James Abbott Oxley
James Abbott Oxley (1852-1895)
1852 Born the son of James Oxley (Frome)
1871 Living at Millards Hill, Frome: James Oxley (age 47 born Frome), Engineer employing 150 to 200 men. With his wife Ellen Oxley (age 42 born Shaftsbury) and their eight children; James Oxley (age 18 born Frome), Apprentice; Constance Oxley (age 15 born Frome); Lucy Oxley (age 12 born Frome); Florence Oxley (age 10 born Frome); Adelaide Oxley (age 9 born Frome); Edith Oxley (age 5 born Frome); Eugenie Oxley (age 3 born Frome); and Grace Oxley (age 1 born Frome). Six servants.[1]
1895 Obituary [2]
JAMES ABBOTT OXLEY, born on the 3rd of July, 1852, commenced his engineering career as a pupil to the late Robert Davison from 1872 to 1875.
He was then engaged for three years under John Batey, engineer to the Westbury Iron Co, in sinking two shafts through heavily watered strata to win coal.
On the completion of that work he was occupied for a short time, under Henry Tomlinson, on the Frome Waterworks, and was then appointed Resident Engineer to Garton and Co, sugar refiners, of Southampton, for whom he designed and erected a new refinery at Battersea.
In August, 1882, Mr. Oxley entered the service of the Cape Government Railway Department, as an Assistant Engineer, and was occupied until October, 1883, on the construction of the first section of the Cradock and Colesberg extension, under the late Mr. T. P. Watson.
He then proceeded in January, 1884, to Argentina, to take up the appointment of a District Engineer on the Buenos Ayres Great Southern Railway.
In December, 1887, he went over to the Buenos Ayres and Rosario Railway, and was engaged on the construction of the Sunchales and the Santiago del Estero to Tucuman extensions of that line. Before the construction was far advanced, however, he was obliged by family reasons to resign his appointment in 1889.
Beyond an occasional survey for the Argentine Government, Mr. Oxley was from that time not engaged on engineering work until February, 1894, when he went to Beira, East Africa, and thence up country exploiting for gold and arranging the survey of farms for the Mozambique Company.
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ 1871 Census
- ↑ 1895 Institution of Civil Engineers: Obituaries