Dictionary of Irish Architects 1720 - 1940

Borough surveyor of Belfast, 1884-1903. Josiah Corbett Bretland was born in Nottingham on 4 January 1846.   According to the 1851 census of England, he was the second son of John Bretland, a master painter and gilder(1) and his wife Elizabeth Hershall Bretland.  By the time of the 1861 census, his father had died and he had become an apprentice in a lace warehouse, but in 1863 he embarked on a four-year apprenticeship to the Nottingham Borough Engineer, Ogle Tarbotton, staying on for a time as an assistant.    He then worked as assistant to WILLIAM HASTINGS  WILLIAM HASTINGS of Belfast, and in 1868 was appointed Chief Assistant to JOHN JAMES MONTGOMERY JOHN JAMES MONTGOMERY , the Belfast City Surveyor, whom he succeeded on the latter's death in August 1884.(2) As city surveyor he was involved in major improvements to the city at a time of rapid expansion. In 1896 he acted as co-assessor with ALFRED WATERHOUSE  ALFRED WATERHOUSE of the Belfast City Hall Competition.(3) He resigned from the city surveyorship in 1903 'by reason of permanent infirmity of body'(4) but lived for a further eighteen years, dying in 1921.   He was married to Marie Elizabeth, a native of Cork, who predeceased him, and had at least three children, of whom his sons Charles and ARTHUR W.BRETLAND  ARTHUR W.BRETLAND were both civil engineers.

Bretland's pupils and assistants included ROBERT DAVISON ROBERT DAVISON , JAMES HERON [1]  JAMES HERON [1] and JOHN PERCY WAKEFORD.  JOHN PERCY WAKEFORD.

Inst.CE: elected associate, 5 March 1878; transferred to class of member, 3 February 1885.
Association of Municipal & County Engineers: member, 21 March 1891.(6)

Address (home): Bramcote, Craigavad, Co. Down.(7)

See WORKS and BIBLIOGRAPHY. BIBLIOGRAPHY.



References

All information in this entry not otherwise accounted for is from the candidate's circulars submitted by Bretland to the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1878 and 1885, courtesy of Mrs Carol Morgan, who also supplied the dates of Bretland's election and transfer. Other references were supplied by Helen Andrews;  see her entry on Bretland in Dictionary of Irish Biography, ed. by James McGuire and James Quinn, 9 vols. (Cambridge University Press, 2009), I, 827.  

(1) According to the census, he employed ten men; after his death, his widow carried on the business.
(2) B 47, 4 Oct 1884, 453.
(3) Irish Times, 7 Jul 1896; Building News 71, 10 Jul 1896, 42.
(4) IB 45, 29 Jan 1903, 1574.
(4) Min.Proc.Inst.CE 214 (1921-22), 204.
(5) Information from the Irish census of 1901, www.censusnationalarchives.ie (last visited Jun 2010). 
(6) Proceedings of Incorporated Association of Municipal and County Engineers 27 (1900-1901), list of members.
(7) Dictionary of Irish Biography, loc. cit.


19 work entries listed in chronological order for BRETLAND, JOSIAH CORBETT


Sort by date | Sort alphabetically


Building: CO. ANTRIM, BELFAST, ROYAL AVE
Date: 1880-81
Nature: Larmour says laid out by JCB but more probably by J.J. Montgomery.
Refs: Paul Larmour, Belfast: an illustrated architectural guide (1987), 48 (no. 106),52 (no. 118)

Building: CO. ANTRIM, BELFAST, QUEEN'S BRIDGE
Date: 1885-1886
Nature: Widening by addition of cantilevered footpaths. Tenders invited, Mar 1885.
Refs: IB 27, 1 Mar 1885, 70; Paul Larmour, Belfast: an illustrated architectural guide (1987), 52 (no. 117, illus.)

Building: CO. ANTRIM, BELFAST, ALEXANDRA PARK
Date: 1887ca
Nature: Laid out by JCB.
Refs: Paul Larmour, Belfast: an illustrated architectural guide (1987), 52 (no. 118)

Building: CO. ANTRIM, BELFAST, ALBERT BRIDGE (NEW)
Date: 1889
Nature: New bridge. In progress by Feb 1889. Memorial stone laid May 1889. Opened 6 Sep 1889. Ironwork by Handyside, Derby. Contractor: James Henry, Crumlin Rd. Contract: £36,500.
Refs: IB 28, 1 Nov 1886, 300; 30, 15 May 1888, 142; 31, 1 Feb 1889, 40; 32, 1 Sep 1890, 209; Architect 39, 6 Apr 1888, suppl. p.3, 27 apr 1888, suppl. p.3; Brett, 61; Paul Larmour, Belfast: an illustrated architectural guide (1987), 52 (no. 118, illus.); Marcus Patton, Central Belfast: an historical gazetteer (UAHS, 1993), 4

