| Benjamin Blyth II | |||||||||||
| Birth Name: | Benjamin Hall Blyth | ||||||||||
| Birth Date: | 25 May 1849 | ||||||||||
| Birth Place: | Edinburgh, Scotland | ||||||||||
| Death Place: | North Berwick, East Lothian, Scotland | ||||||||||
| Ru Position: | Forward | ||||||||||
| Amatyears1: | - | ||||||||||
| Ru Provinceyears1: | 1872-73 | ||||||||||
| Ru Provinceapps1: | 2 | ||||||||||
| Ru Provincepoints1: | 0 | ||||||||||
| Spouse: | Millicent Taylor | ||||||||||
| Children: | Benjamin Edward Blyth Elsie Winifred Blyth | ||||||||||
| Relatives: | Benjamin Hall Blyth I Mary Dudgeon Wright (parents) | ||||||||||
| School: | Merchiston Castle School | ||||||||||
| University: | University of Edinburgh | ||||||||||
| Module: |
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Benjamin Hall Blyth FRSE (25 May 1849 - 13 May 1917), often called Benjamin Blyth II, was a Scottish civil engineer.[1]
Blyth, who was born at 36 Minto Street,[2] Edinburgh,[3] was the eldest of the nine children of Mary Dudgeon Wright and the railway engineer Benjamin Blyth.[1] He was educated at Merchiston Castle School between 1860 and 1864 before studying for a Master of Arts degree from the University of Edinburgh, graduating in 1867.
After the death of both parents - Benjamin Blyth in 1866 and Mary Dudgeon Wright in 1868 - Blyth and his siblings were brought up by their mother's sister, Elizabeth Scotland Wright.[4] [5]
Blyth played for Merchistonians.[6]
Blyth played in the world's very first representative provincial match in November 1872. This was the 'Inter-City': the match between Glasgow District and Edinburgh District. Blyth represented the Edinburgh side.
He became the 3rd President of the Scottish Rugby Union, holding the post between 1875 and 1876.[7]
Following his father's death, Blyth entered the family engineering consultancy and became a partner five years later. Blyth served as a consultant to the North British Railway and the Great North of Scotland Railway and served in an advisory capacity to the British Army with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the Engineer and Railway Staff Corps. In 1872, he married Millicent Taylor[8] with whom he had a son, Benjamin Edward, who died in infancy,[9] and a daughter, Elsie Winifred.[1] He became a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1877, being elected to its council in 1900. He served as vice-president in 1911 and in 1914 became the first practising Scottish engineer to serve as president.[10] On 7 February 1898 he became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.[11]
In later life, Blyth lived in a large Victorian townhouse at 17 Palmerston Place in Edinburgh's West End.[12]
Blyth stood as the Unionist candidate for the East Lothian by-election of 1911, but lost to the Liberal candidate, John Deans Hope by 468 votes. One of his policies was opposing giving home rule to Ireland.[13]
Blyth was widowed on 12 September 1914. He died in North Berwick on 13 May 1917, of "spittielioma of tongue"[14] and was survived by his daughter. His nephew, Benjamin Hall Blyth (sometimes referred to as Benjamin Blyth III) was the son of his brother Francis Creswick Blyth - who was taken on by Blyth and Blyth in 1909,[15] continued the consultancy after his death.[1]
He is buried on the obscured southern terrace of Dean Cemetery in Edinburgh, towards the east. His wife, Millicent Taylor (1852-1914) is buried with him. Their infant son, Benjamin Edward Blyth, who died in 1875 aged six weeks lies at their feet.
He trained James Simpson Pirie FRSE (1861-1943), founder of J S Pirie & Sons. Pirie ran Blyth & Blyth from his death until the end of the war.[16]