Dictionary of Irish Architects 1720 - 1940

English military and civil engineer, for biography of whom see Min.Proc.Inst.CE 23 (1863-64), 498-504. Moorsom first came to Ireland as a young man in 1823, when he joined the 79th Regiment, then stationed in Dublin. In addition to carrying out his regular duties, he made a trigonometrical survey of Dublin and its surroundings which was used in the Quartermaster General's Office until it was superseded by the Ordnance Survey of Ireland. His survey having attracted favourable notice, he was offered a lieutenancy in the 7the Fusiliers, and was posted first to the Mediterranean, and then, as a Captain in the 69th Regiment, to Nova Scotia. On returning to England he left the Army and became a civil engineer, specializing in railway work. His skills were much in demand during the great burst of railway building in the mid-1840s, and he was brought into contact with Ireland again when he laid out the Great Western Line from Naas to Galway, the Waterford & Kilkenny line (from 1846),(1) and the South Eastern Railway from Carlow to Kilkenny (1848-50).(2) He designed the station at Kilkenny and the viaduct over the River Nore near Thomastown for the Waterford & Kilkenny Railway.

See WORKS and BIBLIOGRAPHY. BIBLIOGRAPHY.



References



(1) See Min.Proc.Inst.CE 9 (1849-50), 408; 11 (1851-52), 281-2.
(2) Gordon Biddle, 'Sancton Wood - Railway Architect', II, BackTrack 21, no. 11 (Nov 2007), 699


3 work entries listed in chronological order for MOORSOM, WILLIAM SCARTH (CAPT.) #


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Building: CO. KILKENNY, THOMASTOWN, RAILWAY VIADUCT OVER RIVER NORE
Date: 1846-1850
Nature: Timber viaduct for Waterford & Kilkenny Railway Co.. Contractors for foundations & masonry nearly to springing of cross arches): Hammond & Murray. Contractor for woodwork and maintenance of same: Robert Mallet.
Refs: Model exh. at Conversazione of Inst.CE, 22 May 1849 (Civil Engineer and Architect's Journal 12 (Jun 1849), 185;  W.S. Moorsom, 'Description of the viaduct erected over the River Nore, near Thomastown, in the County of Kilkenny, to carry the Waterford and Kilmenny Railway', Min.Proc.Inst.CE 11 (1851-52), 426-434; timberwork illus. in E.Lomax & T. Gunyon, eds., Nicholson's Dictionary of the Science and Practice of Architecture (n.d.), Pl. ?

Building: CO. KILKENNY, KILKENNY, DUBLIN ROAD, RAILWAY STATION
Date: 1846-47
Nature: Designed by WSM. In Aug 1847 was 'rising with a rapidity almost equal to the magic palace of Aladdin' (|Kilkenny Moderator|). For Waterford & Kilkenny Railway Co.
Refs: Obituary of Moorsom in Min.Proc.Inst.CE 23 (1863-64), 502; for roof see Min.Proc.Inst.CE 14 (1854-55), 272; B 5, 7 Aug 1847, 377, quoting Kilkenny Moderator

Building: CO. KILKENNY, THOMASTOWN, RAILWAY STATION
Date: ?
Nature: New station fro Waterford & Kilkenny Railway. '…from its likeness to stations on the Birmingham & gloucester and Southampton & Dorchester Railways it seems more likely to have emanated from Moorsom's office [i.e. rather than from Sancton Woods's].
Refs: Gordon Biddle, 'Sancton Wood - Railway Architect', II, Backtrack Nov 2007, 700

Author Title Date Details
Moorsom, William Scarth 'Statement of observations, made during the running of the ordinary trains, on the inclined planes of the Waterford and Kilkenny Railway, between… August 1848 and January 1849' 1849 Min.Proc.Inst.CE 8 (1849), 287-289.
Moorsom, William Scarth 'Description of the viaduct erected over the River Nore, near Thomastown, in the County of Kilkenny, to carry the Waterford and Kilmenny Railway' 1852 Min.Proc.Inst.CE 11 (1851-52), 426-434 (summary in Civil Engineer and Architect's Journal 15 (May,1852), 158-9.