English railway locomotive engineer
Wilson Worsdell (7 September 1850 – 14 April 1920) was an English locomotive engineer who was locomotive superintendent of the North Eastern Railway from 1890 to 1910. He was the younger brother of T.W. Worsdell. Wilson was born at Monks Coppenhall, near Crewe on 7 September 1850 to Nathaniel and Mary Worsdell; he was their tenth child and fourth son. In 1860 he was sent as a boarder to Ackworth, a Quaker school in Yorkshire.
Career.
Wilson Worsdell worked at Crewe for a short time, then moved to the US to work at the Altoona Works of the Pennsylvania Railroad. He returned to England in 1871 and worked for the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) and rose to be in charge of the locomotive shed at Chester. In 1883, he became an Assistant Locomotive Superintendent of the North Eastern Railway (NER). Wilson's brother, Thomas William Worsdell was Locomotive Superintendent of the NER from 1885 to 1890. When Thomas William retired, Wilson replaced him as the NER's Locomotive Superintendent, in which capacity he was a popular choice. In this capacity he was considered a mechanical genius being able to pinpoint problems with unerring accuracy. He also implemented the electrification of the lines in North Tyneside. He retired in May 1910.
Patents.
Wilson Worsdell has only one known patent:
Family.
Wilson Worsdell was a son of Nathaniel Worsdell (1809–1886), and grandson of the coachbuilder Thomas Clarke Worsdell (1788–1862). His eldest brother, William (1838–1916), 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.
Wilson married Mary Elizabeth Bradford, daughter of a Draper, in Staffordshire in 1882.
References.
Citations.
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