Official Opening of

The Forth Bridge

The Forth Bridge

The Programme

Here is one of the pages in the program for the Official Opening of the Forth Bridge on March 4, 1890.

This is the cover of the program.

©

Please click here to see all the pages in the programme.

Question

Portrait -  Who Is It?

Who is this portrait of?  Like the other two portraits in this programme, it has a wreath around it, in this case of oak leaves.  There are the initials, MW, but no name.  A little research into the heads of the companies responsible for building the bridge might give the answer to this question.

Reply

Thank you to David King, railway researcher and webmaster for the Granton HIstory Group web site, who replied:

Sir William Arrol

"May I suggest that this portrait of Sir William Arrol, whose firm of civil engineering contractors was based at Dalmarnock in the east end of Glasgow. 

His firm, at the same time, built the replacement Tay Bridge, the Forth Bridge and Tower Bridge.  Arrol personally visiting the Dalmarnock works and all three sites every week while work was under way:

More information about Sir William Arrol, and another portrait of him can be found on this Scotland STV web page."

David King, Trinity, Edinburgh:  May 9, 2011