Robert Jacomb-Hood

Robert Jacomb-Hood MICE (25 January 1822 – 10 May 1900) was a British civil engineer who rose to prominence as the first Resident Engineer of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR), a position he held from the company's amalgamation in 1846 until 1860. During this time, he was responsible for projects including London Victoria station, London Bridge station, and Crystal Palace railway station, as well as a large number of branch lines across the south of England.

Born to a working-class family in Bedfordshire, Jacomb-Hood's father inherited an estate from his cousin in 1833, drastically improving the financial situation of the family. Jacomb-Hood was removed from Christ's Hospital in favour of private tuition before attending the University of Cambridge to study Law. However, he quickly dropped out to become a railway engineer instead, rising through their ranks quickly under the guidance of George W. Buck. He was selected as the fist Resident Engineer of the LB&SCR in 1846, only five years after he entered the industry. The finances of the company were tumultuous, with some years seeing strong gains and others so poor that Jacomb-Hood narrowly escaped being fired. However, his career personal finances grew steadily and he was elected a Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1847.

After transitioning to practising privately in 1860, he began partnering with a variety of engineers and architects including Charles Driver, George Parker Bidder, and his cousin Wililam Jacomb. He also expanded his work outside of railway engineering, working on projects such as the National Gallery and the Portcreek Viaduct. However, the death of his first wife and the end of his joint practice with Jacomb motivated him to enter semi-retirement; as part of this, he switched his focus from designing and constructing projects in the UK to joining companies' boards of directors and taking up international opportunities. This included significant contributions to the Crystal Palace Company between 1869 and 1880, as well as the Alabama Great Southern Railroad which he helped to create and sat as a member of the board between 1877 and 1886.

In 1883 he returned to the LB&SCR as a member of the board; by this time, he was barely working and instead spending most of his time travelling the world. He slowly left the companies he had been a board member of; his last known attendance at a civil engineering project was in 1894, but he continued assisting the LB&SCR until his death in 1900 aged 78. Over his extensive six-decade career, he saw success not only as the designer and engineer of railway projects, but as the director and important figure of various companies across four continents. He also saw academic success, being awarded two of the Institution of Civil Engineers' accolades in 1850 and 1858 respectfully, the latter of which was for a paper that was considered pioneering in station design and railway engineering.