Henry Bolden
Henry Bolden (1837-1891)
1892 Obituary [1]
HENRY BOLDEN, born on the 7th of May, 1837, was the only son of the late Mr. S. E. Bolden, J.P. of Lancaster, who took a prominent part in promoting the old Lancaster and Carlisle Railway.
After serving a regular pupilage from 1852 to 1856 under Locke and Errington, Henry Bolden was engaged for a year as Resident Engineer on the Stockport, Disley, and Whaleybridge Railway, and then for a year on the parliamentary and permanent surveys for, and the setting out of the Buxton extension of that line.
In 1858 he acted for a few months as Resident Engineer in charge of the construction of works on several branches of the Scottish Central Railway.
In the following year he went to India to take up the appointment of assistant Resident Engineer, under the late A. W. Makinson, on the Calcutta and South Eastern (Mutlah) Railway, and, on the retirement of that gentleman in 1860, succeeded to the post of Resident Engineer, which he held until 1863.
On returning to England in the following year, Mr. Bolden started in private practice as an engineer at Abingdon Street, Westminster. During the summer and autumn of 1865 he was engaged, with Alex. R. Binnie, in setting out and preparing parliamentary plans and sections for the original Barry Dock and Railway, the Act for which was obtained in the Session of 1866.
The scheme, however, ultimately fell through. He was also occupied, in conjunction with Mr. (now Sir) Bradford Leslie, in the construction of the Ogmore Valley Railway, about 7 or 8 miles in length, at a cost of £50,000, and he obtained the Acts for, and subsequently laid out, the Shrewsbury and North Wales Extension Railway.
He then relinquished private practice, and accepted the appointment of Engineer to the Hereford, Hay and Brecon Railway, which in 1874 was taken over by the Midland Company, Mr. Bolden being retained as Chief Engineer of the South Wales system. Four years later he was transferred to Derby as Engineer of the Northern Division of the line, a district extending as far north as Morecombe and Carlisle, and as far east as Lincolnshire.
Mr. Bolder held this post until April, 1890, when failing health compelled him to retire. He enjoyed only eighteen months of rest, for his health gradually became worse and he died on the 3rd of October, 1891, at the comparatively early age of 55.
He was an indefatigable worker, and, in addition to his onerous duties in connection with the Midland Railway, acted for several years as Chairman of the Powell Duffryn Steam Coal Colliery, one of the largest and most successful collieries in South Wales. He was also latterly a Director of the Taff Vale Railway Company.
Mr. Bolden was elected an Associate of the Institution on the 14th of April, 1863, and was transferred to the class of Member on the 30th of November, 1869.