Thomas Dadford Jr.
Thomas Dadford Jr. (ca. 1761 to 1801) was an
Family history
Thomas Dadford was born in Britain around 1761, the first son of Thomas Dadford Sr. and Frances Brown, who are believed to have been living in Wolverhampton at the time. His father was a canal engineer, and his brothers John Dadford and James Dadford also worked in this field. Thomas received his early training from his father.
On 15 August 1797, he married Ann Parker of Chaddesley Corbett, Worcestershire. Both were Christians of the Catholic faith. They had no children.
The marriage did not last long, as Thomas died on 2 April 1801. He died at Crickhowell, and was buried at Llanarth, Monmouthshire. The cause of his death is not known.[1] When he died, he left no will, but his wife obtained letters of administration in her favour; and his "goods, chattels and credits" amounted to £2,000.[1]
Working history
His father was the engineer for the Stourbridge Canal, and from 1776 Thomas assisted him. However, he was dismissed in the following year.
In 1782 he assisted his father again, with a survey of the River Trent, which was to be improved for navigation.
His next project, from 1790, was the construction of the
He supervised the construction of the Neath Canal from
From 1794 he assisted his brother John, who was engineer on the
From January 1796 he was engineer for the
His workload was prodigious, as he managed to fit in surveys for the Ellesmere Canal in 1793, a survey for the extension of the Neath Canal from Neath to Giant's Grave in 1798, and a new survey of the proposed route for the Aberdare Canal in 1800, amongst others.[1]
Achievements
During his brief working life Thomas Dadford Jr. managed to achieve a great deal. Major structures for which he was responsible include the fourteen locks on the Monmouthshire Canal at Rogerstone, the embankment at Gilwern which enables the Brecon and Abergavenny Canal to cross the River Clydach and a four-arched stone-built aqueduct which carries the same canal over the River Usk at Brynich.[1]
He had less success with tunnels. The Southnet Tunnel on the Leominster Canal collapsed in 1795 (for which he was criticized by the engineer John Rennie), and the Ashford tunnel on the Brecon and Abergavenny Canal collapsed during construction.[1]
See also
References
- ^ ISBN 0-7277-2939-X
Further reading
- Edward Paget-Tomlison's "Illustrated History of Canals & River Navigations"