irwell in the extreme southwest of Manchester city centre.-Source:...
, which led him to study hydraulic
Hydraulic engineering
This article is about civil engineering. For the mechanical engineering discipline see Hydraulic machineryHydraulic engineering as a sub-discipline of civil engineering is concerned with the flow and conveyance of fluids, principally water and sewage. One feature of these systems is the extensive...
questions more closely. In 1835 he was associated with Sir William Fairbairn
William Fairbairn
Sir William Fairbairn, 1st Baronet was a Scottish civil engineer, structural engineer and shipbuilder.-Early career:...
, who early appreciated his ability, in laying out the reservoirs on the River Bann
River Bann
The River Bann is the longest river in Northern Ireland, the total length being 80 miles . The river winds its way from the south east corner of Northern Ireland to the north west coast, pausing in the middle to widen into the enormous Lough Neagh...
in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. From that time he was almost continually employed in the construction of reservoirs and waterworks. In all his undertakings he advocated soft water in preference to hard
Hard water
Hard water is water that has high mineral content . Hard water has high concentrations of Ca2+ and Mg2+ ions. Hard water is generally not harmful to one's health but can pose serious problems in industrial settings, where water hardness is monitored to avoid costly breakdowns in boilers, cooling...
, and favoured gravitation schemes where they were practicable to avoid the necessity of pumping. He devoted much attention to methods of measuring rainfall, accumulated a quantity of statistics on the subject, and wrote several papers describing his observations.
Manchester water supply
The greatest system of waterworks which Bateman undertook was that connected with ManchesterManchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
. In 1844 he was first consulted in regard to the Manchester and Salford
County Borough of Salford
Salford was, from 1844 to 1974, a local government district in the northwest of England, coterminate with Salford. It was granted city status in 1926.-Free Borough and Police Commissioners:...
water supply. About 1846 the project was formed of obtaining water from the Pennine hills
Pennines
The Pennines are a low-rising mountain range, separating the North West of England from Yorkshire and the North East.Often described as the "backbone of England", they form a more-or-less continuous range stretching from the Peak District in Derbyshire, around the northern and eastern edges of...
; the works in Longdendale
Longdendale
Longdendale is a valley in the north of England, north of Glossop and south east of Holmfirth. The name means "long wooded valley".- Geography :...
were commenced in 1848 and were finished in the spring of 1877. In 1884 Bateman published a History and Description of the Manchester Waterworks, which dealt with many points of interest to the student of hydraulic engineering. The Longdendale scheme, however, had been designed to supply a population less than half that of Manchester in 1882, and it was clear that additional sources of supply had to be found. At Bateman's suggestion the corporation resolved to construct new works at Thirlmere
Thirlmere
Thirlmere is a reservoir in the Borough of Allerdale in Cumbria and the English Lake District. It runs roughly south to north, with a dam at the northern end, and is bordered on the eastern side by the A591 road and on the western side by a minor road....
. A bill was introduced into parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
in 1878, and, after initial rejection, was passed in 1879. Bateman superintended the new works, assisted by George Hill.
Later works
In 1852 he was requested to advise the town council of GlasgowGlasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
in regard to the water supply of the city. In the parliamentary session of 1854–5, on Bateman's advice, a bill was obtained for the supply of water from Loch Katrine
Loch Katrine
Loch Katrine is a freshwater loch in the district of Stirling, Scotland. It is roughly 8 miles long by 2/3 of a mile wide and runs the length of Strath Gartney...
. The works were commenced in the spring of 1856 and were completed by March 1860. They extend over thirty-four miles, and were described by James M. Gale as worthy to "bear comparison with the most extensive aqueducts in the world, not excluding those of ancient Rome".
In 1874 he prepared water schemes for Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
and Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
, and he was also engineer for some reclamation
Land reclamation
Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, is the process to create new land from sea or riverbeds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamation ground or landfill.- Habitation :...
schemes in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and Majorca. The crown agents to the colonies employed him in Ceylon to design and carry out works for supplying Colombo
Colombo
Colombo is the largest city of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, the capital of Sri Lanka. Colombo is often referred to as the capital of the country, since Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is a satellite city of Colombo...
with water. For forty-eight years, from 1833 to 1881, Bateman directed his business alone. From 1881 to 1885 he was in partnership with George Hill, and in 1888 he took as partners his son-in-law, Richard Clere Parsons, and his son, Lee La Trobe Bateman.
Among other important waterworks by Bateman may be mentioned the systems for Warrington
Warrington
Warrington is a town, borough and unitary authority area of Cheshire, England. It stands on the banks of the River Mersey, which is tidal to the west of the weir at Howley. It lies 16 miles east of Liverpool, 19 miles west of Manchester and 8 miles south of St Helens...
