Sir Daniel Gooch, 1st Baronet (24 August 1816 – 15 October 1889) was an English railway locomotive and transatlantic cable engineer. He was the first Superintendent of Locomotive Engines on the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...

from 1837 to 1864 and its chairman from 1865 until his death in 1889. Between 1865 and 1885 Gooch was

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

MP for

Cricklade Cricklade is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in north Wiltshire, England, midway between Swindon and Cirencester. It is the first downstream town on the Thames. The parish population at the 2011 census was 4,227. History Cricklade ...

Early life

Gooch was born in

Bedlington Bedlington is a town and former civil parish in Northumberland, England, with a population of 18,470 measured at the 2011 Census. Bedlington is an ancient market town, with a rich history of industry and innovative residents. Located roughly 1 ...

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

, the son of John Gooch, an

iron founder An iron founder (also iron-founder or ironfounder) in its more general sense is a worker in molten ferrous metal, generally working within an iron foundry. However, the term 'iron founder' is usually reserved for the owner or manager of an iron foun ...

, and his wife Anna Longridge. In 1831 his family moved to Tredegar Ironworks,

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( cy, Sir Fynwy) is a county in the south-east of Wales. The name derives from the historic county of the same name; the modern county covers the eastern three-fifths of the historic county. The largest town is Abergavenny, with ...

, South Wales, where his father had accepted a managerial post, and it was there that Daniel would begin training under Thomas Ellis senior, who together with Ironmaster

Samuel Homfray Samuel Homfray (1762 – 22 May 1822) was an English industrialist during the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain, associated with the early iron industry in South Wales. Samuel was the son of a successful ironmaster, Francis Homfray, and the ...

and

Richard Trevithick Richard Trevithick (13 April 1771 – 22 April 1833) was a British inventor and mining engineer. The son of a mining captain, and born in the mining heartland of Cornwall, Trevithick was immersed in mining and engineering from an early age. He w ...

pioneered steam railway locomotion. Gooch wrote in his diaries "Large works of this kind are by far the best school for a young engineer to get a general knowledge of what he needs in after life." and "...I look back upon the time spent at Tredegar as by far the most important years of my life...". He trained in engineering with a variety of companies, including a period with

Robert Stephenson Robert Stephenson FRS HFRSE FRSA DCL (16 October 1803 – 12 October 1859) was an English civil engineer and designer of locomotives. The only son of George Stephenson, the "Father of Railways", he built on the achievements of his father ...

and Company, in Newcastle upon Tyne, as a draughtsman. At the age of 20 he was recruited by

Isambard Kingdom Brunel Isambard Kingdom Brunel (; 9 April 1806 – 15 September 1859) was a British civil engineer who is considered "one of the most ingenious and prolific figures in engineering history," "one of the 19th-century engineering giants," and "one ...

for the Great Western Railway, under the title " Superintendent of Locomotive Engines", taking office on 18 August 1837. Whilst working in Newcastle he met his future wife, Margaret Tanner, the daughter of Henry Tanner, a Sunderland shipowner. He stayed in touch with Margaret when he moved south to work for Brunel.

Railway engineer

In Gooch's earliest days with the Great Western Railway, he struggled to keep the miscellaneous collection of broad gauge

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

s previously ordered by Brunel in working order. When working at Robert Stephenson and Company, he had helped design two gauge locomotives for the New Orleans Railway, which had never been delivered. Gooch persuaded Brunel to buy the two locomotives, North Star and Morning Star, and had Stephenson convert them to gauge before delivery. As the only reliable locomotives that the company had at that time, they were the basis of the

GWR Star Class The Great Western Railway (GWR) Star Class of 2-2-2 broad gauge steam locomotives were used for passenger train work. Designed by Robert Stephenson, the class was introduced into service between November 1838 and November 1841, and withdrawn be ...

. He and Brunel improved the

blastpipe The blastpipe is part of the exhaust system of a steam locomotive that discharges exhaust steam from the cylinders into the smokebox beneath the chimney in order to increase the draught through the fire. History The primacy of discovery of th ...

arrangement of the North Star to improve its fuel efficiency. Eventually Gooch moved on from the Star class and designed the new

GWR Firefly Class The Firefly was a class of broad gauge Whyte notation, 2-2-2 steam locomotives used for passenger services on the Great Western Railway. The class was introduced into service between March 1840 and December 1842, and withdrawn between December ...

of 2-2-2 express passenger locomotives, introduced in 1840. In comparative trials by the Gauge Commissioners, ''Ixion'' of this class proved capable of speeds greater than its challenger. In 1843 Gooch introduced a new form of locomotive

valve gear The valve gear of a steam engine is the mechanism that operates the inlet and exhaust valves to admit steam into the cylinder and allow exhaust steam to escape, respectively, at the correct points in the cycle. It can also serve as a reversing ...

. In 1840, Gooch was responsible for identifying the site of

Swindon Works Swindon railway works was opened by the Great Western Railway in 1843 in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. It served as the principal west England maintenance centre until closed in 1986. History In 1835 Parliament approved the construction of the ...

and in 1846 for designing the first complete locomotive to be constructed there, ''Great Western'', prototype of the

GWR Iron Duke Class The Great Western Railway Iron Duke Class 4-2-2 was a class of broad gauge steam locomotives for express passenger train work. History The prototype locomotive, ''Great Western'', was built as a 2-2-2 locomotive in April 1846, but was soon ...

of 4-2-2 locomotives, which were able to achieve . Much renewed, they lasted to the end of the GWR broad gauge era. Though Gooch's locomotives were principally for the broad gauge, between 1854 and 1864 he also had to design a number of standard gauge classes for the GWR's new Northern Division. In 1864 he resigned from his post of Locomotive Superintendent, though he continued as a member of the GWR Board.

