Who's Who
Please note this article is currently a work in progress, the information is not currently complete.
Some of the key figures in the local engine making industry and some names with local connections who went on to be notable figures around the world.
Entries listed alphabetically by surname -
All, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z
W
Wainwright; William - Born in Leeds on 2 August 1833; died Ashford, Kent, 21 May 1895.
Apprenticed at E.B. Wilson & Co. In 1854 he began working on the Oxford, Worcester & Wolverhampton Railway where he rapidly rose to the position of foreman and in 1860 became locomotive & carriage superintendent. Following amalgamation with the GWR in 1863 he was appointed superintendent of the locomotive & carriage department of the Worcester division. In 1873 he left the GWR and for five years was manager of Worcester Carriage & Wagon Co. In 1877 he was appointed chief outdoor assistant of the carriage & wagon department of the Midland Railway at Derby, where he had charge of about 1,500 men. In April 1882 he was appointed chief carriage & wagon superintendent of the SER at Ashford and during the next thirteen he revolutionized SER coach design.
Wardle; Charles b- 25/4/1815 d- 1888
Son of the Vicar of Beeston. Apprentice at Matthew Murray's Round Foundry. Worked at Milton Ironworks in Barnsley. Admitted to the Institute of Mechanical Engineers in 1856 by which time he was working at E.B.Wilson's Railway Foundry. Founding partner of the Boyne Engine Works in 1858 with Alexander Campbell, John Dickenson and Robert Boddy on the collapse of the Railway Foundry. Joined by John Manning on departure of Dickenson and Boddy in 1859 to form the firm Manning Wardle.
Wardle; Edwin d- 3/12/1919
Son of Charles Wardle, ran Manning Wardle with his father after the deaths of the other partners in the firm in the 1870s.
Weatherburn; Robert d- 2/1/1919
Served part of an apprenticeship with Kitson, Thompson & Hewitson and completed with the North Eastern Railway. Worked at Laird's Birkenhead shipyard, the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway and returned to the NER and Kitsons, representing the firm in parts of Britain and for a time in Russia and superintending the erection of Kitson locomotives for the Alsace - Lorraine Railways in Metz. Went on to the Midland Railway's Locomotive Department, becoming District Locomotive Superintendent at Leicester and London until retirement in 1905.
More information on steamindex.com
Wilson; Edward Brown b- 1818 d- 1874
Of the Hull ship owning family behind Wilson Line, on departure of Charles Todd he became a partner with John Shepherd operating the Railway Foundry in Hunslet under the E.B.Wilson name. He departed for a couple of years, in which time the works were run by Fenton & Craven, but took over the works on his return.
Wood; David d- 1820
Partner with Matthew Murray and James Fenton in Fenton, Murray & Wood at the Round Foundry.