Sir Thomas Bouch

1822 - 1880

Engineer. Born in Cumbria (England), Bouch spent much of his life in Edinburgh. Along with Thomas Grainger (1794 - 1852), he was responsible for the world's first train ferry, which ran between Granton and Burntisland. He designed the first railway crossing from Edinburgh to Fife (which was never built) and, infamously, the railway bridge across the River Tay, which collapsed in a storm in 1879. His design was blamed for this disaster and Bouch was disgraced, although corner-cutting by contractors in an attempt to save money, sloppy working practices and poor maintenance were significant contributory factors.

Bouch also built a pleasure pier at Portobello, which was demolished in 1917, and the South Suburban Railway in Edinburgh.

His reputation destroyed by the Inquiry into the Tay Bridge Disaster, he retired a broken man to his country home near Moffat, where he died. Bouch is buried in Edinburgh's Dean Cemetery.

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