Building: CO. ANTRIM, BELFAST, OXFORD STREET, NO. 049-81, ST GEORGE'S MARKET
Date: 1889-1896
Nature: New covered market . Tender of Mssrs. Fitzpatrick Bros, Gt Victoria St (£4,870) accepted by Corporation. Adds, 1891; tender of Fitzpatrick Bros.(£3,434) accepted. Generally attributed to JCB but claimed by his assistant, James Munce.
Refs: PRONI, W.H. Stephens & Sons papers, D1898/1/13; Architect 41, 5 Apr 1889, suppl. p.1; 46, 9 Oct 1891, suppl. p.1, 23 Oct 1891, auppl. p.2; IB 31, 15 Apr 1889, 111; 33, 1 Nov 1891, 249

Building: CO. ANTRIM, BELFAST, DUNCRUE STREET, PUMPING STATION
Date: 1890
Nature: -
Refs: IB 32, 1 Jul 1890, 162; Paul Larmour, Belfast: an illustrated architectural guide (1987), 52 (no. 118)

Building: CO. ANTRIM, BELFAST, SEWAGE & DRAINAGE WORKS
Date: 1890,1892,1895
Nature: -
Refs: IB 32, 15 Aug 1890, 201; 34, 1 Nov 1892, 232; 37, 1 Mar 1895, 67

Building: CO. ANTRIM, BELFAST, OXFORD STREET, NO. 049-81, ST GEORGE'S MARKET
Date: 1890-1896
Nature: -
Refs: PRONI, W.H. Stephens & Sons papers, D1898/1/15; Paul Larmour, Belfast: an illustrated architectural guide (1987), 54(illus.)

Building: CO. ANTRIM, BELFAST, VICTORIA STREET, FIRE BRIGADE HEADQUARTERS
Date: 1892
Nature: -
Refs: Paul Larmour, Belfast: an illustrated architectural guide (1987), 40

Building: CO. ANTRIM, BELFAST, CHICHESTER STREET, FIRE BRIGADE HEADQUARTERS
Date: 1892
Nature: New.
Refs: PRONI, W.H. Stephens & Sons papers, D1898/1/13

Building: CO. ANTRIM, BELFAST, FALLS ROAD, BELFAST CEMETERY
Date: 1892
Nature: Entrance.
Refs: PRONI, W.H. Stephens & Sons papers, D1898/1/13

Building: CO. ANTRIM, BELFAST, TOWNHALL STREET, FIRE BRIGADE MARRIED QUARTERS
Date: 1893
Nature: New.
Refs: PRONI, W.H. Stephens & Sons papers, D1898/1/13

Building: CO. ANTRIM, BELFAST, EAST BRIDGE STREET, MARKETS
Date: 1894
Nature: New.
Refs: PRONI, W.H. Stephens & Sons papers, D1898/1/15

Building: CO. ANTRIM, BELFAST, OXFORD STREET, NO. 068-078, FISH MARKET
Date: 1894-96
Nature: Generally attributed to JCB but claimed by his assistant, James Munce.
Refs: PRONI, W.H. Stephens & Sons papers, D1898/1/15; C.E.B. Brett, Court Houses and Market Houses of the Province of Ulster (UAHS, 1973), 45; Paul Larmour, Belfast: an illustrated architectural guide (1987), 54(illus.)

Building: CO. ANTRIM, BELFAST, LAGANBANK ROAD, MORGUE
Date: 1895
Nature: -
Refs: Architect 53, 1 Mar 1895, 11; B 53, 2 Nov 1895, 317; C.E.B. Brett, Buildings of Belfast (2nd ed., 1985), 62

Building: CO. ANTRIM, BELFAST, WHITLA STREET, FIRE STATION
Date: 1895
Nature: New.
Refs: PRONI, W.H. Stephens & Sons papers, D1898/1/13

Building: CO. ANTRIM, BELFAST, CHICHESTER STREET (& TOWNHALL STREET), CENTRAL POLICE STATION
Date: 1899p
Nature: To be built shortly.
Refs: IB 39, 1 Oct 1897, 189

Building: CO. WATERFORD, WATERFORD, DRAINAGE
Date: 1900
Nature: Main drainage. JCB consulting engineer, with M.J. Fleming as engineer and John Joseph Fleming as resident engineer.
Refs: IB 47, 30 Dec 1905, 945 or 958

Building: CO. ANTRIM, BELFAST, WOODVALE PARK
Date: ?
Nature: Laid out by JCB. Entrance lodge, 1894.
Refs: PRONI, W.H. Stephens & Sons papers, D1898/1/16; Paul Larmour, Belfast: an illustrated architectural guide (1987), 52 (no. 118)

Author Title Date Details
Bretland, Josiah Corbett 'Progress of municipal affairs in Belfast' 1893 Proceedings of the Association of Municipal and Sanitary Engineers 19 (1892-3), ?.