Edward Dixon (1809-1877)
Edward Dixon (1809-1877)
1809 July 13th. Born the son of John Dixon and his wife Elizabeth Waynman
1842 Edward Dixon of Winchester, became a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers.[1]
1849 March 7th. Married Sarah Blundell
1851 Engineer on the London and North Western Railway. Became a member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.[2]
1851 A visitor at North St. Villa, Wandsworth (age 41 born Cockfield): Edward Dixon a Civil Engineer. With his wife Sarah (age 34 born Hull) and their son Edward Dixon (age 1 born Leamington, Warwickshire). [3]
1871 Living at Milbrook, Hampshire (age 60 born Cockfield). With his wife Sara (age 54 born Hull) and their children Graham (age 30 born Wandsworth), Sarah Dean (age 19 born Leamington), Maria Causton (age 17 born Southampton) and Celia? A. (age 14 born Southampton). Two servants. [4]
1878 Obituary [5]
Edward Dixon, son of the late Mr. John Dixon, colliery proprietor, of Cockfield, in the county of Durham, was born there on the 13th of June, 1809.
He was educated at Ackworth School, and began his engineering career on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, under his brother John, when employed by George Stephenson to superintend the construction of the line across Chat Moss.
A few years subsequently he was engaged near Birmingham, under Robert Stephenson, who was then constructing the London and Birmingham Railway. He next accepted the appointment of Resident Engineer, under Joseph Locke, on the London and Southampton Railway, and during its construction resided, first at Wandsworth, and later, at St. Cross, near Winchester.
After the completion of the railway he became a partner of the Messrs. Twynam, seed crushers at Northam, Southampton.
He had not been there long before he again became occupied, under Mr. Robert Stephenson, on surveys for projected lines of railway in Buckinghamshire, Warwickshire, and the adjoining counties; and then in superintending the construction of the Rugby and Leamington railway, the Bletchley and Oxford, the Leamington and Coventry, and the Nuneaton and Coventry railways.
Before the completion of the last-mentioned railways he acted as Resident Engineer of the London and Birmingham railway, during the illness of Robert Benson Dockray, at which time he resided in London. When no hope was entertained of Mr. Dockray’s recovery the appointment was offered to Mr. Dixon, but was declined by him.
He returned to Southampton, where, in conjunction with Thomas Cardus, the railway contractor, he acquired the remaining interests of Messrs. Twynam’s business, and, as head of the firm of Dixon and Cardus, he was for many years employed in business pursuits.
He also took an active part in the welfare and politics of Southampton, was elected President of the Chamber of Commerce, and was made a Justice of the Peace of the borough.
He was one of the founders and original directors of the Union Steam Ship Company, for many years the only Mail Service to the Cape of Good Hope and South Africa, and now one of the most flourishing companies whose ships sail from Southampton.
After some years’ failing health he retired from business in October 1873, a complete invalid, and went to reside in Wandsworth. He died, after a short illness, on the 18th of November, 1877.
He was elected a Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers on the 1st of February, 1842.