Editing Thomas Telford (section)

==Telford's death==
Telford's young draughtsman and clerk 1830–34 [[George Turnbull (civil engineer)|George Turnbull]] in his diary states:

<blockquote>''On the 23rd'' [August 1834] ''Mr Telford was taken seriously ill of a bilious derangement to which he had been liable ... he grew worse and worse'' … [surgeons] ''attended him twice a day, but it was to no avail for he died on the 2nd September, very peacefully at about 5pm. … His old servant James Handscombe and I were the only two in the house'' [24 Abingdon Street, London] ''when he died. He was never married. Mr [[Alexander Milne (civil servant)|Milne]] and Mr [[John Rickman (parliamentary official)|Rickman]] were, no doubt, Telford's most intimate friends. ... I went to Mr Milne and under his direction … made all the arrangements about the house and correspondence. ... Telford had no blood relations that we knew of. The funeral took place on the 10th September [in [[Westminster Abbey]]]. ... Mr Telford was of the most genial disposition and a delightful companion, his laugh was the heartiest I ever heard; it was a pleasure to be in his society.''<ref name="ReferenceA">Diaries of George Turnbull (Chief Engineer, [[East Indian Railway Company]]) held at the [[Centre of South Asian Studies]] at [[Cambridge University]], England</ref><ref>Pages 15 to 18 of ''George Turnbull, C.E.'' the 437-page memoirs published privately 1893: scanned copy held in the British Library, London on compact disk since 2007</ref></blockquote>

Thomas Telford was buried in the nave of Westminster Abbey; a statue was erected to him nearby, in St Andrew's Chapel adjoining the north transept.<ref>'The Abbey Scientists' Hall, A.R. p. 41: London; Roger & Robert Nicholson; 1966</ref>

Throughout his life Telford had a great affection for his birthplace of Eskdale and its people and in his will left legacies to the two local libraries at Westerkirk and Langholm.<ref>[http://www.langholm-online.co.uk/pages/content.asp?pageid=514 "Thomas Telford 1757–1854" in Langholm Online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180514064714/https://www.langholm-online.co.uk/pages/content.asp?pageid=514 |date=14 May 2018 }}, retrieved 12 May 2018</ref>