William Moorsom: Difference between revisions

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Moorsom was born at [[Whitby]] into a military family, the youngest of the four sons of Admiral Sir [[Robert Moorsom]], who had served at the [[Battle of Trafalgar|Trafalgar]], and his wife Eleanor.<ref>[[Jehanne Wake]], ''Kleinwort, Benson: the history of two families in banking'', [httphttps://books.google.co.ukcom/books?id=Qm1fHrcgZuoC&pg=PA89 p.89], accessedretrieved 18 November 2008</ref>

He entered the Royal Military College in 1819, and became especially adept in fortification and military surveying. In 1823 he joined the [[79th Highlanders]] Regiment, then stationed in Ireland. During his stay there, he made a survey of Dublin and its neighbourhood., Thiswhich remained in use until it was superseded by the publication of the [[Ordnance Survey]] publication. In 1825 he served in the Mediterranean atas the rank ofa lieutenant ofin the [[7th Fusiliers]]. In 1826 he transferred to the [[69th (South Lincolnshire) Regiment of Foot|69th Regiment]], and then to the [[52nd Light Infantry]] in Nova Scotia, having been promoted to Captain.<ref>1864 ''"Obituary Captain William Scarth Moorsom, 1804-1863."'' Institution of Civil Engineers: Minutes of the Proceedings, Volume 23, pages 498 –504</ref>

During this time he served as deputy quartermaster-general. He produced a survey of the harbour and environs of Halifax, along with reports on transport feasibility to all parts of the province, and published a monograph ''Letters From Nova Scotia; comprising Sketches of a Young Country'' in 1830.<ref>{{cite book|last=Moorsom|first=William|title=Letters from Nova Scotia: comprising sketches of a young country|year=1830|publisher=Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley|location=London|url=httphttps://booksarchive.google.caorg/details/books?id=g6wOAAAAYAAJlettersfromnova00moorgoog}}</ref>

Although he was highly regarded he was unable to purchase a suitable promotion so returned to England and bought out his commission in 1832. He had met his wife, Isabella Ann Morris, daughter of [[Lewis Morris Wilkins|Lewis Wilkins]], judge and head of the supreme court, in Nova Scotia. They lived with his father at Cosgrove Priory, near Stony Stratford, until his death in April 1835.

With his experience of military surveying, Moorsom assisted in the construction of the [[London and Birmingham Railway]] construction of which had begun in 1833 and of which his eldest brother, [[Constantine Richard Moorsom]] was Secretary to the Board. Moorsom's survey of the valley of the Ouse, which allowed for the railway line to be straightened, and eliminated the need for a large amountembankment. of embankmentThis dispensed with,feat attracted the attention of [[Robert Stephenson]]. He then spent two years studying new railway lines all over the country and in 1836 was approached to undertakeundertook a survey of the country between Birmingham and Gloucester forin theorder purposesto of buildingbuild a railway. The [[Birmingham and Gloucester Railway]] had found [[Isambard Kingdom Brunel|Brunel's]] proposals out of its financial reach. Moorsom's brief in 1836 was to build the line as cheaply as possible, which he did by following open country, thereby avoiding populated areas where land prices would bewere higher. Arriving at the [[Lickey Hills]] there was no option but to climb them, using cable assistance if necessary.

Moorsom's preference was for locomotives, fromFrom experience gained observing mineral railways in the north, Moorsom preferred locomotives. The general opinion at that time was that adhesion working was not possible on such ana steep incline and so the directors of the company, set out to buy stationary engines for cable working-haulage. They found the cost prohibitive; so, with the backing of the Deputy Chairman, Samuel Baker, Moorsom was allowed to continue with what atwas thethought timeto wasbe a considerable gamble. The resulting [[Lickey Incline]] has entered railway folklore.

