780 SIR BENJAMIN BAKER. 



he yet retained a certain shyness which invited open intercourse and 

 suggested the strong nature beneath this genial surface. It was a 

 pri\ilege to win his regard and to be associated with him closely in 

 his work and ambitions. 



He left an "Autobiography" which is a frank and penetrating 

 measure of himself. Naturally it is not complete, and his desire to 

 explain his own conduct has made him unjust to himself. No other 

 person could have said as much, or said it as well; it is therefore 

 characteristic, and must be held in high estimation as an open and 

 honest attempt at self-appreciation, a form of expression which has 

 become all too infrequent. In every sense he was a lovable char- 

 acter, vivid, stimulating, loyal and independent. 



WORTHINGTON ChAUNCEY FoRD. 



SIR BENJAMIN BAKER (1840-1907) 



Foreign Honorary Member, Class I, Section 4, 1S99. 



Sir Benjamin Baker, K. C. B., K. C. M. G., D.Sc, LL.D., M. A. I., 

 F. R. S., was born at Keyford, Frome, Somerset, March 31, 1840, and 

 died suddenly from heart failure May 19, 1907. At the age of 16 he 

 was apprenticed to Messrs. Price and Fox of Neath Abbey Iron works, 

 and remained with them four years. During the next two years he 

 was engaged on railway work, and in 1862 joined the staff of the late 

 Sir John Fowler, with whom he remained associated until the death of 

 the latter in 1898; — rising from the position of Junior Assistant ta 

 that of partner. 



During this long period Mr. Baker was actively engaged upon vari- 

 ous kinds of engineering work, including some works of the greatest 

 importance. Although without collegiate training, Mr. Baker early 

 established a reputation as an authority on the theory and practice of 

 engineering, displaying a remarkable combination of practical and 

 scientific knowledge. He was interested in education, and did much 

 to bridge the gulf which hacl long separated theory from practice. 



Much of Mr. Baker's work was connected with railways. He was 

 consulting engineer for the earliest " tube" railway in London, and also 

 for the first projected Hudson River Tunnel in this country. He was 



