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was born at Ayr, Scotland,
in 1788. He became a stonemason. had much experience working on bridges
designed by the well-known engineer, Thomas Telford, and possibly
influenced by Dr Lang's emigration efforts, came to Australia as an
ordinary passenger on the Florentia which arrived at Sydney on it
August 1832. Soon afterwards he was found at work on the legislative
council chambers by (Sir) T. L. Mitchell (q.v.), who obtained his
appointment as sub-inspector of bridges at a salary of £120 a year. This
seems to have been early recognized as inadequate pay for a man who had
been a foreman on important work in England, and was now expected to be
both a designer and supervisor. Governor Bourke (q.v.) in October 1834
stated that when Lennox had proved his competence he would recommend that
his yearly salary should be increased to £200. Bourke, however, was slow
in recognizing the worth of Lennox, for by July 1833 the first stone
bridge in Australia had been completed at Lapstone Hill on the Bathurst
Road, an excellent piece of work still standing a hundred years later. A
more difficult piece of work was the bridge over Prospect Creek as it was
subject to floods, but Lennox, using convict labour, succeeded in
finishing it by January 1836, for the amazingly small sum of £1000. The
length of the span was 110 feet and the width of the roadway 30 feet.
Other important bridges followed in New South Wales, including the bridge
at Parramatta, named Lennox Bridge after its designer. Lennox was also
responsible for the Liverpool dam finished in 1836, and it is possible
that he may have been the architect of St Andrew's Presbyterian church,
Parramatta. He was appointed district surveyor to the Parramatta district
council in November 1843, and in October 1844 he became superintendent of
bridges at Port Phillip. On taking up his new duties at Melbourne his
first piece of work was the building of a permanent bridge over the Yarra.
Various plans had already been sent in, but Lennox prepared another with a
single arch of 150 feet span which was adopted. It was completed about
five years later, and formally opened on 15 November 1850. It was an
excellent piece of work which looked as though it would last forever, but
some 30 years later the approaches to the city were remodelled, and it was
found necessary to pull down the old bridge and build a new one. Lennox
was still at Melbourne when Victoria became a separate colony but he
resigned his position in November 1853. His salary had remained at £250 a
year until 1852, when it was raised to £300, and in 1853 to £600. On his
retirement the Victorian government made him a grant of £3000. He returned
to Sydney in June 1855 and built a house in Campbell-street, Parramatta,
where he lived until his death on 12 November 1873. He was survived by a
married daughter and her children, one of whom, Dr C. E. Rowling,
afterwards practised as a physician at Parramatta and Mudgee.
Lennox was a quiet, modest
man, a good tradesman and practical designer, with a talent for managing
men and getting the best out of them. His bridges, simple in design,
aesthetically excellent, and always suitable for their purposes, are
monuments to a fine craftsman. |