In passing, one of his assistants was [[Herbert Spencer]]. F. R. Conder was critical of Moorsom's management style and engineering abilities in his ''Personal Recollections of English Engineers'' (1868)<ref>F. R. Conder, ''Personal recollections of English engineers, and of the introduction of the railway system into the United Kingdom'' (1868); repr. as J. Simmons, ed., ''The men who built railways'' (1983) in Chrimes 2004</ref> Spencer was less recriminatory in his ''Autobiography'' (1904),<ref>H. Spencer, ''An autobiography'', 1 (1904), 140–86 in Chrimes (2004)</ref> describing Moorsom as a kind man, although he felt that he had treated some subordinates meanly. Chrimes <ref>Mike Chrimes, 'Moorsom, William Scarth (1804–1863)’, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography,'' Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 [ 19158, accessedretrieved 19 JanJanuary 2008</ref> suggests that his problems may have been ''"due to the financial pressures of bringing up a large family, combined with working for companies which had limited financial resources."''

The period of 1844–45 proved to be especially busy with new lines from Birmingham to Wolverhampton, Shrewsbury, Newton, and Chester,; the Yarmouth Junction, from Diss and Beccles, the Irish Great Western,{{which|Midland Great Western or Great Southern & Western?|date=May 2016}} from Naas, by Tullamore, to Galway, the Metropolitan Counties Junction, from Gravesend, by Reigate, Dorking, Weybridge, Staines, Rickmansworth, St. Albans, Chelmsford, and Billericay to Tilbury, the London, Hammersmith, Staines, and Windsor, 25 miles, and several smaller lines. The [[Southampton and Dorchester Railway]] in 1847 was notable as "Castleman' Corkscrew": its promoters insisted that it should serve as many of the local communities as possible. At this time, Moorsom surveyed the line<ref name="ihmd">{{cite web |title=Southampton and Dorchester Railway Pages 416-417 An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Dorset, Volume 2, South east. |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/rchme/dorset/vol2/pp416-417 |website=British History Online |publisher=HMSO 1970 |access-date=30 December 2022}}</ref> from Exeter and Plymouth to Falmouth, the West Cornwall Railway, from Truro to Penzance.

InThough 1850the design was not used, he won the Prussian government's engineering prize in 1850 for his design for a bridge acrossto cross the Rhine at [[Cologne]] on the line from Prussia's Rhine Province to [[Antwerp]] in [[Belgium]] for the ''Königlich Preußische und Großherzoglich Hessische Staatseisenbahn'' (K.P.u.G.H.St.E.). But the design was not used.

For the next four years there was a general retraction of the industry and in 1852 Moorsom became involved with the Britannia and Baltimore Mining Company to prospect for and mine gold in the United Kingdom. Although an amount ofsome gold was produced it was not enough forto make the company to be viable. During this period he had beenwas appointed engineer to the [[Cromford and High Peak Railway]] which was in deep financial difficulty. In 1857 the [[Stockport, Disley and Whaley Bridge Railway]] was opened, with a proposal to link with the Cromford line.<ref>Hodgkins, D.J., (1983) ''Captain Moorsom and the Attempt to Revive the Cromford and High Peak Railway,'' Derbyshire Archaeological Journal Vol 103 Pp 137‑159</ref> Plans were laid to capitalise on this by substantially improving the line. The necessary funds were not forthcoming, however, and there was opposition from other railway companies. The C&HPR and Moorsom parted company in about 1856.

Over the years Moorsom had gained the reputation of taking on too many schemes: a common failingprojects, butand some of his surveys were also found to be wanting. He was frequently replaced by other engineers, and he found it difficult to obtain work. In 1856 he was asked to survey the railway from [[Kandy]] to [[Colombo]] Ceylon ([[Sri Lanka]]). Under pressure to complete the work before the rainy season, he began early in January, and presented his report in May, and part of the work proved to be faulty.

In 1860, Moorsom's wife Isabella died and, in 1862 he was Engineer with the [[Ringwood, Christchurch and Bournemouth Railway]]

[[Category:EnglishBritish railway civil engineers]]

[[Category:British peoplerailway in rail transportpioneers]]