Joseph Bourne (1836-1893)
Joseph Bourne (1836-1893)
1836 August 5th. Born at Droitwich the son of Thomas Bourne and his wife Sophia Treadwell
1851 Joseph is at school in Whalley, Lancs.
Married(1) Henrietta Newman. Five children - Edith Anne, Francis John, Eunice Sophia, Henrietta, Joseph Guy. Henrietta (1838-1873) died 1873 age 34
1864-85 Resident Engineer, Locomotive Superintendent and General Manager of the Isle of Wight Railway
1871 Living at Leeds Street, Brading, Hants: Joseph Bourne (age 34 born Droitwich), Engineer and General Manager Railway. With his wife Henrietta Bourne (age 32 born Walsall) and their children Edith A. Bourne (age 9 born Walsall), Francis J. Bourne (age 7 born Cummock), Eunice S. Bourne (age 5 born Sandown, IOW), Henrietta Bourne (age 4 born Sandown, IOW), and Joseph G. Bourne (age 2 born Sandown, IOW). Two servants.[1]
c1875 Married(2) Mary (1845- )
1876 Birth of son William Herbert Bourne
1877-83 Leased / managed the business of James Taylor and Co
1881 Living at Heathlands, Brading, Hants: Joseph Bourne (age 44 born Droitwich), Civil Engineer. With his wife Mary Bourne (age 36 born Privett End, Staffs.) and their sons Joseph Bourne (age 12 born Sandown, IOW) and William Bourne (age 5 born Sandown, IOW). Three servants.[2]
1893 July. Obituary. 'Death of Mr. Joseph Bourne.— Many in the Island will regret to hear of the death of Mr Joseph Bourne, a gentleman who for many years was the engineer and general manager of the Isle of Wight Railway. Mr. Bourne was associated with the Railway from its commencement, and it was his good judgment and engineering skill which largely assisted in bringing the enterprise through its initial difficulties. As long as those difficulties continued, and the shareholders received no dividend, Mr. Bourne remained in undisputed command but, when the Rubicon was crossed and fortune smiled, the shareholders were not content. A new generation had arisen who knew little about Mr. Bourne, but thought they ought to make larger profits. Mr. Bourne did not approve of some of the changes and re-arrangements suggested, and the result was that after many years residence he resigned his position and left the Island, to the great regret of his many friends. Mr. Bourne had in his youth been associated with the great engineer Brunel, about whom he told many interesting anecdotes. The deceased gentleman was most quiet and unassuming in his manners, but was much beloved by the whole of the staff, to whom he was ever most kind and considerate.'[3]
1893 Obituary [4]
JOSEPH BOURNE was born on the 5th of August, 1836, and commenced his engineering career at the early age of fifteen as a pupil in the Locomotive Works of the Great Western Railway Company at Swindon.
After the expiration of his five years' apprenticeship he was occupied from 1854 to 1856 on the construction of the South Wales Railway, now part of the Great Western system.
He was then engaged for two years as an Outdoor Locomotive Superintendent on the Great Western Railway, the service of which Company he resigned in 1858 to accept the post of manager to Tredwell's Railway Works at Gloucester, since extinct. After remaining with that firm about three years, he was occupied from 1861 to 1864 as assistant manager at the Hednesford Colliery in Staffordshire.
In June, 1864, Mr. Bourne was appointed Resident Engineer, Locomotive Superintendent and General Manager of the Isle of Wight Railway, a line 12 miles in length from Ryde to Ventnor. The duties of that post, which he held for twenty-one years, may be said to have occupied the most important part of his life.
On leaving the service of the Isle of Wight Railway Company in the summer of 1885, Mr. Bourne took up his residence at Stafford, where he remained for about three years.
Between 1877 and 1883 he was lessee of the Britannia Works, Birkenhead, in which he carried on the business of the extinct firm of James Taylor and Co.
In the autumn of 1892 he left Birkenhead for Wylde Green in Warwickshire, where he died on the 2nd of July, 1893, in the fifty-seventh year of his age.
Mr. Bourne was a man of high honour and a marked sense of rectitude, and whatever work he undertook was conscientiously and carefully performed. He was elected an Associate of the Institution on the 6th of December, 1870, was subsequently placed in the class of Associate Member, and on the 6th of February, 1883, was transferred to the class of Member.
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ 1871 Census
- ↑ 1881 Census
- ↑ Isle of Wight Observer - Saturday 08 July 1893
- ↑ 1893 Institution of Civil Engineers: Obituaries