Thomas Brassey

This is a good article. Click here for more information.
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the civil engineering contractor. For his son, see Thomas Brassey, 1st Earl Brassey. For his grandson, see Thomas Brassey, 2nd Earl Brassey.

Thomas Brassey
Buerton, Chester, England
Died8 December 1870(1870-12-08) (aged 65)
St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex, England
OccupationCivil engineering contractor
Spouse
Maria Harrison
​
(m. 1831)​
Children

Thomas Brassey (7 November 1805 – 8 December 1870[1]) was an English civil engineering contractor and manufacturer of building materials who was responsible for building much of the world's railways in the 19th century. By 1847, he had built about one-third of the railways in Britain, and by time of his death in 1870 he had built one in every twenty miles of railway in the world. This included three-quarters of the lines in France, major lines in many other European countries and in Canada, Australia, South America and India. He also built the structures associated with those railways, including docks, bridges, viaducts, stations, tunnels and drainage works.

As well as railway engineering, Brassey was active in the development of steamships, mines, locomotive factories, marine telegraphy, and water supply and sewage systems. He built part of the London sewerage system, still in operation today, and was a major shareholder in Brunel's The Great Eastern, the only ship large enough at the time to lay the first transatlantic telegraph cable across the North Atlantic, in 1864. He left a fortune of over £5 million,[2] equivalent to about £600 million in 2020.[3]

Background

Thomas Brassey was the eldest son of John Brassey, a prosperous farmer, and his wife Elizabeth,

Buerton, a small settlement in the parish of Aldford, 6 miles (10 km) south of Chester, from at least 1663.[5]

Early years

Thomas Brassey in 1830

Thomas Brassey was educated at home until the age of 12, when he was sent to

The King's School in Chester.[6][7] Aged 16, he became an articled apprentice to a land surveyor and agent, William Lawton. Lawton was the agent of Francis Richard Price of Overton, Flintshire. During the time Brassey was an apprentice he helped to survey the new Shrewsbury to Holyhead road (this is now the A5), assisting the surveyor of the road. While he was engaged in this work he met the engineer for the road, Thomas Telford. When his apprenticeship ended at the age of 21, Brassey was taken into partnership by Lawton, forming the firm of "Lawton and Brassey". Brassey moved to Birkenhead where their business was established. Birkenhead at that time was a very small place; in 1818 it consisted of only four houses. The business flourished and grew, extending into areas beyond land surveying. At the Birkenhead site a brickworks and lime kilns were built. The business either owned or managed sand and stone quarries in Wirral. Amongst other ventures, the firm supplied the bricks for building the custom house for the port which was developing in the town. Many of the bricks needed for the growing city of Liverpool were supplied by the brickworks and Brassey devised new methods of transporting his materials, including a system similar to the modern method of palletting, and using a gravity train to take materials from the quarry to the port. When Lawton died, Brassey became sole manager of the company and sole agent and representative for Francis Price. It was during these years that he gained the basic experience for his future career.[8]

Early contracts in Britain

Brassey's first experiences of civil engineering were the construction of 4 miles (6 km) of the New Chester Road at Bromborough,[9] and the building of a bridge at Saughall Massie, on the Wirral.[10] During that time he met George Stephenson, who needed stone to build the Sankey Viaduct on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. Stephenson and Brassey visited a quarry in Storeton, a village near Birkenhead, following which Stephenson advised Brassey to become involved in building railways. Brassey's first venture into railways was to submit a tender for building the Dutton Viaduct on the Grand Junction Railway, but he lost the contract to William Mackenzie, who had submitted a lower bid.[11] In 1835 Brassey submitted a tender for building the Penkridge Viaduct, further south on the same railway, between Stafford and Wolverhampton, together with 10 miles (16 km) of track. The tender was accepted, the work was successfully completed, and the viaduct opened in 1837. Initially the engineer for the line was George Stephenson, but he was replaced by Joseph Locke, Stephenson's pupil and assistant. During this time Brassey moved to Stafford. Penkridge Viaduct still stands and carries trains on the West Coast Main Line.[12]

On completion of the Grand Junction Railway, Locke moved on to design part of the

Sheffield and Manchester Railway.[14]

Early contracts in France

Opening ceremony of the Rouen and Le Havre Railway in 1844

Following the success of the early railways in Britain, the French were encouraged to develop a railway network, in the first place to link with the railway system in Britain. To this end the Paris and

