Daniel Gooch

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Daniel Gooch

Sir Daniel Gooch, 1st Baronet (born August 24, 1816 in Bedlington , Northumberland , † October 15, 1889 possibly in Clewer Park , Windsor ) was the first chief engineer of the Great Western Railway from 1837 to 1864 and its chairman and British from 1865 to 1889 Member of Parliament.

Professional career

Model of Gooch's first Fire Fly locomotive design with a photo of Gooch in the National Railway Museum, York
Goochs Iron Duke Class, "HIRONDELLE" locomotive

Born the son of an iron caster, he worked in the mechanical engineering trade in various companies, including a period in Robert Stephenson's workshop. At the age of just 21, he was hired by Isambard Kingdom Brunel on the Great Western Railway. His first time there, he spent that Brunel procured collection of different broad gauge - steam locomotives to keep operational. Based on the proven GWR class Star supplied by Stephenson , he designed and built the GWR class Firefly , a 1A1 express locomotive , in 1840 . In comparative drives, the Ixion belonging to this series proved capable of higher speeds than its standard gauge competitors. In 1843 Gooch also introduced a new locomotive control system named after him .

From 1840 Gooch was also responsible for the Swindon Railway Works and in 1846 for the design of the first fully built locomotive there, the prototype GREAT WESTERN of the GWR class Iron Duke , a 2A1 machine capable of a speed of 70 mph (112 km / h ) reached.

Called back to Great Western in 1865 as chairman, Gooch saved the company from bankruptcy and devoted his attention specifically to the construction of the Severn Tunnel . The English broad gauge railway system only experienced its decline after Gooch's death. Gooch was also involved in the successful laying of the first transatlantic cable with the Great Eastern in 1865/66 and became chief engineer and later chairman of the Telegraph Construction Company .

Family and Politics

Gooch married Margaret Tanner in 1838, with whom he had six children, and after her death in 1868 in 1870 Emily Burder; who in turn died in 1901. Gooch's brothers John Viret Gooch, Thomas Longridge Gooch, and William Frederick Gooch were also railroad engineers. From 1859 he lived in Clewer Park in Windsor.

Gooch was a Conservative Party MP in the House of Commons for Cricklade from 1865 to 1885 .

In recognition of his services in overseas cable laying, he was awarded the hereditary title of Baronet , of Clewer Park in the County of Berks , on November 10, 1866 . When he died in 1889, his eldest son Henry Daniel Gooch (1841-1897) inherited the title of baronet.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ London Gazette . No. 23183, HMSO, London, November 13, 1866, p. 5994 ( PDF , English).

Web links

predecessor Office successor
New title created Baronet, of Clewer Park
1866-1889 		Henry Gooch
personal data
SURNAME Gooch, Daniel
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gooch, Sir Daniel, 1st Baronet
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British railroad engineer and politician, Member of the House of Commons
DATE OF BIRTH August 24, 1816
PLACE OF BIRTH Bedlington , Northumberland
DATE OF DEATH October 15, 1889
Place of death Clewer Park , Windsor