Thomas William Worsdell

Thomas William Worsdell (14 January 1838 – 28 June 1916) was a British locomotive engineer. He was born in Liverpool into a Quaker family.

Family

T. W. Worsdell – normally known as William – was the eldest son of Nathaniel Worsdell (1809–1886), and grandson of the coachbuilder Thomas Clarke Worsdell (1788–1862). His younger brother, Wilson Worsdell (1850–1920), was also a locomotive engineer. T. C. Worsdell had become a Quaker at some point between 1812 and 1816, and his descendants, including Nathaniel, William and Wilson, were brought up in the Quaker faith.^[1]

William was born at his parents' house in Liverpool on 14 January 1838. He began school at the age of two, and in 1847 was sent as a boarder to Ackworth, a Quaker school in Yorkshire, where he remained until 1852.^[2]

Career

He worked at the Crewe Works of the LNWR under John Ramsbottom but in 1865 moved to the United States to the Pennsylvania Railroad. In 1871 he was invited by Francis William Webb to return to Crewe. In 1881 he was appointed locomotive superintendent of the Great Eastern Railway, but in 1885 moved to the North Eastern Railway, being replaced at the GER by James Holden. He retired from the NER in 1890 to be replaced by his younger brother Wilson Worsdell.

Patents

Worsdell obtained a number of patents^[3] including several (in association with August von Borries, a Prussian locomotive engineer) relating to compound locomotives. T. W. Worsdell used the von Borries two-cylinder compound system in several of his designs for the North Eastern Railway.

References

1. ^ Hill, Geoffrey (February 1991). The Worsdells: A Quaker Engineering Dynasty. Transport Publishing Company. pp. 7–8,10. ISBN 0 86317 158 3. 
2. ^ Hill 1991, p. 57
3. ^ Joseph Armstrong. his son & William Dean

External links

• T.W.Worsdell at www.lner.info
• Joseph Armstrong. his son & William Dean at www.steamindex.com

Business positions
Preceded by Massey Bromley	Locomotive Superintendent of the Great Eastern Railway 1881-1885	Succeeded by James Holden
Preceded by Alexander McDonnell	Locomotive Superintendent of the North Eastern Railway 1885-1890	Succeeded by Wilson Worsdell

Persondata
Name	Worsdell, Thomas William
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	14 January 1838
Place of birth
Date of death	28 June 1916
Place of death