Charles Boyd
Charles Boyd (c1827-1893) of the North British Railway and Silloth Docks
1855 Charles Boyd, Engineer of the Port Carlisle Dock and Railway Company.[1]
1860 Engineer to the Port Carlisle Railway.[2]
1893 Died.
1894 Obituary.[3]
We regret to announce the death of Mr. Charles Boyd, C.E., late Superintendent of the southern section of the North British Railway, who died at his residence in Cecil Street, in this city (Carlisle), on Wednesday. Mrr. Boyd, who was 66 years of age, came to Carlisle rather more than fifty one years ago as an apprentice to Messrs. T. and J. Nelson, contractors, builders and marble merchants, in Crown Street. The Newcastle and Carlisle railway was then the only railway open, although the Maryport and Carlisle line was nearly completed, and Carlisle was a place of much lower consequence than it is at present. Having remained five or six years with Messrs. Neilson he then left them with their permission to take a situation as engineer for the Carlisle Canal Company in succession to his father, who died at that time.
In 1854 the Canal was converted into a railway, although Mr. Boyd often expressed' his regret that the old water way had not been retained and developed, because it gave greater importance to Carlisle to have ships coming up to the city ; and now that there has been a strong movement throughout the country for the development of canals Mr. Boyd's views upon the subject have been amply justified. The Silloth Railway and Dock were constructed in 1856 and 1860, and the works at Silloth were planed under Mr. Boyd's charge as engineer, and when the undertaking was acquired by the North British Company, first by lease and then by purchase, the whole of the southern division or Border section of the North British system was placed under his charge, and he continued to fill that office of responsibility until his retirement last year. He was very popular with the local traders, who last year signified their appreciation of him by presenting him with a testimonial consisting of a clock which coat thirty guineas and a purse of a hundred sovereigns. He had always a keen eye to the interest of the Railway Company in whose service he had been for so many years, but he showed a desire to accommodate and oblige traders, which made him very popular. It was mainly owing to his warm advocacy that the North British Company made the new dock at Silloth, and when he retired from active service he carried with him into private life the good wishes not only of merchants who had had business relations with him but of his colleagues in the Company's service. Unhappily, he has not lived long to enjoy the repose which he sought, and the news of his death will be received with much regret over the large district in which he was known and esteemed.