French revolution of 1848 there was a financial crisis in the country and investment in the railways almost ceased. This meant that Brassey had to seek foreign contracts elsewhere.[16]

Barentin Viaduct after rebuilding

The collapse of the Barentin Viaduct

In January 1846, during the building of the 58-mile (93 km) long Rouen and Le Havre line, one of the few major structural disasters of Brassey's career occurred, the collapse of the Barentin Viaduct. The viaduct was built of brick at a cost of about £50,000 and was 100 feet (30 m) high. The reason for the collapse was never established, but a possible cause was the nature of the lime used to make the mortar. The contract stipulated that this had to be obtained locally, and the collapse occurred after a few days of heavy rain. Brassey rebuilt the viaduct at his own expense, this time using lime of his own choice. The rebuilt viaduct still stands and is in use today.[17]

"Railway mania"

During the time Brassey was building the early French railways, Britain was experiencing what was known as the "

Trent Valley Railway of 50 miles (80 km) and the Chester and Holyhead line of 84 miles (135 km). The former line joined the London and Birmingham Railway at Rugby to the Grand Junction Railway south of Stafford providing a line from London to Scotland which bypassed Birmingham. The latter line provided a link between London and the ferries sailing from Holyhead to Ireland and included Robert Stephenson's tubular Britannia Bridge over the Menai Strait. Also in 1845 Brassey received contracts for the Caledonian Railway which linked the railway at Carlisle with Glasgow and Edinburgh, covering a total distance of 125 miles (201 km) and passing over Beattock Summit. His engineer on this project was George Heald.[21] That same year he also began contracts for other railways in Scotland, and in 1846 he started building parts of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway between Hull and Liverpool, across the Pennines.[22]

A contract for the

faggot-wood and peat sods. As these sank, they dispersed the water and so a firm foundation was made.[23] This line is still in use and forms part of the East Coast Main Line. Also in 1847 Brassey began to build the North Staffordshire Railway. By this time the "railway mania" was coming to an end and contracts in Britain were becoming increasingly more difficult to find.[24] By the end of the "railway mania", Brassey had built one-third of all the railways in Britain.[25]

Expansion in Europe

Following the end of the "railway mania" and the drying up of contracts in France, Brassey could have retired as a rich man. Instead he decided to expand his interests, initially in other European countries. His first venture in Spain was the

Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway of 51 miles (82 km), the Hereford, Ross and Gloucester Railway of 50 miles (80 km), the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway of 50 miles (80 km) and the North Devon Railway from Crediton to Barnstaple of 47 miles (76 km).[26]

The Grand Trunk Railway of Canada

Victoria Bridge under construction

In 1852 Brassey took out the largest contract of his career, which was to build the

Prince of Wales.[27] The construction of the line caused considerable problems. The main problem was the raising of the necessary finance and at one stage Brassey travelled to Canada to appeal personally for assistance. Other difficulties arose from the severity of the Canadian winter, the waterways being frozen for around six months each year, and resistance from Canadian businessmen. The line was an engineering success but a financial failure, with the contractors losing £1 million.[28]

The Canada Works

The contract for the Grand Trunk Railway included all the materials required for building the bridge and the railway, including the rolling stock. To manufacture the metallic components, Brassey built a new factory in Birkenhead which he called The Canada Works. A suitable site was found by George Harrison, Brassey's brother-in-law, and the factory was built with a quay alongside to take ocean-going ships. The works was managed by George Harrison with a Mr. Alexander and William Heap as assistants. The machine shop was 900 feet (274 m) in length and included a blacksmiths' shop with 40 furnaces, anvils and steam hammers, a coppersmiths' shop, and fabrication, woodwork and pattern shops. There was also a well-stocked library and a reading room for all the workforce.[citation needed]

The fitting shop was designed to manufacture 40 locomotives a year and a total of 300 were produced in the next eight years. The first locomotive, given its trial in May 1854, was named Lady Elgin, after the wife of the Governor General of Canada of the time, the Earl of Elgin. For the bridge hundreds of thousands of components were required and all were manufactured in Birkenhead or in other English factories to Brassey's specifications. These were all stamped and coded, loaded into ships to be taken to Quebec and then by rail to the site of the bridge for assembly.[29] The central tube of the bridge contained over 10,000 pieces of iron, perforated by holes for half a million rivets, and when it was assembled every piece and hole was true.[30]

