Parkes, William | Paton, Robert | Pepys, Samuel | Pickernell, Francis | Pickernell, Jonathan
Parkes, William  (Life span unknown)

He was an engineer in the Marine Department of the Board of Trade.
His accredited lighthouses include three which he designed in the Red Sea in 1862. Of these only one was of a masonry construction, being the lighthouse at Zafarana Point. The two at Daedalus and Ushruffee reefs were of a lattice composition of wrought iron and teak.
The construction programme was supervised by engineer C.W. Scott.



Paton, Robert (Life span unknown)

He is accredited to be the designer of the high light at Ayr around 1841. This masonry structure replaced the original wooden lighthouse established in 1790.




Pepys, Samuel (1633-1703), English naval administrator and diarist.

His connection with the navy started in 1660, and in 1673 he  became Secretary to the Admiralty Commission and a Member of Parliament.  He worked hard for naval reform, but his closeness to the Duke of York  led to his arrest for alleged complicity in the Popish Plot. 

He was reappointed in 1684 (he became president of the Royal Society in the same year), and during James II's reign he did his best to rebuild the navy which had again fallen into neglect.

Samuel Pepys also made a major contribution in the restructuring of Trinity House and became its Master on two occasions. He is accredited with much of the design application used to establish the Harwich lights.

Pepys is  remembered for his diary, an important document on contemporary life  and manners, (including descriptions of the coronation of Charles II,  the Fire of London, and the Great Plague), written  with engaging sincerity and humanity. It was written between 1660 and  1669 in a code of Pepys's own invention, which was not deciphered until  1825.



Pickernell, Francis  (Life span unknown)

Formerly the Engineer-in-Chief to the Whitby Harbour Trust. He designed the West Pier lighthouse in 1831.
Appointed Engineer to Harbour Trust in 1808.
It is believed he was the son of Jonathan Pickernell who held the post of Engineer from 1781-1812.



Pickernell, Jonathan  (1765-1814)

Appointed as the Engineer to the Commissioners of the River Wear. Around 1798 he reported the poor situation of navigational aids in Sunderland Harbour. His report brought about the establishment of the North Pier lighthouse, which he designed in 1802.
His involvement with matters which were considered to be questionable by the Harbour Board, forced him to resign from the post of Engineer in 1808.
While in on board a ship in search of new employment he was imprisoned by the French, because he refused to work for the Napoleonic regime.
His death came about in 1814 due to a forced march when the Russian army advanced on the French forces.