Barry, John Wolfe (1836-1918)

English civil engineer whose greatest project was the construction of Tower Bridge in 1894. He was also responsible for building bridges over the River Thames at Kew and Blackfriars, and expanding the London underground railway system. He built the then largest dock in the world at the port of Barry, near Cardiff in Wales, in 1889.

Barry was born in London, and educated at Trinity College, Glenalmond, and King's College, London. His began his extensive building career in London by working on the stations of Charing Cross and Cannon Street. He visited Argentina in 1872, where he planned a railway from Buenos Aires to Rosario. Later he extended the London underground to Earl's Court, Ealing, and Fulham, acted as consulting engineer for underground railways in the city of Glasgow, and was royal commissioner of London traffic, 1903-05.