Thomas de Courcy Meade

• Born                      14 November 1852.  Bandon, County Cork
• Died                       11 February 1916, Cottage Hospital, Buxton

Thomas de Courcy Meade was born in November 1853 in County Cork, Ireland, and was educated at the Bandon Grammar school He was afterwards articled to the county surveyor of Cork and was subsequently engaged under W. H. Dorman M.Inst.C.E., in the construction of the Cork and Skibbereen Railway. He moved next to London, and went to the Guildhall, where he was under Colonel Haywood, engineer to the City Corporation. After five or six years he was elected engineer to the then Hornsey Local Board. He established the Highgate Museum of Sanitary Appliances, which was opened by the then Lord Mayor, Sir Stuart Knill, Bart. A feature of that, institution was the practical testing of materials used by the municipal engineer. He designed the machine in use for several years for testing road material. The appointment at Hornsey he held for 13 years. He was allowed private practice whilst at Hornsey and was consulted by many of the large towns in England, Scotland, the South of France, Italy, Switzerland, and elsewhere. He was appointed city surveyor of Manchester in September, 1894.  In Manchester he was closely concerned with the scheme for the housing of the working classes, the development of the Blackley estate, the extension of the Abattoirs and Smithfield Market, the erection of the Foreign Animals Wharf on the Ship Canal, and the design and preparation of a new main drainage scheme.

Thomas de Courcy Meade was a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, and the Concrete Institute, and was a Past President of the Institution of Municipal and County Engineers. He died on 11 February 1916 at the Cottage Hospital, Buxton, following an operation for appendicitis. The funeral was held at Buxton cemetery.

 
Address
1894    Town Hall Manchester
1916    Town Hall Manchester

Residence
1916    Westella. Robertson Road, Buxton

Death Notice    Manchester Guardian 14 February 1916 page 10 – deaths
Obituary    Surveyor and Municipal and County Engineer 27 February 1914 page 396
Obituary    ICE Minutes of the Proceedings Vol 204 1 January 1917 page 429-430
Obituary    Manchester Guardian 12 February 1916 page 4]