Coyle, James Edmund Fitzgerald

Civil engineer who, with Professor William H Warren, designed the suspension bridge at Northbridge. Born in Ireland about 1844, he was a Member of the Institute of Civil engineers and worked in coal mining in Scotland before migrating to New Zealand in the early 1870s. He worked there as an engineer and surveyor, also travelling to and from Sydney. In 1884, he was asked to produce a report on the NSW Department of Public Works for the government,who were looking for recommendations to reduce its size. In the late 1880s he was commissioned by the NSW Government to produce a report on the Murray River, looking at navigation and water rights, and also advised on railways. He died at his sister Rosalind Robertson's house, Byron Lodge, in Randwick on 6 October 1895 at the age of 51.