The Grand Crimean Central Railway

Main article: Grand Crimean Central Railway
Navvies working on the railway in 1854

Brassey played a part in helping the British forces to success in the

Peto and Betts in offering to build a railway at cost to transport these necessary supplies. They shipped out the equipment and materials for building the railway, which had been intended for other undertakings, together with an army of navvies to carry out the work.[32] Within seven weeks, in severe winter conditions, the railway from Balaclava to the troops besieging Sevastopol was completed.[33] It then became possible to move supplies easily to the front and Sevastopol was finally taken in September 1855.[34]

Worldwide expansion

Warsaw–Terespol Railway
, 1866

In addition to building more railways in Britain and in other European countries, Brassey undertook contracts in other continents. In South America his railways totalled 250 miles (402 km), in Australia 132 miles (212 km), and in India and Nepal 506 miles (814 km).[35]

In 1866 there was a great economic slump, caused by the collapse of the bank of Overend, Gurney and Company, and many of Brassey's colleagues and competitors became insolvent. However, despite setbacks, Brassey survived the crisis and drove ahead with the projects he already had in hand. These included the Lemberg (now Lviv) and Czernowicz (now Chernivtsi) Railway in Galicia (part of Austrian Empire) which continued to be constructed despite the Austro-Prussian War which was taking place in the locality.[36]

From 1867 Brassey's health was beginning to decline, but he continued to negotiate further contracts, including the Czernowicz and Suczawa Railway in the Austrian Empire. In 1868 he suffered a mild stroke but he continued to work and in April 1869 he embarked on an extensive tour of over 5,000 miles (8,000 km) in Eastern Europe.[37] By the time of his death he had built one mile in every twenty miles of railway in the world.[38]

Non-railway contracts

Victoria Dock showing the hydraulic lift

Brassey's works were not limited to railways and associated structures. In addition to his factories in Birkenhead, he built an engineering works in France to supply materials for his contracts there. He built a number of drainage systems, and a waterworks at

William Armstrong. The dock had links to Brassey's London, Tilbury and Southend Railway and thereby to the entire British rail system.[39]

In 1861 Brassey built part of the

River Lea. It was one of the earliest ventures to use steam cranes. The undertaking was considered to have been one of Brassey's most difficult.[40] The sewer is still in operation today. He also worked with Bazalgette to build the Victoria Embankment on the north bank of the River Thames from Westminster Bridge to Blackfriars Bridge.[41]

Brassey gave financial help to Brunel to build his ship Leviathan, which was later called Great Eastern and which in 1854 was six times larger than any other vessel in the world. Brassey was a major shareholder in the ship and after Brunel's death, he, together with Gooch and Barber, bought the ship for the purpose of laying the first Transatlantic telegraph cable across the North Atlantic in 1864.[42]

Brassey had other ideas which were ahead of his time. He tried to interest the governments of the United Kingdom and Europe in the idea of a tunnel under the English Channel but this came to nothing. He also wanted to build a canal through the Isthmus of Darién (now the Isthmus of Panama) but this idea similarly had no success.[43]

Working methods

Victoria Bridge
and the names of the partners

In most of Brassey's contracts he worked in partnership with other contractors, in particular with Peto and Betts. The planning of the details of the projects was done by the engineers. Sometimes there would be a consulting engineer and below him another engineer who was in charge of the day-to-day activities. During his career Brassey worked with many engineers, the most illustrious being Robert Stephenson, Joseph Locke and Isambard Kingdom Brunel.[44] The day-to-day work was overseen by agents, who managed and controlled the activities of the subcontractors.[45]

The actual work was done by labourers, in those days known as navvies, supervised by gangers (or foremen). In the early days the navvies were mainly English and many of them had formerly worked on building the canals. They were later joined by men from Scotland, Wales and Ireland. The number of Irish workers particularly increased following the Great Famine. Brassey paid his navvies and gangers a wage and provided food, clothing, shelter and, in some projects, a lending library. On overseas contracts local labour would be used if it were available, but the work was often done or supplemented by British workers. The agent on the site had overall responsibility for a project. He had to be a man of great capability, working for a fee plus a percentage of the profits, with penalties for late finishing and inducements to complete the work early.[46]

