Richard Flint Welby (1839-1906)
1907 Obituary [1]
RICHARD FLINT WELBY, second son of the late Mr. Adlard Welby, Solicitor, of Uttoxeter, was born in that town on the 17th December, 1839, and served his apprenticeship to Messrs. Thorniwell and Warren, mechanical engineers, Burton-on-Trent.
In 1862 he was engaged by the late Sir James Brunlees to prepare plans for working the inclines of the Sao Paulo Railway in Brazil, and in the same year he left England for Brazil to take charge of the works. These included the erection of engine-houses and machinery and the laying of the pulleys and other mechanical details, the most noteworthy of the latter being probably the incline brakes designed by Mr. Welby, the working of which proved so satisfactory that they have been employed ever since practically as they were at first designed.
On the completion of his work, Mr. Welby spent a year in England, returning to Brazil in 1866 to take up the duties of Locomotive Superintendent of the Sao Paulo Railway. In this capacity he had charge of all the rolling stock of the line for 7 years, exchanging the post in 1873 for that of General Manager and Engineer of the Ituana Railway, the first narrow-gauge line in Brazil, connecting Itu with the terminus of the Sao Paulo Railway.
Subsequently he acted as Engineer for the construction of Macahe and Campos Railway, and in 1877 he engaged in consulting practice in Rio de Janeiro, and was connected with the execution of many important public works in Brazil, including the Bahia and Minas Railway and a large steel bridge over the Parahyba at Commercio.
In 1889 he returned to England on account of failing health, and resided in this country until his death on the 25th May, 1906, in his sixty-seventh year.
Mr. Welby was elected a Member of The Institution on the 1st February, 1881.