Thomas Pringle

High on the list of mechanical and hydraulic engineers appears the name of Thomas Pringle. Scientific study, investigation and experience brought him to the enviable position which he long occupied, making his word authority upon many problems relating to the profession. He was born in Huntingdon, province of Quebec, in 1830, and died in Montreal on the 7th day of May, 1911. His father, David Pringle, was a farmer of Huntingdon and it was there that the son was reared and educated, but in 1850, when a young man of twenty years, he engaged in business in Montreal as a milling engineer and for many years was prominently connected with many water power developments and mill building operations throughout Canada. Every phase of the milling business seemed familiar to him and each forward step that he made seemed to bring him a wider outlook and broader opportunities. He later interested himself in the Montgomery Cotton Mills, the Hochelaga and St. Ann’s Mills, of the Dominion Cotton Company, and the Magog Print Mills, owned by the same corporation. His connection with all these different important projects constituted him a forceful factor in the industrial development of the country. He was thus associated with many of the chief productive industries of Canada and beyond this he became one of the foremost consulting engineers. It was in the ‘60s that his attention was first attracted to the water power possibilities of the Lachine Rapids, which were subsequently utilized by the Lachine Rapids Hydraulic & Land Company. At that early date, now more than half a century ago, he made preliminary plans and wrote a report upon the feasibility of the development in the interests of Hugh Fraser, founder of the Fraser Institute. Mr. Pringle predicted then that the water power would some day be used and he lived to see the day when the prediction was fulfilled. In 1891 he was again asked to report on this power in the interest of the Royal Electric Company, and the following year was asked to report on the Chambly water power for the same concern. In 1892 his eldest son was admitted to the business under the firm style of T. Pringle & Son, hydraulic engineers, and during the succeeding three years close observations were made and much data accumulated concerning the water power resources of the country, the firm being regarded as authority upon many questions relative thereto.

Mr. Pringle retired from the firm in 1898 but the business has since been continued by his son under the same name. His services were greatly sought, owing to his sound judgment, his scientific attainments, his keen insight, and his practical experience. He was considered the soul of honor and none ever questioned his integrity. He assisted many men to gain a start in life and many others were benefited by his powers of perception and keen insight. His services were in constant demand as an arbitrator when insurance companies were concerned in milling matters. John McDougall took delight in giving him credit for the creation of the large McDougall fortune and others acknowledged their indebtedness to him in a similar way. As a natural mathematician he perhaps had no superior in all Canada and he was regarded as one of the most distinguished members of the Canadian Society of Civil Engineers.

In 1861 Mr. Pringle was united in marriage to Miss Catherine Ross, a daughter of Alexander and Isabella (Lang) Ross, of Chateauquay Basin. The mother, who came from Scotland in 1832, made her home at Chateauquay Basin, until death called her at the notable old age of ninety-seven years. Alexander Ross was a builder and assisted in the construction of the locks at Lachine Canal but his death occurred when he was yet a young man. Mr. and Mrs. Pringle had two sons: David Alexander, a mechanical engineer of Montreal; and R. E. T. Pringle, of Toronto, an electrical engineer.