Thomas Brassey

Learn more about Thomas Brassey

Career

At age 16, Brassey become an apprentice to a land surveyor. One of his jobs involved surveying the alignment of what is now the A5 in North Wales, assisting Thomas Telford.

He then went on to own and manage brick works and sand and stone quarries on the Wirral (Merseyside), where he supplied many bricks for the growing city of Liverpool.

When Brassey was building a stretch of the New Chester Road in Bromborough, he met civil engineer George Stephenson, who was looking for stone for the construction of Sankey Viaduct on the Liverpool-Manchester Railway.

This railway went on to become the first inter-city railway in the world. It’s said this interaction with Stephenson inspired Brassey to enter the world of railways.

In 1835, Brassey won a contract to build a 10-mile stretch of the Grand Junction Railways, including the Penkridge Viaduct in Staffordshire. This project was completed on time and within budget.

Due to Brassey’s positive reputation, within a short period of time he had building contracts from across Britain and then from Europe.

MacKenzie and Brassey

Around 1840, Brassey joined forces with civil engineer William MacKenzie, creating the company of MacKenzie and Brassey.

The duo won the contract for the Paris-Rouen line in France and went on to build a majority (around 75%) of the French railway network. They also completed other contracts in Britain, Belgium and Spain.

When MacKenzie passed away in 1851, this ended the MacKenzie and Brassey partnership.

Barentin Viaduct

In 1846, Brassey faced one of the few structural disasters of his career. Barentin Viaduct in France, which he had recently built, collapsed after heavy rain.

Brassey rebuilt the viaduct using his own funds and a different material. The rebuilt viaduct is still in use today.

The Canada works

In the early 1850s, Brassey won the largest contract of his career: building the Grand Trunk Railway in Canada. This involved building 539 miles of railway along the valley of the Saint Lawrence River from Quebec to Toronto.

Brassey also built the Victoria Bridge in Montreal, which was designed by Robert Stephenson. The Victoria Bridge was the longest bridge in the world at the time and was the first to span the Saint Lawrence River.

The Grand Trunk Railway contract included all materials, manufacturing and fabrication of materials. To account for this, Brassey opened The Canada Works in Birkenhead, a factory where he supplied and manufactured the materials. The Victoria Bridge was prefabricated in the factory and shipped to Canada.

At its peak, Brassey led a worldwide workforce of over 80,000 people. He was known to pay a fair wage, provide warm clothing and food, and ensured workers were treated well.

Honours

Brassey was awarded the French Legion of Honour, the Italian Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus, and the Austrian Order of the Iron Crown. The latter award was said to be the first to be granted to a foreigner.

Personal life

Thomas Brassey was born in 1805 in Aldford, south of Chester in the United Kingdom.

He was educated at home until the age of 12. When Brassey was 16, he became an apprentice to land surveyor, William Lawton.

Brassey married Maria Harrison in 1831 and together they had four sons. Maria could speak French and acted as an interpreter for all his French business.

Brassey died in 1870, aged 65.

In 2025, a bronze statue was erected in Brassey’s honour in front of Chester railway station by the Thomas Brassey Society. The statue was unveiled by Prince Richard, the Duke of Gloucester.