Thomas Townshend
Thomas Townshend c.1771-1846. Civil Engineer
1818-21 Resident Engineer for the Eau Brink Cut; trained his nephew Thomas Casebourne.[1] Actually, he resigned the position of Superintendent of the works in 1823 and was replaced by Mr J Little jr.[2]
1827-1830 The contractor for the excavation of the Smethwick cut on Telford's Birmingham Canal improvements.[3]
1834 Appointed contractor for the six mile Tring to Leighton section of the London and Birmingham Railway, his quoted price being £107,250. His section started about 200 yards north-west of Tring Station and incuded the Tring Cutting.
1837 Fiat in bankruptcy issued 10th day of October 1837. Became insolvent whilst working on the Tring Cutting as a result of rising labour rates, difficulties finding accommodation for his workforce, ingress of water and a dispute with the Grand Junction Canal over their feed water. [4]
1837 Townshend's plant, machinery, equipment and materials sold at auction in June.[5]
1846 Died 3 May 1846, of Heath,near Birmingham.[6]
See Also
- Tring Local History and Museum Website, which gives a good deal of information on the construction of Tring Cutting.
Sources of Information
- ↑ A Biographical Dictionary of Civil Engineers in Great Britain and Ireland. Edited by A. W. Skempton
- ↑ Norfolk Chronicle - 25 Oct 1823
- ↑ Embankments and Cuttings on the early Railways - A W Skempton 1996
- ↑ London Gazette - 7 Nov 1837 and Tring History - "See also" above
- ↑ Bucks Gazette - 16 Jun 1838
- ↑ London Evening Standard - 7 May 1846