Cathcart William Methven’s biography, fact, career, awards, net worth and life story

Cathcart William Methven (24 September 1849 Edinburgh – 30 August 1925 Pietermaritzburg) was Engineer-in-Chief at Greenock on the Clyde, and appointed in 1888 as Harbour Engineer in Durban. Besides being an architect and able musician, he was, unusually, a gifted landscape artist and produced many fine paintings of Natal scenery. He founded the Durban Art Gallery in 1892.

Methven was assistant harbour engineer at Greenock in Scotland and engineer-in-chief of its Harbour Trust for some 18 years. Aa a prominent Victorian engineer, he became a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE). When appointed Durban’s harbour engineer in 1888, his orders were to remove a sandbar obstructing shipping at the harbour entrance, forcing passengers and cargo to be moved by lighter. Methven’s plans to get rid of the bar by extending the North Pier and using the scouring action of tidal currents, brought him into conflict with a prominent lawyer, Attorney General and politician, Harry Escombe, who wanted to rely on dredging alone. Consequently, Methven was dismissed on 11 July 1894. This led to a tremendous uproar ending in Escombe’s resignation. Much later, in 1918, the South African government granted him £500 in recognition of his services with development of the harbour. His other recommendation that the Umhlatuzi Lagoon be developed as a second harbour for Natal, was also followed in the 1970s and is now known as Richards Bay.

Not content to remain idle, Methven started his own successful business as consulting civil and marine engineer, architect and surveyor on 13 December 1895. He undertook to survey all harbours on the south-east and southern coastline, ranging from Port St Johns (1897) to Port Alfred, Kalk Bay and Mossel Bay (1901), Richards Bay and Cape Town (1902), East London (1901 and 1910), Maputo (1909/10) and Beira and Port Elizabeth (1911). Methven was also President of the Natal Institute of Architects (1905–1908) and a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA).

Methven practiced as architect and was one of the founder members of the Natal Institute of Architects. He was an enthusiastic trout fisherman and an accomplished musician.

His involvement in the art world led to his being President of the Natal Society of Artists in 1908, 1912 and 1915. He drew up specifications for the building of the organs in the Durban and Pietermaritzburg Town Halls, and edited A Century of Progress, 1824–1924 published in Pietermaritzburg. Methven’s first solo exhibition took place in Johannesburg in 1921. His work may be seen in the Africana Museum, Durban Art Gallery, Local History Museums, Tatham Art Gallery and the Killie Campbell Collections.