Locke, Joseph |
| CIVIL ENGINEER (ENGLAND) |
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BORN 9 Aug 1805, Sheffield, Yorkshire: Attercliffe - DIED 18 Sep 1860 CAUSE OF DEATH appendicitis GRAVE LOCATION London: Kensal Green Cemetery, Harrow Road, Kensal Green (099/PS (6865)) |
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Joseph Locke was the son a manager at Wallbottle colliery on Tyneside at the time that the engineer George Stephenson (1781-1848) was a fireman there. Joseph joined Stephenson's company and became a close friend of George's son Robert Stephenson (1803-1859). After Locke criticized George Stephenson's work in a report about the proposed tunnel works for the Liverpool anbd Manchester Railway, Stephenson was furious, and their relationship became strained. He assisted Stephenson when the railway was constructed, but he fell out with the other assistant, Charles Vignole (1793-1875), who left the company. When the line was opened in 1830, the MP William Huskisson was killed by a train. In 1834 he married Phoebe McCreery (d.1866) and they adopted a girl, Gertrude Laurence Locke (1856-1939). Locke worked again with George Stephenson on the Grand Junction Railway. They were supposed to manage half of the line each, but Locke's administration was more efficient than that of Stephenson and in in 1835 he became the chief engineer of the entire line. This led to further problems between the men. In 1837 the Grand Junction Railway was opened. In 1838 Locke was elected to the Royal Society. He replaced Charles Vignoles as chief engineer for the railway line from Manchester to Sheffield. It was finally opened in 1845. He worked on the railway from London to Southampton (1836-1840), in Scotland (1837-1841) and abroad in France, Spain and the Netherlands. In work made him a rich man and in 1847 he bought the manor of Honiton, Devonshire. From 1847 until his death he sat in parliament for the liberals the borough of Honiton. After George Stephenson died in 1848 his close friendship with his son Robert was revived. From 1857 to 1859 he was the President of the Institution of Civil Engineers. He died in 1860 of appendicitis during a shooting holiday near Dumfries. |
| Images |
 The grave of Joseph Locke at Kensal Green Cemetery, Kensal Green, London. Picture by Androom (18 Apr 2024) |
Sources • Paths of Glory, The Friends of Kensal Green Cemetery, London, 1997 • Joseph Locke - Wikipedia (EN) • Dictionary of National Biography - Wikisource, the free online library |
