William Rawlinson
William Rawlinson ( -1874)
1876 Obituary [1]
MR. WILLIAM RAWLINSON was the son of Robert Rawlinson, a farmer, of Guile House, Melling, Lancashire. Having early shown a turn for mechanics, he was apprenticed to Messrs. Joseph Betteley and Co. (now Wainwright and Co.), engineers and ironfounders in Liverpool. After passing through the usual apprenticeship, and being subsequently employed by them, he went to Pernambuco, in the year 1858, to manage the establishment of Messrs. C. Starr and Co., at that time the principal engineering workshop in the place. He remained with them till 1863, when he became Assistant Engineer on the Recife Bridge, a work which was completed and opened in 1865. Mr. Rawlinson then went to the adjoining province of Parahiba, and assisted in erecting two iron bridges for the Government. In 1867 he obtained the position of manager to a small local railway which had been constructed by Mr. W. Martineau, M. Inst. C.E., and this position he retained till 1872. After a visit to England, he returned to Pernambuco, in December 1873, to take charge of the works of the Boa Vista Bridge for Messrs. Watson and Smith, the contractors, and it was while in charge of this work that he died, on the 21st of October, 1874. Mr. Rawlinson was elected an Associate of the Institution of Civil Engineers on the 11th of January, 1870.