Brassey had considerable skill in choosing good men to work in this way and in delegating the work. Having taken on a contract at an agreed price he would make a suitable sum of money available to the agent to meet the costs. If the agent were able to fulfil the work at a lower cost he could keep the remainder of the money. If unforeseen problems arose and these were reasonable, Brassey would cover these additional costs. He used hundreds of such agents.[47] At the peak of his career, for well over 20 years, Brassey was employing on average some 80,000 people in many countries in four continents.[48]

Despite this he had neither an office nor office staff, dealing with all the correspondence himself. Much of the detail of his works were held in his memory. He travelled with a personal valet and later had a cashier. But all his letters were written by him; it is recorded that on one occasion after the rest of his party had gone to bed, 31 letters had been written by Brassey overnight.[49] Although he won a large number of contracts, his bids were not always successful. It has been calculated that for every contract awarded, around six others had been unsuccessful.[44]

Brassey was given a number of honours to celebrate his achievements, including the French Legion of Honour, the Italian Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus and the Austrian Iron Crown (the first time this had been awarded to a foreigner).[50]

Marriage and children

In 1831 he married Maria Harrison, the second daughter of Joseph Harrison, a forwarding and shipping agent with whom he had come into contact during his early days in Birkenhead.[11] Maria gave Thomas considerable support and encouragement throughout his career. She encouraged him to bid for the contract for Dutton Viaduct and, when that was unsuccessful, to apply for the next available contract.[51] Thomas' work led to frequent moves of home in their early years; from Birkenhead to Stafford, Kingston upon Thames, Winchester and then Fareham. On each occasion Maria supervised the packing of their possessions and the removal. The Harrison children had been taught to speak French, while Thomas himself was unable to do so. Therefore, when the opportunity arose to apply for the French contracts, Maria was willing to act as interpreter and encouraged Thomas to bid for them. This resulted in moves to Vernon in Normandy, then to Rouen, on to Paris and back again to Rouen.[52] Thomas refused to learn French and Maria acted as interpreter for all his French undertakings.[53] Maria organised the education of their three sons. In time the family established a more-or-less permanent base in Lowndes Square, Belgravia, London.[54] They had three surviving sons, who all gained distinction in their own right:[55]

Later years

In 1870 Brassey was told that he had cancer but he continued to visit his working sites. One of his last visits was to the

Wolverhampton and Walsall Railway, only a few miles from his first railway contract at Penkridge.[56] In the late summer of 1870 he took to his bed at his home in St Leonards-on-Sea. There he was visited by members of his work force, not only his engineers and agents, but also his navvies, many of whom had walked for days to come and pay their respects.[37]

When Brassey's business friend, Edward Betts, became insolvent in 1867, Brassey bought Betts' estate at Preston Hall, Aylesford in Kent on behalf of his second son, Henry.[57]

In 1870 Brassey purchased

Heythrop Park, a baroque house situated in an estate of 450 acres (1.8 km2) 15 miles (24 km) northeast of Oxford as a wedding present for his third son, Albert.[58]

On 8 December 1870 Thomas Brassey died from a brain haemorrhage in Victoria Hotel, St Leonards and was buried in the churchyard of

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography describes him as "one of the wealthiest of the self-made Victorians".[60]

Thomas Brassey, the man

It is not easy to be objective about the nature of Thomas Brassey's character because the earliest biography by Helps was commissioned by the Brassey family and the latest, rather short, biography was written by his great-great-grandson, Tom Stacey. There is virtually no remaining material of value to a biographer available today. There is no private correspondence, there are no diaries and none of his personal reminiscences.[48]

Judging by his achievements alone, he must have been a remarkable man. He had enormous drive, an ability to remain calm despite enormous pressures, and extreme skill in organisation. He was a man of honour who always kept his word and his promise. He had no interest in public honours and refused invitations to stand for Parliament. Although he accepted honours from France and Austria, he mislaid the medals and had to request duplicates to please his wife.[61] His great-great-grandson considers that he was successful because he inspired people rather than drove them.[62]

