William Barber Buddicom was a British mechanical and civil engineer best known for his pioneering achievements in innovating and expanding railway and locomotive transport through Europe during the mid 19th century.
16 Facts About William Buddicom
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William Buddicom was educated at home until, aged fifteen, Buddicom became apprenticed to Mather, Dixon and Company, where he trained for 5 years to become a railway engineer.
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William Buddicom's successes attracted the attention of Joseph Locke, who offered him a position as resident engineer on the Glasgow-Paisley railway.
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William Buddicom exceeded Locke's expectations, who recommended his promotion to locomotive superintendent of the Grand Junction Railway when he was just twenty-four.
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William Buddicom built 40 locomotives from his Petit-Quevilly plant between 1841 and 1843, including 120,2nd class coaches and 200 wagons, all destined for the new Paris to Rouen line being constructed by Locke.
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Opening up new lines in Normandy required a new larger plant, which William Buddicom commissioned in Sotteville-les-Rouen in 1844.
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William Buddicom was honoured by King Louis-Philippe I, who made him, along with Joseph Locke, Chevaliers of the Legion of Honour, in gratitude for their services to France.
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William Buddicom remained in Rouen, despite the loss of investment potential in the Country.
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William Buddicom expanded his operations, commencing with a new joint enterprise with Basile Parent and Thomas Brassey to connect Lyon with Geneva through a 4-kilometre tunnel, which was an extraordinary engineering achievement.
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William Buddicom continued to work on new projects with partners Parent and Brassey in France, Italy, Germany and Britain until both partners died in 1870, when he wound up the company and effectively retired aged fifty-four.
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William Buddicom was one of the great pioneers of the Industrial Revolution, best known for having designed and built locomotive engines that bore his name.
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William Buddicom met his wife in Rouen, where they were married in 1845.
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In 1852, William Buddicom purchased Penbedw Hall, which included 1,820 acres of land.
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At the time, William Buddicom was a director of a number of companies including the Hereford, Hay and Brecon Railway close to home in Flintshire, as well as further afield with the Dublin and Meath Railway, as far away as the Central Argentine Railway.
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From 1862 to 1867, William Buddicom was a partner with Edward Blount in a Merchant Bank based in Paris.
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William Buddicom was a justice of the peace in Flint and served as High Sheriff of the County in 1864.