Robert Stannard
This entry currently refers to Robert Stannard Sr. and Jr. Separate entries will be made when more inforamtion has been collated.
Robert Stannard Sr.
Robert Stannard Sr. was employed by William Roscoe in 1805, and worked on the reclamation of the Trafford Park Estate, which included Trafford Moss. Roscoe had taken a long lease to drain amd reclaim a large part of the bog for agricultural use. In 1816 Stannard laid an 18" movable tramway on parts of Chat Moss. When construction of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway started, Stannard laid the contractor's railway. It was Stannard who convinced Stephenson to float the main line rather than try tipping spoil to reach a firm foundation.[1]
Robert Stannard Jr.
1891 'Mr. Robert Stannard, C.E., who died at the residence of his son-in-law, Mr. George Augustus Sala, was, we believe, the last survivor of those who were connected with the historic Liverpool and Manchester Railway. He was born in the neighbourhood of Chat Moss, and it was his father who supported George Stephenson, and who overcame the difficulties of constructing a railway across the Moss after George Stephenson had despaired of accomplishing the feat. Robert Stannard the elder conceived the idea of making a bottom to the Moss, by the ingenious plan of laying down, "herring-bone" fashion, whole plantations of young larch stems ; and by tipping earth on this foundation a solid mass was ultimately formed. He also constructed peculiar patten, or clog, for the horses to wear when working on the Moss, a pattern of which is exhibited in Manchester to this day. His son Robert, now deceased, was a lad at the time of the Chat Moss difficulty, but before he was twenty years old he was selected by Mr. Brassey as his manager for a large section of the Paris and Rouen Railway. He was next associated with Brunel and Sir Morton Peto, and for the last thirty years of his life was a principal representative of the firm of Messrs. Lucas and Aird when they carried out most important contracts. His name, indeed, is associated with nearly every great railway in England constructed in the last forty-five years. He has left many interesting notes and diaries, which will be utilised by Mrs. George Augustus Sala in a little biography she writing of her father, to be published early in the new year.'[2]
R. Stannard of Hull and Barnsley Railway, Howden.[3]
1885 In The Engineer 1885/01/09 in the Letters to the Editor section he writes an informative account of the early engines and their movements.
1891 'Mr. Robert Stannard, who was buried last Saturday, was associated with the development of railways almost from their infancy. His father was an intimate friend of George Stephenson, and assisted him in planning the the line across Chat Moss. In this way Mr. Robert Mr. Stannard in his own boyhood came to know Stephenson, who gave him a level and theodolite used by himself, which Mr. Stannard has directed shall be offered to the South Kensington Museum, to be placed beside the famous "Rocket." The first important railway work with which Mr. Stannard was connected was the Paris and Rouen Railway, and for the last thirty years he had the supervision of most of the important railway contracts undertaken by Messrs. Lucas & Aird. His daughter, Mrs. George Augustus Sala, has been recently engaged on a short memoir of him, which is likely to contain much interesting matter, particularly in regard to the Stephensons.'[4]