Edward Hooper (1822-1869)
1871 Obituary [1]
MR. EDWARD HOOPER was born on the 18th of November, 1822, at No. 1 South Place, Finsbury, where his father, Mr. John Hooper, was a prominent medical practitioner.
His constitution was never robust, and he was subjected to no course of study beyond that of a classical education. This did not develop to his friends an innate taste for mechanical pursuits of which he was himself sensible, and which gratified itself in such occupations as drawing steam-engines and making models of ships elaborately finished and rigged.
Consequently his introduction to business commenced in the country with a miller, who combined with this the timber and coal business, and he was about nineteen years of age when he was allowed to enter upon the career of his choice.
He was then articled for three years to the late Mr. Benjamin Cubitt, M. Inst. C.E., at that time local superintendent of the Brighton, Croydon, and Dover railway, and was chiefly employed in the mechanical department at the joint station, New Cross.
He also took a prominent part for one in his then position in the experiment of the atmospheric railway from Croydon to London ; subsequently he was engaged under other engineers in the making of the Jemappe and Louvain railway, on the Eastern Counties line, and on surveys in Wales and other places. He was thus engaged when the death of Mr. Cubitt in January, 1848, and the railway panic about the same time, combined to unsettle him in the pursuit of railway engineering.
His father died in the autumn of this year, and in the following year he paid a visit to America.
On his return the removal of the duty on bricks caused him to give his attention to that manufacture. The result was his establishment of brick-works at Exbury, 17 miles from Southampton, and his residence in that town, he at the same time pursuing his profession as an architect. This business he worked successfully till 1866, when it was superseded by the occupation of the Portland cement works.
The disease of which he died on July 2nd, 1869, had been slowly developing itself for two or three years, but during that time the influence of his life and conversation was also gaining upon his fellow-townsmen and friends, and he died much respected and beloved. The most marked feature in his character was submission to the Divine will, which after a life of unusual trial shone out to its close.
Mr. Hooper was elected an Associate of the Institution on the 25th of June, 1844; but, from living in the country, was unable to attend the meetings and take part in the discussions.
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ Institution of Civil Engineers Minutes of the Proceedings