Walker, in his 1969 biography, tried to make an accurate assessment of Brassey using Helps and other sources. He found it difficult to discover anyone who had a bad word to say about him, either during his life or since.[63] Brassey expected a high standard of work from his employees; Cooke states that his "standards of quality were fastidious in the extreme".[64] There can be no doubt about some of his qualities. He was exceptionally hardworking, and had an excellent memory and ability to perform mental arithmetic. He was a good judge of men, which enabled him to select the best people to be his agents. He was scrupulously fair with his subcontractors and kind to his navvies, supporting them financially at their times of need.[65] He would at times undertake contracts of little benefit to himself to provide work for his navvies.[66] The only faults which his eldest son could identify were a tendency to praise traits and actions of other people he would condemn in his own family, and an inability to refuse a request.[67] No criticism of him could be found from the engineers with whom he worked, his business associates, his agents or his navvies. He paid his men fairly and generously.[68]

The

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography states "His greatest achievement was to raise the status of the civil engineering contractor to the eminence already attained in the mid-nineteenth century by the engineer".[60] Walker regards him as "one of the giants of the nineteenth century".[25]

Commemorations

Bust of Thomas Brassey, Chester Cathedral
Brassey Tribute Stones, Bulkeley

None of his three sons became involved in their father's work and the business was wound up by administrators. The sons created a memorial to their parents in

Chester cathedral. This consists of a backcloth to the altar inscribed to their parents' memory, and a bust of their father to the north of the altar.[69] The memorial is by Sir Arthur Blomfield and the bust by M. Wagmiller.[70] There is also a bust of Thomas in Chester's Grosvenor Museum and plaques to his memory in Chester station. Streets named after him in Chester are Brassey Street and Thomas Brassey Close (which is off Lightfoot Street). By the waterworks in Boughton, Chester. There are three street names in a row off the main road which spell 'Lord' 'Brassey' of 'Bulkeley'.[71]

In November 2005, Penkridge celebrated the bicentenary of Brassey's birth[72] and a special commemorative train was run from Chester to Holyhead.[71] In January 2007, children from Overchurch Junior School in Upton, Wirral celebrated the life of Brassey.[73] In April 2007 a plaque was placed on Brassey's first bridge at Saughall Massie.[74] In the village of Bulkeley, near Malpas, Cheshire, is a tree called the 'Brassey Oak' on land once owned by the Brassey family. This was planted to celebrate Thomas' 40th birthday in 1845. It was surrounded by four inscribed sandstone pillars tied together by iron rails but due to the growth of the tree these burst and the stones fell. They were recovered and in 2007 were replaced in a more accessible place with an information board.[75]

In 2019 a blue plaque was installed by Conservation Areas Wirral on the remaining structure of his Canada Works building in Beaufort Road, now part of the Wirral Waters area in Birkenhead.[76]

Statue

The Thomas Brassey Society (http://www.thomasbrasseysociety.org) is planning the design and erection of a statue of Thomas Brassey outside Chester Railway Station. Fundraising is underway and currently; Oct 2022; has pledges and donations for some 70% of the sum needed. [77]

