Alexander Brogden

Infobox Person
name = Alexander Brogden

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caption = Alexander Brogden - Industrialist
birth_date = 3 November 1825
birth_place = Manchester, Lancashire, UK
death_date = 26 November 1892
death_place = Croydon, Surrey, UK
other_names =
known_for =
occupation = Railway Contractor, Iron and Coal Master
nationality = British

Alexander Brogden was born in Manchester on 3 November 1825, the second son of John Brogden (1798 – 1869) and educated at Blackburn, New College Manchester and King's College London, where he read mathematics. He married Anne Garstang on 6 September 1848 at Manchester Cathedral. He joined his father’s contracting business, John Brogden and Sons, in 1846. He had intended to join the Bar but was persuaded to support his father instead. Among his first work for the firm was the supervision of contracts for the Manchester South Junction and Altrincham Railway, the Ashton Branch of the Manchester and Birmingham Railway and the East Lancashire Railway.Citation | first = Joseph | last = Richardson | title = Barrow in Furness, Its History, Development, Commerce, Industries and Institutions | year = 1881 | pages = 43 ]

In 1850 Brogdens took a lease of the South Staffordshire line jointly with John McClean and Alexander managed this for about six years. During the building of the Ulverstone and Lancaster Railway, Alexander supervised for the firm while James Brunlees was the Engineer.

With the sudden death of his elder brother John in 1855 [Citation | title = Obituary: John Brogden | journal = Proc. Inst. Civil Engrs
volume = 15 | pages = 95-96 | year = 1855] and the increasing age of his father, it can be assumed that he gradually took control of the business in the late 1850s and assumed full control on his father’s death in 1869. During the 1860s he and his wife resided at Holme Island, Grange-over-Sands, This is now in Cumbria but was then in North Lancashire.Citation | last = Higgins | first = L.S. | title = The Brogden Pioneers of the early industrial development in Mid-Glamorgan | journal = National Library of Wales Journal | volume = XX | issue = 3 | pages = 240-252 | date = Summer 1978 | year = 1978 [http://www.brogden.info/Brogden-Brogden-John-Brogden&Sons.htm] ]

Brogden unsuccessfully contested GreatYarmouth as a Liberal in July 1865, but was elected as the first member for Wednesbury in December 1868 and represented that constituency for 18 years. Citation | last = The Times | title = Obituary: Alexander Brogden
journal = The Times | date = 29 Nov 1892 | year = 1892 | pages=10 ]

In 1878 Brogden paid for the organ of West Bromwich Town Hall

In 1881 it was claimed that, when Parliament was not in session, he might be found in the space of 10 days in: Ulverston, Westminster, Cardiff, Paris, Holland and St Petersburg.

Alexander Brogden’s liquidation was announced in the London Gazette on 11 January 1884. This was owing to the failure of John Brogden and Sons. The Gazette entry gives many addresses: Queen Anne’s Gate and Victoria Chambers, Westminster; Aberdare; Tondu; Meathop, Westmorland; Frampton Cotterell, Gloucestershire; The Hague; Cross Street, Manchester; 46 Dulwich Road, Herne Hill; Ulverstone; Grange-over-Sands; and Wellington, New Zealand.

Alexander Brogden died at 88 Lansdown Road, Croydon on 26 November 1892 at the age of 67. The Times records that he had been ailing. He was sitting by the fire and accidentally fell against the grate while attempting to stir the fire, receiving severe burns. He left a widow and a married daughter, his son having died in 1885.

Notes and References

Other Reading

Citation | last = Gilpin | first = L.R. | title = The Bustling Alexander | journal = Cumbrian Railways | volume = 4 | issue = 6 | date = October 1989 | year = 1989 [http://www.brogden.info/Brogden-Alex-Brogden.htm]

Persondata
NAME= Brogden, Alexander
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION= Railway Contractor, Iron and Coal Master
DATE OF BIRTH= 3 November 1825
PLACE OF BIRTH= Manchester, Lancashire, UK
DATE OF DEATH= 26 November 1892
PLACE OF DEATH= Croydon, Surrey, UK