Francis Trevithick (1812–1877), from

Camborne Camborne ( kw, Kammbronn) is a town in Cornwall, England. The population at the 2011 Census was 20,845. The northern edge of the parish includes a section of the South West Coast Path, Hell's Mouth and Deadman's Cove. Camborne was former ...

, Cornwall, was one of the first locomotive engineers of the

London and North Western Railway The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom. In 1923, it became a constituent of the Lo ...

(LNWR).

Life

Born in 1812 as the son of

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 ...

, he began the study of civil engineering around 1832, and by 1840 was employed by the

Grand Junction Railway The Grand Junction Railway (GJR) was an early railway company in the United Kingdom, which existed between 1833 and 1846 when it was amalgamated with other railways to form the London and North Western Railway. The line built by the company w ...

(GJR). After leaving the LNWR he returned to Cornwall and became

factor Factor, a Latin word meaning "who/which acts", may refer to: Commerce * Factor (agent), a person who acts for, notably a mercantile and colonial agent * Factor (Scotland), a person or firm managing a Scottish estate * Factors of production, suc ...

of the Trehidy estates, of which his grandfather had been mineral agent in the 18th century. He wrote a biography of his father and, in 1872, had it published. He died at

Penzance Penzance ( ; kw, Pennsans) is a town, civil parish and port in the Penwith district of Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is the most westerly major town in Cornwall and is about west-southwest of Plymouth and west-southwest of London. Situ ...

on 27 October 1877 and was buried there. His son, Arthur Reginald Trevithick (1858-1939), worked for many years on the LNWR, including several years as assistant locomotive works manager at Crewe. Another son, Frederick Harvey Trevithick (1852-1931), worked for both 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 ...

and the

Egyptian State Railways Egyptian National Railways (ENR; ar, السكك الحديدية المصرية, Al-Sikak al-Ḥadīdiyyah al-Miṣriyyah) is the national railway of Egypt and managed by the parastatal Egyptian Railway Authority (ERA; ar, الهيئة الق� ...

and at the latter advanced to Chief Mechanical Engineer. Another son, Richard Francis Trevithick (1845-1913) originally worked on the LNER, but later worked for Rosaario Cordova Railway in Argentine, CME Ceylon Government Railways and then joined Japan's Imperial Government Railways where he was the Locomotive Superintendent responsible for the first locomotive to be constructed in Japan (at Kobe).

Career

* 1840 Appointed resident engineer on the GJR between Birmingham and Crewe * 1841 Appointed

Locomotive Superintendent Chief mechanical engineer and locomotive superintendent are titles applied by British, Australian, and New Zealand railway companies to the person ultimately responsible to the board of the company for the building and maintaining of the locomotive ...

of the GJR at

Edge Hill railway works Edge Hill railway works was built by the Liverpool and Manchester Railway around 1830 at Edge Hill, Liverpool. A second was built in 1839 by the Grand Junction Railway adjacent to it. Liverpool and Manchester Railway The shop initially maintain ...

, Liverpool * 1843 Transferred to the new works at

Crewe Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. The Crewe built-up area had a total population of 75,556 in 2011, which also covers parts of the adjacent civil parishes of Willaston ...

as Locomotive Superintendent. Trevithick's foreman at Crewe was Alexander Allan, who handled much of the design work. * 1846 When the GJR became part of the LNWR, Francis Trevithick became Locomotive Superintendent of the Northern Division. His opposite number on the Southern Division (formerly the

London & Birmingham Railway #REDIRECT Ampersand The ampersand, also known as the and sign, is the logogram , representing the conjunction "and". It originated as a ligature of the letters ''et''—Latin for "and". Etymology Traditionally in English, when spelling alo ...

), was Edward Bury until his resignation in 1847, and from March in that year J. E. McConnell. * 1857 Northern and North Eastern (formerly the Manchester & Birmingham Railway) Divisions of the LNWR were combined. The Locomotive Superintendent on the North Eastern Division was John Ramsbottom, who took over at Crewe and Trevithick was obliged to resign. On 2 September 1848 Trevithick was aboard a light engine which struck the wreckage of an earlier derailment and was itself derailed, near

Newton Road railway station Newton Road railway station was a station of the London and North Western Railway in Sandwell between West Bromwich and Great Barr, England. It lay between Hamstead and the later Tame Bridge Parkway stations on what is now known as the Chase L ...

References

* London and North Western Railway Society
Glossary
retrieved 2007-10-01
Steam Index
articl

retrieved 2007-10-01 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Trevithick, Francis 1812 births 1877 deaths People from Camborne Engineers from Cornwall London and North Western Railway people Locomotive builders and designers

Life

Career

See also

References