William Baines
c.1812 Born in Burnacre, Lancashire[1]
1851 Dealer in railway switches, lived in Aston with Ellen Baines 38, John Baines 8, Joshua H Baines 5, Catherine Baines 3, Mary Elzith Baines 2[2]
1861 Railway engineer, engine maker, employing 18 men and 8 boys, lived in Handsworth with his wife Ellen 48, John Baines 18, mechanical engineer, Thomas Baines 15, Catherine Baines 13, Mary E Baines 12[3]
1861 Patent. William Baines of the London Works, Smethwick, improvements in the construction of girders, frames, or other apparatus, fixed of moveable etc.[4]
1866 of London Works, Smethwick - William Baines and Co
1866 Joined I Mech E.
1869 Patent. W. Baines, Railway Plant Works, Soho, Smethwick, engineer - improvements in apparatus for actuating and controlling railway signals and switches etc.[5]
1869 Legal dispute with Joseph Bentley, engineer of Smethwick.[6]
1874 did not pay his membership dues and was erased from membership in 1876
1875 Died in Birmingham, a railway plant manufacturer[7]