Benjamin Blyth II

Blyth, who was born at 36 Minto Street,[2] Edinburgh,[3] was the eldest of the nine children of Mary Dudgeon Wright and the railway engineer Benjamin Blyth.[1] He was educated at Merchiston Castle School between 1860 and 1864 before studying for a Master of Arts degree from the University of Edinburgh, graduating in 1867.

After the death of both parents – Benjamin Blyth in 1866 and Mary Dudgeon Wright in 1868 – Blyth and his siblings were brought up by their mother's sister, Elizabeth Scotland Wright.[4][5]

Following his father's death, Blyth entered the family engineering consultancy and became a partner five years later. Blyth served as a consultant to the North British Railway and the Great North of Scotland Railway and served in an advisory capacity to the British Army with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the Engineer and Railway Staff Corps. In 1872, he married Millicent Taylor[8] with whom he had a son, Benjamin Edward, who died in infancy,[9] and a daughter, Elsie Winifred.[1] He became a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1877, being elected to its council in 1900. He served as vice-president in 1911 and in 1914 became the first practising Scottish engineer to serve as president.[10] On 7 February 1898 he became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.[11]

Blyth's house at 17 Palmerston Place, Edinburgh

In later life, Blyth lived in a large Victorian townhouse at 17 Palmerston Place in Edinburgh's West End.[12]

Blyth stood as the Unionist candidate for the East Lothian by-election of 1911, but lost to the Liberal candidate, John Deans Hope by 468 votes. One of his policies was opposing giving home rule to Ireland.[13]

Blyth was widowed on 12 September 1914. He died in North Berwick on 13 May 1917, of "spittielioma of tongue"[14] and was survived by his daughter. His nephew, Benjamin Hall Blyth (sometimes referred to as Benjamin Blyth III) was the son of his brother Francis Creswick Blyth – who was taken on by Blyth and Blyth in 1909,[15] continued the consultancy after his death.[1]

The grave of Benjamin Hall Blyth, Dean Cemetery

He is buried on the obscured southern terrace of Dean Cemetery in Edinburgh, towards the east. His wife, Millicent Taylor (1852-1914) is buried with him. Their infant son, Benjamin Edward Blyth, who died in 1875 aged six weeks lies at their feet.

He trained James Simpson Pirie FRSE (1861-1943), founder of J S Pirie & Sons. Pirie ran Blyth & Blyth from his death until the end of the war.[16]