Mark William Carr (1822-1888)
Mark William Carr (1822-1888)
1888 Obituary [1]
MARK WILLIAM CARR died suddenly at Morelia, in Mexico, on the 5th of February, 1888, whither he had gone to examine and report on some silver-mines, on behalf of parties in England.
Mr. Carr was born in the year 1822, at North Shields, and was the son of the late John Thomas Carr, who became Russian Consul and Sheriff of Newcastle-on-Tyne. He was educated a the Grammar-school in Newcastle, and in the year 1837 he entered the works of Robert Stephenson and Co, where he served an apprenticeship of six years in the shops and drawing-office of that establishment.
He then proceeded to the University of Glasgow, where, under the guidance of Professor Gordon, he prosecuted scientific studies bearing on engineering.
On leaving Glasgow he obtained an appointment as Resident Engineer for the construction of the Syston and Peterborough Railway, under Messrs. Liddell and Gordon, who were the Engineers of the Company.
He afterwards, under the same gentlemen, became Resident Engineer of the Newport, Abergavenny, and Hereford Railway, which included the construction of the well-known Crumlin Viaduct, one of the most novel constructions of the time, being entirely of iron, including the piers, and about 200 feet in height over the valley. Mr. Carr remained on this line after it was opened, occupying the positions of Resident Engineer and of Locomotive Superintendent, for which his early training admirably fitted him.
In 1858 he was appointed Chief Engineer of the Great Southern of India Railway, on the recommendation of George B. Bruce, President Inst. C.E., Consulting Engineer of that railway.
Five years later he was appointed Chief Contractor’s Agent by Waring Brothers and Hunt, during the construction of the Allahabad and Jubbulpore branch of the East Indian Railway.
After ten years’ residence in India, Mr. Carr returned to England, and accepted an appointment as Engineer for the contractors of the Grosswardein and Klausenburg Railway in Hungary.
In 1873 he became General Manager of the Rio Tinto Mining Company in Spain. . . . . . [more]
1888 Obituary [2]
MARK WILLIAM CARR was born at Newcastle-on-Tyne, in 1822, and died at Morelia, in Mexico, on the 5th day of February last.
Mr. Carr was a son of the late Mr. John Thomas Carr, Russian Consul at Newcastle-on-Tyne, and at one time Sheriff of that town. In 1837 he was apprenticed as an engineer at the locomotive works of Robert Stephenson, on the Tyne; and in 1843, after having completed his apprenticeship, he proceeded to the University of Glasgow, with a view to the continuance of his scientific studies. Under Professor Gordon, he was thoroughly grounded in engineering and the allied sciences, and on leaving the University he at once obtained an appointment under Messrs. Liddell & Gordon, the contractors for the Syston and Peterborough Railway.
In 1852 he was appointed engineer of the Newport, Abergavenny, and Hereford Railway, in which capacity he superintended the construction of the well-known Crumlin Viaduct, a structure some 200 feet in height at its greatest elevation above the valley below, and entirely composed of iron. This enterprise brought Mr. Carr into more prominent notice, and he was, directly after its completion, offered the appointment of chief engineer to the Great Southern Railway of India.
In 1863 he became chief contractor's engineer in the construction of the Allahabad and Jubbulpore branch of the Great Indian Peninsular Railway.
In 1868, Mr. Carr, after a residence of ten years in India, during which he had had as much to do with the practical development of the Indian railway system as perhaps any man of his time, returned to Europe, but not to be idle. In 1869-1870 he was superintending engineer of the Grosswardein and Klausenberg Railway in Hungary.
In 1873 he became general manager of the Rio Tinto Mines in Spain, in which capacity he had for some time, as an engineering colleague, Mr. Julien Deby, formerly the foreign secretary to the Institute, and now a consulting mining engineer and metallurgist in London. The very responsible post which Mr. Carr held at Rio Tinto will be appreciated by all who have any knowledge of the extent of that gigantic concern, which has a capital of about seven and a half millions sterling, and employs over 10,000 hands.
In 1879 Mr. Carr removed to England, and for a time he became more closely identified with the iron trade than he had previously been, by assuming the position of managing director of the Blaina Iron Works, in South Wales. While at Blaina, Mr. Carr had several proposals made to him to examine and report on mining and similar properties in different parts of the world, and he was so employed in Mexico at the time of his death, which resulted from heart disease.
Mr. Carr became a member of the Iron and Steel Institute in 1883. He was also a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, and of the South Wales Institute of Engineers.