Horatio Dunn (c1807-1900) of the GWR
1891 Living at North Street, Bristol: Horatio Dunn (age 84 born Wiveliscombe), Railway Official. With his wife and four daughters.[1]
1900 Died. 'Mr. Horatio Dunn, who died at Fairfield House, Bedminster, on Tuesday, at the age of 95, was the last link connecting the present day with the opening of the Great Western Railway between Bristol and Bath. He was originally associated with George and Robert Stephenson, the engineers of the first passenger railway in the world - the Stockton and Darlington - and the Liverpool, Manchester, and other lines constructed in the early days of railway enterprise. He afterwards became associated with Brunel, the first engineer of the Great Western Railway. On the day that the first locomotive was run from Bath to Bristol, Mr. Dunn walked along the line from Bristol to Bath to make sure that the line was clear. Mr. Dunn's close identification with the Great Western Railway Company brought him into contact with all the leading men connected with the line, and he reckoned among his personal friends Mr. I. K. Brunel, Sir Daniel Gooch, Mr. Grierson, Mr. Charles Saunders, Mr. Frederick Saunders, Sir Watkin Williams Wynn, Mr. Owen (the second engineer of the line), Mr. Armstrong (the late superintendent of the Swindon Works), and Mr. Dean (the present superintendent). Mr. Dunn was a native of Wiveliscombe, and a brother of the late Mr. Alfred Dunn, of Bristol, and of Mr. William Dunn, J.P., of Exeter. His recent bereavements were known to have affected his health. Within a comparatively short period he had to lament the loss of his son Arthur, whose career as a curate was full of promise, and later of his wife and also his elder daughter, Mrs. Astapoff.'[2]