See also

References

Notes

  1. ^ Chisholm 1911.
  2. ^ "Portrait Of Thomas Brassey C.1830; English School. | 460144 | www.royprecious.co.uk".
  3. ^ "£1 in 1870 → 2021 | UK Inflation Calculator".
  4. ^ Walker 1969, p. 11.
  5. ^ Helps 2006, p. 25.
  6. ^ "Inspirational Alumni Members". The King's School Chester. Archived from the original on 15 December 2011. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
  7. ^ Helps 2005, p. 12.
  8. ^ Helps 2006, pp. 26–27.; Walker 1969, pp. 11–14.; Stacey 2005, pp. 6–7.; Haynes, pp. 57–58.
  9. ^ Haynes, p. 58.
  10. ^ Murphy, Liam (21 November 2005), "Village bridge the first by engineering giant", Daily Post, Trinity Mirror North West & North Wales Limited., retrieved 6 December 2007
  11. ^ a b Walker 1969, p. 14.
  12. ^ Helps 2006, pp. 28–29., Walker 1969, pp. 16–18.
  13. ^ Helps 2006, p. 29.
  14. ^ Helps 2006, pp. 106–107.
  15. ^ Helps 2006, pp. 44–45, 106–114.
  16. ^ Walker 1969, p. 51.
  17. ^ Helps 2006, pp. 50–53.; Stacey 2005, p. 17.; Haynes, pp. 59–60.
  18. ^ Walker 1969, pp. 53–54.
  19. ^ Helps 2006, p. 107.
  20. ^ Walker 1969, pp. 55–59.
  21. ^ Price-Williams obituary
  22. ^ Walker 1969, pp. 59–62.
  23. ^ Helps 2006, pp. 79–82., Walker 1969, pp. 63–66.
  24. ^ Walker 1969, pp. 67–69.
  25. ^ a b Walker 1969, p. 167.
  26. ^ Walker 1969, pp. 69–82, 172.
  27. ^ Helps 2006, pp. 123–139.; Stacey 2005, pp. 17–23.
  28. ^ Walker 1969, pp. 82–96.
  29. ^ Stacey 2005, pp. 18–19.
  30. ^ Walker 1969, p. 92.
  31. ^ Cooke 1990, pp. 1–15.
  32. ^ Cooke 1990, pp. 16–43.
  33. ^ Cooke 1990, p. 64.
  34. ^ Cooke 1990, pp. 106–108.
  35. ^ Walker 1969, pp. 172–173.
  36. ^ Walker 1969, pp. 135–142.
  37. ^ a b Stacey 2005, pp. 27–30.
  38. ^ Walker 1969, p. 7.
  39. ^ Helps 2006, pp. 109, 143.
  40. ^ Helps 2006, pp. 143–144.
  41. ^ Walker 1969, p. 151.
  42. ^ Stacey 2005, p. 27.
  43. ^ Walker 1969, pp. 152–153.
  44. ^ a b Stacey 2005, p. 14.
  45. ^ Walker 1969, p. 23.
  46. ^ Stacey 2005, pp. 11–13.
  47. ^ Stacey 2005, pp. 16–17.
  48. ^ a b Stacey 2005, p. 3.
  49. ^ Stacey 2005, p. 16.; Walker 1969, pp. 23–24.
  50. ^ Stacey 2005, p. 5.
  51. ^ Walker 1969, pp. 14–15.
  52. ^ Stacey 2005, pp. 9–10.
  53. ^ Walker 1969, pp. 39–40.
  54. ^ Stacey 2005, pp. 9–10, 32.
  55. ^ Stacey 2005, p. 10.
  56. ^ Walker 1969, p. 158.
  57. ^ Preston Hall History, Weston Homes PLC, 25 January 2015. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
  58. ^ Stacey 2005, p. 33.; Pitman, Joanna (7 September 1996), "A lavish Archer plot in the country with the mystery of a whale skeleton; Hidden Assets", Times, p. 29
  59. ^ Stacey 2005, p. 33.
  60. ^
    Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, September 2004; online edn, October 2006 [1]
    , accessed 29 January 2007.
  61. ^ Stacey 2005, pp. 3–5.
  62. ^ Stacey 2005, p. 31.
  63. ^ Walker 1969, pp. 159–168.
  64. ^ Cooke 1990, p. 21.
  65. ^ Walker 1969, pp. 23–34.
  66. ^ Walker 1969, p. 165.
  67. ^ Walker 1969, pp. 161–162.
  68. ^ Walker 1969, pp. 162–165.
  69. ^ Haynes, p. 64.
  70. ^ Historic England. "Cathedral Church, Chester (1376398)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 15 February 2008.
  71. ^ a b Pictures from the Thomas Brassey Bicentenary, CheshireTourist.com, retrieved 7 December 2007
  72. ^ Haynes, Doug, Thomas Brassey – the great Railway Builder of the 19th Century, Penkridge Community Information Resource, archived from the original on 6 February 2007, retrieved 31 January 2007
  73. Newsquest Media Group
    , 30 January 2007, retrieved 30 January 2007
  74. ^ Crossley, Brian (June 2007), "Thomas Brassey Bi–Centenary" (PDF), Panel for Historical Engineering Works Newsletter (114), Institution of Civil Engineers: 3, retrieved 6 December 2007.
  75. ^ Hastings, Idina; Mike Dixon (May 2007), "The Thomas Brassey Tribute Stones Project" (PDF), The Sandstone News (9): 1–3, archived from the original (PDF) on 28 February 2008, retrieved 6 December 2007.
  76. ^ Manning, Craig. "Blue Plaque honouring Thomas Brassey unveiled at Wirral Waters". Wirral Globe. Newsquest Media Group Ltd. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  77. ^ (http://www.thomasbrasseysociety.org)

Bibliography used for notes

Further bibliography

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Thomas_Brassey&oldid=1196049077"