Basil Mott

Sir Basil Mott, 1st Baronet, FRS (16 September 1859 – 7 September 1938) was one of the most notable English civil engineers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was responsible for some of the most innovative work on tunnels and bridges in the United Kingdom in the 40-year period centred on World War I. Early career Basil Mott was born in Leicester on 16 September 1859. He was educated at the International School, Switzerland and at the Royal School of Mines where he won the Murchison medal in 1879. He was first employed as a mining engineer with the Neston Colliery Co. in Cheshire but in 1886 was invited by J H Greathead to join the staff of the City & South London Railway (C&SLR), for which Greathead was Engineer. His work on the C&SLR gave him a taste for underground construction works that influenced the remaining 40 years of his professional life. He did well at the C&SLR and was promoted, first to resident engineer (RE) for the extension of the C&SLR from Stockwell to Clapham, then to RE for the entire line. After the railway opened in 1890, he was retained as Engineer by the operating company: this gave him the opportunity to develop techniques for carrying out reconstruction works during overnight possessions of the tunnels, techniques which are still used on LU today.