Thomas Longridge Gooch

Thomas Longridge Gooch (1 November 1808 – 23 November 1882) was civil engineer of the Manchester and Leeds Railway from 1831 to 1844.

Thomas Longridge Gooch
Born	1 November 1808 London
Died	23 November 1882 (aged 74) Newcastle upon Tyne
Nationality	British
Occupation	Engineer
Parent(s)	John Gooch Anna Longridge
Engineering career
Discipline	Civil engineer
Employer(s)	Liverpool and Manchester Railway Manchester and Leeds Railway

Biography

Gooch was born on 1 November 1808. He was the eldest son of John and Anna Gooch; John was from Bedlington, Northumberland, and Anna was the daughter of Thomas Longridge of Newcastle. John and Anna had ten children, and of their five sons, four became railway engineers: Thomas Longridge Gooch;[1] John Viret Gooch;[2] Daniel Gooch[3] and William Frederick Gooch.[4]

On 6 October 1823, Gooch was apprenticed for six years to George Stephenson; with Stephenson, he surveyed the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway and for ​2 ¹⁄₂ years from 1826 acted as Stephenson's secretary and draughtsman on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway (L&MR), living in Stephenson's house in Liverpool. In January 1829, Gooch became Resident Engineer for the Liverpool end of the L&MR, but in April the same year he took a temporary appointment as Resident Engineer of the Bolton and Leigh Railway.[1]

In 1830, Stephenson was appointed to survey the route of the proposed Manchester and Leeds Railway,[5] and Gooch was appointed his assistant. Gooch carried out most of the actual surveying for the new line, and was in charge of the construction.[1]

Notes

1. Marshall 1969, p. 38.
2. Marshall 1978, p. 95.
3. Marshall 1978, p. 94.
4. Marshall 1978, p. 96.
5. Marshall 1969, p. 37.

References

• Marshall, John (1969). The Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway, volume 1. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-4352-1.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Marshall, John (1978). A Biographical Dictionary of Railway Engineers. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-7489-3.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)