, Accrington
Accrington
Accrington is a town in Lancashire, within the borough of Hyndburn. It lies about east of Blackburn, west of Burnley, north of Manchester city centre and is situated on the mostly culverted River Hyndburn...
, Oldham
Oldham
Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amid the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers Irk and Medlock, south-southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of the city of Manchester...
, Ashton
Ashton-under-Lyne
Ashton-under-Lyne is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside, Greater Manchester, England. Historically a part of Lancashire, it lies on the north bank of the River Tame, on undulating land at the foothills of the Pennines...
, Blackburn, Stockdale
Stockdale
Stockdale is a surname originating from Northern England, probably Yorkshire. At the time of the British Census of 1881, its frequency was highest in Yorkshire, followed by Westmorland, Cumberland, County Durham, Nottinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire, Rutland, and Lancashire.-People:*Andrew...
, Halifax
Halifax, West Yorkshire
Halifax is a minster town, within the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale in West Yorkshire, England. It has an urban area population of 82,056 in the 2001 Census. It is well-known as a centre of England's woollen manufacture from the 15th century onward, originally dealing through the Halifax Piece...
, Dewsbury
Dewsbury
Dewsbury is a minster town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England. It is to the west of Wakefield, east of Huddersfield and south of Leeds...
, St. Helens, Kendal
Kendal
Kendal, anciently known as Kirkby in Kendal or Kirkby Kendal, is a market town and civil parish within the South Lakeland District of Cumbria, England...
, Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
, Dublin, Newcastle-on-Tyne, Chorley
Chorley
Chorley is a market town in Lancashire, in North West England. It is the largest settlement in the Borough of Chorley. The town's wealth came principally from the cotton industry...
, Bolton
Bolton
Bolton is a town in Greater Manchester, in the North West of England. Close to the West Pennine Moors, it is north west of the city of Manchester. Bolton is surrounded by several smaller towns and villages which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, of which Bolton is the...
, Darwen
Darwen
Darwen is a market town and civil parish located within Lancashire, England. Along with its northerly neighbour, Blackburn, it forms the Borough of Blackburn with Darwen — a unitary authority area...
, Macclesfield
Macclesfield
Macclesfield is a market town within the unitary authority of Cheshire East, the county palatine of Chester, also known as the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The population of the Macclesfield urban sub-area at the time of the 2001 census was 50,688...
, Chester
Chester
Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...
, Birkenhead
Birkenhead
Birkenhead is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. It is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite the city of Liverpool...
, Gloucester
Gloucester
Gloucester is a city, district and county town of Gloucestershire in the South West region of England. Gloucester lies close to the Welsh border, and on the River Severn, approximately north-east of Bristol, and south-southwest of Birmingham....
, Aberdare
Aberdare
Aberdare is an industrial town in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Dare and Cynon. The population at the census was 31,705...
, Perth
Perth, Scotland
Perth is a town and former city and royal burgh in central Scotland. Located on the banks of the River Tay, it is the administrative centre of Perth and Kinross council area and the historic county town of Perthshire...
, Forfar
Forfar
Forfar is a parish, town and former royal burgh of approximately 13,500 people in Angus, located in the East Central Lowlands of Scotland. Forfar is the county town of Angus, which was officially known as Forfarshire from the 18th century until 1929, when the ancient name was reinstated, and...
, Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...
, Colne Valley
Colne Valley
The Colne Valley is a steep sided valley on the east flank of the Pennine Hills in the English county of West Yorkshire. It takes its name from the River Colne which rises above the town of Marsden and flows eastward along the floor of the valley....
, Marsden
Marsden
Marsden is both a surname and a place name.-As a surname:As a surname, Marsden may refer to:* Bernie Marsden , English rock guitarist* Betty Marsden , British comedy actress* Brian G...
, and Cheltenham
Cheltenham
Cheltenham , also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a large spa town and borough in Gloucestershire, on the edge of the Cotswolds in the South-West region of England. It is the home of the flagship race of British steeplechase horse racing, the Gold Cup, the main event of the Cheltenham Festival held...
.
Academic works
In 1855 he prepared an important paper for the British Association, On the present state of our Knowledge on the Supply of Water to Towns, enunciating the general nature of the problem, giving a historical outline of previous measures, enumerating the various sources from which towns could be supplied, and discussing their comparative merits. In 1865 he published a pamphlet On the Supply of Water to London from the Sources of the River Severn, which generated considerable discussion. He designed and surveyed the scheme at his own expense. A royal commission was held, and in 1868 it reported in favour of the project. It was purely a gravitation scheme to convey to London 230 million gallonGallon
The gallon is a measure of volume. Historically it has had many different definitions, but there are three definitions in current use: the imperial gallon which is used in the United Kingdom and semi-officially within Canada, the United States liquid gallon and the lesser used United States dry...
s of water a day. Bateman was connected with various harbour and dock trusts throughout the British Isles, including the Clyde Navigation Trust, for which he was consulting engineer, and the Shannon Inundation Inquiry in 1863, on which he was employed by government.
