Saturday 6 June 2020

Samuel Holmes - A Proposed Forward to Robert Young's Book on Timothy Hackworth.

This pdf below, by Samuel Holmes is published here as a resource and was for the FOREWORD to 'Timothy Hackworth & the Locomotive' by Robert Young.  Jane Hackworth Young, who sent this copy, says

 "As it went to 75 pages. Robert Young wanted to be very careful at not completely degenerating George Stephenson, but it does contain some very important details as well as some incorrect ones."

Who was Samuel Holmes?
Jane, who has been busy transcribing letters written by Samuel Holmes to his cousin Robert Young (both men grandsons of Timothy Hackworth) says in an article in Globe, a journal published by the Friends of the Stockton and Darlington Railway that "the letters verify many claims and provide invaluable information to researchers. The main aim of Samuel and Robert was to obtain recognition of Timothy Hackworth's important contribution to the Steam Locomotive. Both were well qualified to write about him as they were successful engineers - Samuel in New York and Robert in Malaya. While Robert's claims were measured, Samuel sometimes overstated the case."

 While more information has come to light since, this forward from the 1920's may be a useful resource for anyone researching the history of the locomotive.

Jane Hackworth Young writes - "Samuel served a five year apprenticeship in the drawing office and shipyard of messers Pease and Co in Sheffield and was then appointed its chief draughtsman, so the Pease / SDR connection remained. In 1870 Samuel was contracted to build an iron road for the Canadian Government. He went on to work for the Pennsylvania Railroad,subsequently setting up his own shipping business and then moving to New York. Samuel Holmes died in 1920. Samuel,who retired in 1916, wrote letters of advice to Robert Young, supporting Timothy Hackworth's engineering skills and this PDF tract was a proposed but unused forward to Robert Young's Timothy Hackworth & the Locomotive'.

Samuel Holmes (Timothy hackworth's Grandson) in Quebec.

 The Globe - Journal of the Friends of the Stockton and Darlington Railway. Edited by Caroline Hardie.

Samuel Holmes Proposed Forward to Robert Young's Timothy Hackworth and the Locomotive. You can scroll down it or click the arrow top right to see it full size and down load or print via Google Drive.