Charles Beyer

Karl Friedrich Beyer

Karl Friedrich Beyer , in English spelling Charles Frederick Beyer (born May 14, 1813 in Plauen ; † June 2, 1876 in Llantysilio Hall near Llangollen , Wales), was an important engineer , co-founder and long-time director of Beyer, Peacock & Co. and founding member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers .

Childhood, education and professional beginnings in Germany

Karl Beyer's father earned his living as a hand weaver. The family was very poor and did not have the financial means to finance further schooling, so that after finishing elementary school he began to learn his father's profession. An architect who had moved to Plauen saw how the twelve-year-old boy built house models in his spare time and recognized his talent. The architect gave him lessons in arithmetic, geometry and drawing for a small fee, and Karl soon drew a portrait that was good enough to decorate his parents' apartment. Dr. von Seckendorf, who was treating Karl Beyer's older brother, became aware of the picture during a home visit. The doctor advocated further education for Karl Beyer with the state authorities. The engagement was successful; Against his father's concerns, the boy broke off his apprenticeship and attended the polytechnic school that had recently opened in Dresden . After successfully completing school after four years, he worked for two years at the Haubold machine factory in Chemnitz . In the summer of 1834 Beyer was commissioned by the Saxon government to study the progress of mechanical engineering in England, especially in the field of cotton spinning, and to write a report on it. After the end of the study trip and the publication of the report, he received offers from Chemnitz and Dresden to take over the management of the newly established cotton mills there. Karl Beyer refused, however, and in the same year turned his back on Germany forever.

Relocation to England and advancement from draftsman to chief designer

Beyer admired the inventor Richard Roberts , whom he had met while studying in Manchester . Through the mediation of Professor Schubert, a teacher at the Polytechnic School, he managed to get a job at Sharp, Roberts & Co. As a foreigner with initially poor language skills, he initially had a difficult position and for years he did subordinate and poorly paid work as a draftsman. Richard Roberts' attention was drawn to him through the drawings and Charles Beyer eventually became head of the drawing office. Sharp & Roberts delivered the first steam locomotive in 1833, but locomotive construction did not resume until 1837. The management of this branch of business was transferred to Charles Beyer, as Roberts only marginally dealt with the construction of locomotives. 1843 joined Roberts retired and the company operated until 1852 as Sharp Bros. This year was Charles Patrick Stewart shareholders and the company in Sharp, Stewart & Co renamed. Charles Beyer left the company in 1853 and began an eight-month study tour through Europe.

Beyer, Peacock & Co. from the beginning to the leading locomotive manufacturer

After his return he founded his own company with Richard Peacock . In March 1854 the foundation stone for the new locomotive factory was laid and the first locomotive was delivered just sixteen months later. The Gorton Foundry plant near Manchester was designed in such a way that it could be gradually expanded without disrupting ongoing operations and, despite the enormous growth, not a single building had to be demolished over the next fifty years. After a few years, the size of the business had grown so much that Beyer needed an assistant. His choice fell on Hermann L. Lange, who, like him, came from Plauen and had worked for Egells in Berlin after graduating from the Polytechnic School in Karlsruhe . Three years later, Lange took over the design department at Beyer, Peacock & Co. The Beyer and Peacock locomotives were not only of high quality, but also set themselves apart from the competition in their balanced shapes, elegance and aesthetic beauty. They found buyers not only in Great Britain but worldwide.

Social engagement and private life

The business success not only increased the reputation but also the fortune of Charles Beyer and he was able to acquire and expand the country estate Llantysilio Hall in Llantysilio near Llangollen in North Wales in 1867 . In addition to his work in his company, he took care of agriculture and took on a judge's office. Beyer did not forget that he himself had spent many years in abject poverty and provided financial support to Richard Roberts, who was impoverished after his retirement from professional life. He campaigned for the establishment of polytechnic schools in Great Britain and supported the construction and expansion of churches and schools in his place of residence and in the vicinity of the plant in Gorton.

His private life was less happy. A marriage into the Sharp family failed and was his only attempt to get married. Beyer remained a bachelor throughout his life and left no descendants. He was the godfather of Henry Beyer Robertson (1862-1948), the son of the engineer Henry Robertson , with whom he was friends and business.

At the beginning of 1876 his health deteriorated and he died on June 21 of this year on his country estate, where he also found his final resting place.

Beyer, Peacock & Co. remained one of the world's leading locomotive manufacturers for decades after Charles Beyer's death. With the end of the steam locomotive era, Beyer, Peacock & Co. also began to decline in locomotive construction after the Second World War, which could only be delayed with the construction of diesel locomotives and finally in 1966 after more than 110 years for the closure of the Gorton Foundry factory.

Charles Beyer was one of the founders of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in 1847 , along with Robert Stephenson and other eminent engineers of his time . This institution still exists today and has 75,000 members worldwide.

Web links

• Detailed biography in the Beyer-Peacock Quarterly Review 1927 (PDF file; 873 kB)