Cable engineer and other roles

From 1859 Gooch lived at Clewer Park in Windsor and was a Deputy Lieutenant for Berkshire. In 1865, he was recalled to the Great Western Railway Company as chairman. He was also chief engineer of the

Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company Enderby's Wharf is a wharf and industrial site on the south bank of the Thames in Greenwich, London, associated with Telcon and other companies. It has a history of more than 150 years of production of submarine communication cables and associ ...

. In this role, he was instrumental in laying the first successful

transatlantic telegraph cable Transatlantic telegraph cables were undersea cables running under the Atlantic Ocean for telegraph communications. Telegraphy is now an obsolete form of communication, and the cables have long since been decommissioned, but telephone and data a ...

, using the

SS Great Eastern SS ''Great Eastern'' was an iron sail-powered, paddle wheel and screw-propelled steamship designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, and built by John Scott Russell & Co. at Millwall Iron Works on the River Thames, London. She was the largest ship ev ...

(1865/66).

Political career

In 1865, while out of the country laying the cable, Gooch was elected

MP for

. He held the seat until 1885. During his time as MP, he never addressed Parliament; he noted this in his diary when Parliament was dissolved on 18 November 1885 with the comment It would be a great advantage to business if there were a greater number who followed my example.

Later business activities

In 1866 Gooch was created a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

in recognition of his cable work. In 1868 he became chairman of the Telegraph Construction & Maintenance Company after

John Pender Sir John Pender KCMG GCMG FSA FRSE (10 September 1816 – 7 July 1896) was a Scottish submarine communications cable pioneer and politician. Early life He was born in the Vale of Leven, Scotland, the son of James Pender and his wife, Marion Ma ...

, the first chairman, resigned. He led the Great Western Railway out of near-bankruptcy and took a particular interest in construction of the

Severn Tunnel The Severn Tunnel ( cy, Twnnel Hafren) is a railway tunnel in the United Kingdom, linking South Gloucestershire in the west of England to Monmouthshire in south Wales under the estuary of the River Severn. It was constructed by the Great Western ...

. Final abandonment of the broad gauge did not take place until after his death at the age of 73.

Family

Gooch married Margaret Tanner in 1838; they had six children. Following her death in 1868, he married Emily Burder in 1870; she died in 1901. His brothers,

John Viret Gooch John Viret Gooch FRSA (29 June 1812 – 8 June 1900) was the locomotive superintendent of the London and South Western Railway from 1841 to 1850. Born at Bedlington, Northumberland, John Viret Gooch (brother of Daniel Gooch) was the son of John a ...

Thomas Longridge Gooch Thomas Longridge Gooch (1 November 1808 – 23 November 1882) was civil engineer of the Manchester and Leeds Railway from 1831 to 1844. Biography Gooch was born on 1 November 1808. He was the eldest son of John and Anna Gooch; John was fro ...

and William Frederick Gooch, were also railway engineers.

Legacy

GWR Castle Class The 4073 or Castle Class are 4-6-0 steam locomotives of the Great Western Railway, built between 1923 and 1950. They were designed by the railway's Chief Mechanical Engineer, Charles Collett, for working the company's express passenger trains. ...

steam locomotive no. 5070 and British Rail Western Region class 47 diesel locomotive no. D1663 (later 47078, then 47628) were both named ''Sir Daniel Gooch''. Continuing with this tradition, the present

company has named class 800 no. 800004 after Gooch; it runs on the line that Gooch helped to create. A pub in Bayswater,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

was named the Daniel Gooch; it closed in 2016. The Sir Daniel Arms, a

Wetherspoons J D Wetherspoon plc (branded variously as Wetherspoon or Wetherspoons, and colloquially known as Spoons) is a pub company operating in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The company was founded in 1979 by Tim Martin and is based in Watford. It o ...

pub in Swindon, is also named after Gooch, as is Gooch Street in the same town, one of several streets built to house Great Western railway workers.

References

External links

* * Gooch's letter proposing

Swindon railway works Swindon railway works was opened by the Great Western Railway in 1843 in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. It served as the principal west England maintenance centre until closed in 1986. History In 1835 Parliament approved the construction of th ...

Gooch’s Historic letter to Brunel - A Piece of Paper That Changed A Town’s Destiny

Photograph of Gooch taken in the 1860s.
National Portrait Gallery.
Portrait of Gooch.
National Portrait Gallery, artist, Francis Grant, 1872. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gooch, Daniel 1816 births 1889 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies English railway mechanical engineers Locomotive builders and designers People from Bedlington People from Windsor, Berkshire British railway pioneers Submarine communications cables UK MPs 1865–1868 UK MPs 1868–1874 UK MPs 1874–1880 UK MPs 1880–1885 Great Western Railway people Directors of the Great Western Railway 19th-century British engineers Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Cricklade 19th-century British businesspeople Deputy Lieutenants of Wiltshire English Freemasons