Rowland Brotherhood

Rowland Brotherhood (or sometimes Roland Brotherhood) was a British engineer. He was born in Middlesex in 1812 and died in Bristol in 1883. He married Priscilla Penton in 1835 and they had 14 children, one also called Rowland who played cricket for Gloucestershire, another called Peter. Most were engineers.

Career

From 1835 he took on a number of contracts for building parts of the Great Western Railway (GWR). By 1838 he was resident in Reading, Berkshire, and continued to do contract work for the GWR.

In 1841 he moved to Chippenham, Wiltshire, bought Orwell House, and opened a blacksmiths business. Contract work for the GWR continued until 1861 when there was a dispute with the GWR. From 1861 to 1869 Brotherhood built components for railways and bridges across the British Empire.

Brotherhood left Chippenham in 1868 and was appointed general manager of the Bute Ironworks in Cardiff. In 1874 he moved to Bristol and in 1875 he took a contract to build a goods shed for the GWR.

From 1877 to 1879 Brotherhood assisted his son, also called Rowland, in sinking shafts for the Severn Tunnel.

Rowland Brotherhood (senior) died at his home in Bristol on 4 March 1883, and is buried there in Arnos Vale Cemetery.

Peter Brotherhood Limited

see separate article Peter Brotherhood

Sources

• "A Centenary Note – R. Brotherhood". www.irsociety.co.uk. Retrieved 6 March 2009.
• "Chippenham Town Council – Rowland Brotherhood". www.chippenham.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 30 January 2009. Retrieved 6 March 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

External links

• Chippenham Museum and Heritage Centre website