In addition to his many undertakings at home Bateman carried out several works abroad. In 1869 he proposed, in a pamphlet entitled Channel Railway, written in conjunction with Julian John Révy, to construct a submarine railway
Channel Tunnel
The Channel Tunnel is a undersea rail tunnel linking Folkestone, Kent in the United Kingdom with Coquelles, Pas-de-Calais near Calais in northern France beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover. At its lowest point, it is deep...
between France and England in a cast-iron tube. In the same year he went out as representative of the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
, on the invitation of the khedive
Khedive
The term Khedive is a title largely equivalent to the English word viceroy. It was first used, without official recognition, by Muhammad Ali Pasha , the Wāli of Egypt and Sudan, and vassal of the Ottoman Empire...
, to attend the opening of the Suez Canal
Suez Canal
The Suez Canal , also known by the nickname "The Highway to India", is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Opened in November 1869 after 10 years of construction work, it allows water transportation between Europe and Asia without navigation...
, and wrote a long report of his visit, which was read to the Society on 6 January 1870, and published in the Proceedings. In the winter of 1870 he visited Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, at the request of the Argentine
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
government, for the purpose of laying out harbour works for that city. His plans were not adopted, but he was afterwards employed to design and carry out the drainage and water supply of the city.
Bateman was elected a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers
Institution of Civil Engineers
Founded on 2 January 1818, the Institution of Civil Engineers is an independent professional association, based in central London, representing civil engineering. Like its early membership, the majority of its current members are British engineers, but it also has members in more than 150...
on 23 June 1840, and a fellow of the Royal Society of London on 7 June 1860. He was president of the Institution in 1878 and 1879. He was also a fellow
Fellow
A fellow in the broadest sense is someone who is an equal or a comrade. The term fellow is also used to describe a person, particularly by those in the upper social classes. It is most often used in an academic context: a fellow is often part of an elite group of learned people who are awarded...
of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
Royal Society of Edinburgh
The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity, operating on a wholly independent and non-party-political basis and providing public benefit throughout Scotland...
, the Royal Geographical Society
Royal Geographical Society
The Royal Geographical Society is a British learned society founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical sciences...
, the Geological Society, the Society of Arts, and the Royal Institution
Royal Institution
The Royal Institution of Great Britain is an organization devoted to scientific education and research, based in London.-Overview:...
.
Later life
On 1 September 1841 he married Anne, only daughter of Sir William FairbairnWilliam Fairbairn
Sir William Fairbairn, 1st Baronet was a Scottish civil engineer, structural engineer and shipbuilder.-Early career:...
. By her he had three sons and four daughters. In 1883 he assumed by royal license the prefix, surname, and arms of La Trobe, in compliment to his grandfather. Bateman died on 10 June 1889 at his residence, Moor Park, Farnham
Farnham
Farnham is a town in Surrey, England, within the Borough of Waverley. The town is situated some 42 miles southwest of London in the extreme west of Surrey, adjacent to the border with Hampshire...
, an estate which he had purchased in 1859.
Commemorations
- Since year 1955, there is a street in Sa PoblaSa PoblaSa Pobla is a small municipality in the district of Raiguer on Majorca, one of the Spanish Balearic Islands. It is a terminus on the Majorca rail network....
(MallorcaMallorcaMajorca or Mallorca is an island located in the Mediterranean Sea, one of the Balearic Islands.The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Cabrera Archipelago is administratively grouped with Majorca...
) with the name of Bateman, in homage to his works of drying in the Albufera de Mallorca.
- On 15 September 2000, the leader of the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside unveiled a blue plaqueBlue plaqueA blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person or event, serving as a historical marker....
on the outside wall of the deepest air shaft of the Mottram Tunnel, a 3100 yards (2,834.6 m) long water pipeline connecting the valleys of the EtherowRiver EtherowThe River Etherow is a river in northern England, and a tributary of the River Goyt. Although now passing through South Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Greater Manchester, it historically formed the ancient county boundary between Cheshire and Derbyshire. The upper valley is known as Longdendale...
and the TameRiver Tame, Greater ManchesterThe River Tame flows through Greater Manchester, England.-Source:The Tame rises on Denshaw Moor in Greater Manchester, close to the border with West Yorkshire but within the historic West Riding of Yorkshire.-Course:...
. The plaque is inscribed: