Robert Daglish (1809-1883)
Robert Daglish (1809-1883) of Robert Daglish and Co
1836 March 7th. Death of his wife Harriet Speakman, age 22.[1]
1840 May 21st. Married at St. Helens to Ellen Robinson.[2]
1851 Living at Heall Street, Windle, Lancs.: Robert Daglish (age 42 born Wigan), Iron Founder. With his wife Ellen Daglish (age 32 born St. Helens). Three servants.[3]
1883 Obituary [4]
ROBERT DAGLISH, third son of the late Mr. Robert Daglish, M. Inst. C.E., was born in Wigan, Lancashire, in the year 1809.
He served an apprenticeship to the firm of Hick and Rothwell, of Bolton-le-Moors, and applied himself so assiduously to obtain a thorough practical knowledge, that whilst still an apprentice, he was sent to assist in the erection of a large pumping engine and pumps in the shaft of the Haydock Colliery, looked upon at that time as a superior class of mining machinery, and which to the present day is doing good work.
In 1830 Mr. Daglish joined the firm of Lee, Watson and Co., iron founders, St. Helens, in which business his father had also an interest. The works then only covered about 5,000 square yards, but new fitting and turning shops, smithery, with pattern shop over it, were soon afterwards built.
In the year 1832 an engine and machinery were erected for working the inclined planes of the St. Helens and Runcorn Gap Railway.
In 1837-8 Mr. Daglish entered into a contract for the erection of the engines, boiler, and machinery, for the manufacture of plate glass at the works of the Birmingham Plate-Glass Works, Smethwick, near Birmingham, as well as the Plate-Glass Works, Sutton, St. Helens.
About 1839 Mr. Daglish, in conjunction with Mr. John Smith, undertook to work the traffic of the then St. Helens and Runcorn Gap Railway, and continued to do so until 1848, having a separate establishment, called Sutton Sheds, St. Helens Junction, for keeping in repair the engines and rolling stock.
In 1845 Mr. Daglish erected his first cotton-Dill engines at Wigan.
About 1846 he was engaged in large contracts for bridges required on the Liverpool and Bury Line of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, including two large lattice-bridges, for carrying the railway over the river and canal at Bolton.
In 1847 the Wavertree road-bridge, Edge Hill, Liverpool, was erected by the then firm of Robert Daglish, Junior, & Co. In 1849 the same firm built the Great Howard Street and Borough Gaol bridges of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, Liverpool.
In 1850 Mr. Daglish, in partnership with the late Mr. McCormick, constructed the Preston Extension of the East Lancashire Railway, including a large bridge over the River Ribble.
From 1851 the foundry business was conducted by Mr. Daglish alone until 1869, when he took his nephew, George H. Daglish, M. Inst. C.E., into partnership, and which partnership was carried on until his death on the 6th of May 1883.
Mr. Daglish supplied many waterworks pumping-engines, amongst which are those for St. Helens, Newark, Southport, Wirral, near Birkenhead, Bristol, Hodbarrow Mines, Widnes, and Warrington.
In 1852 the coal - drops at Garston, near Liverpool, were erected.
In 1856 Mr. Daglish constructed the Barrack or Bloody Bridge over the Liffey at Dublin. [Note: This is now called the Rory O'More Bridge ]. In this year the St. Helens works had to be further extended, and from 1863 to 1882 the works were very much improved and enlarged, so that they now cover an area of about 22,400 square yards.
Mr. Daglish was elected an Associate of the Institution in 1852, and became a Member by transfer in 1874. He was a Director of the St. Helens Canal and Railway Company from 1854 to 1864, and of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company from 1876 to 1883. He was also on the Commission of the Peace for the counties of Lancashire and of Cheshire.
1884 Obituary [5]
ROBERT DALGLEISH, who died on 6th May 1883, at Palace Green, Kensington, was the third son of Robert Dalgleish, of Wigan (who was also a member of the Iron and Steel Institute up to his death in 1865), and was born at Wigan in 1809.
He was apprenticed and served his time with Messrs. Hick & Rothwell, of Bolton-le-Moors, and in 1830 he joined Mr. Lee Watson in carrying on a foundry and engineering works under the firm of Lee Watson & Co. at St. Helens, in Lancashire. Mr. Lee Watson shortly afterwards retired, and Mr. Dalgleish carried on the business alone for many years as Robert Dalgleish, jun., & Co.
Mr. Dalgleish's principal work was in winding and pumping engines, several of the leading collieries in South Lancashire having had their engines from his establishment. He supplied the pumping engines for many waterworks—among others, for St. Helens, Newark, Southport., Wirral, Bristol, Widnes, and Warrington. Another large branch of his business was that of providing machinery and plant for the glass and chemical trades.
During the construction of the earlier railways, Mr. Dalgleish was largely engaged in work (more especially bridge-work) for them. In 1846 he constructed the bridges on the Liverpool and Bury line of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Co., and in 1849 the Great Howard Street and Borough Gaol bridges at Liverpool for the same Company. In 1847 he constructed the Wavertree Road bridge near Edgehill, Liverpool, for the London and North-Western Co. In 1850, in conjunction with the late Mr. M'Cormick, he constructed the Preston extension of the East Lancashire Railway. In 1856 he constructed the Barrack bridge over the Liffey at Dublin.
Mr. Dalgleish was a director of the St. Helens Canal and Railway Co. from 1854 till the sale of the undertaking to the London and North Western Co. in 1864; and he was a director of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Co. from 1876 to 1883. He was on the Commission of the Peace for the counties of Lancashire and Cheshire.
He had been a member of the Institute since 1872.
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ Preston Chronicle - Saturday 19 March 1836
- ↑ Preston Chronicle - Saturday 23 May 1840
- ↑ 1851 Census
- ↑ 1883 Institution of Civil Engineers: Obituaries
- ↑ 1884 Iron and Steel Institute: Obituaries