Thomas Sheasby

Thomas Sheasby, Senior (c.1740–1799) was a British civil engineer and contractor.

His date of birth is unknown, however, it is known that he was christened on October 28, 1740 in Tamworth, Staffordshire. He was described as a builder from Tamworth who carried out repairs to bridges for the Warwickshire Quarter Sessions from 1775 to 1787. In 1776, he was contracted to design and build Polesworth Bridge over the Coventry Canal at Polesworth, for which he was paid £364. In 1780, he was also contracted to build and design Duke's Bridge in Coleshill, for which he was paid £306.

In the late 1780s, Sheasby was a contractor on the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal. He was also awarded the contract to connect the Coventry Canal to the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal in June 1785.

Sheasby joined with Thomas Dadford and together they decided to tender for work on the Cromford Canal in 1789. However, they left the job when they received an offer for work on the Glamorganshire Canal in 1790. On June 30, 1790, Thomas Sheasby, Thomas Dadford Sr. and his son tendered to build the canal for £48,258, giving a bond for £10,000. There was no engineer and the contract was run by a management committee, an arrangement was made which may have contributed to subsequent difficulties between the contractors and the company. The contractors accumulated £17,000 in payments for extra work. The canal opened in February 1794, however, soon after, a bank was breached and the contractors were called back to repair it. The contractors refused to do any work before they received a payment in advance. The company imprisoned Sheasby, Dadford Sr and his son as so they could recover the £10,000 surety, arguing they had been overpaid £17,000. As a result of the imprisonment, Sheasby and Dadford were unable to work on their next project and the next phase of the Glamorganshire Canal was built by Patrick Copland.

After being released, Sheasby was taken on as engineer and contractor to complete the Monmouthshire Canal to Glynneath, including the aqueduct, by November 1, 1793. He was to be paid £14,886, £2,500 was to be withheld for three years. Sheasby was unable to complete the canal in the timeframe, and as he was in discussions over how to complete the canal, he was arrested for the situation in Glamorganshire. The company had to complete the canal themselves.

Despite these setbacks, Sheasby returned to work. He began by assisting Charles Roberts as an engineer on the Swansea Canal. Sheasby had already surveyed the canal in 1793, however, his problems meant he could not be appointed as the engineer at the time. He was appointed engineer in 1796 with his son. The canal was partially opened in 1796 and was completed in October 1798. Sheasby died a year later.

His other works included surveys for the Shropshire Canal in 1788, a Brecon Forest tramroad and a Llandeilo-Llandovery canal project in 1793.

References

• A Biographical Dictionary of Civil Engineers in Great Britain and Ireland, Page 602, A. W. Skempton, Institution of Civil Engineers Staff, 2002, Thomas Telford (ISBN: 072772939X)
• The Canals of South Wales and the Border, Charles Hadfield, 1960, University of Wales Press
• British Waterways: An Illustrated History, David Daniel Francis Gladwin, 1977, Spurbooks
• The Birmingham Canal Navigations, Stanley Robertson Broadbridge, 1974, David & Charles Publishers