Papers of John Urpeth Rastrick, 1800-1855, comprising a miscellany of correspondence (including drafts of copies of outgoing letters), with notes, engineering drawings, etc. Many of the notes and calculations are written in Rastrick's private cipher. Major correspondents include the London shipping iron merchants Henckell and Du Buisson; the 2nd Earl of Powis; John (later Sir John) Gladstone [father of W E Gladstone]; the lawyer, estate manager and politician James Loch and [?his son] George Loch; and Rastrick's sons and employees. Topics covered include the canal and railway interests of Rastrick and the other correspondents, as well as the iron industry. Most of the letters were dispatched to or from London or the industrial areas of South Wales and the West Midlands.
Rastrick , John Urpeth , 1780-1856 , civil engineerPapers of John Urpeth Rastrick including memoranda, calculations and diagrams, including estimates for iron arch for Stratford-upon-Avon Railway Bridge; for a roof for William Foster; gasworks at Kidderminster; recipe for brass lacquer; lists of materials of six-horse Boulton and Watts engine, and of the contents of packing boxes, with diagrams of each item entered; notes, specifications and sketches for the Stratford and Moreton Railway; and detailed descriptions, statistics and sketches of bridges, railways and engines. Enclosing the following items: (i-ii) 2 sheets of rough calculations. (iii) Card bearing printed statistics of the Burnton and Shields Railway; annotated in MS and signed by Benjamin Thompson (23 January 1829). (iv) Printed wrapper sent from the Office of Ordnance to Messrs J Bradley and Co, [?at] Foster, Rastrick and Co Ironworks, Stourbridge; used for rough calculations and draft accounts in MS.
Rastrick , John Urpeth , 1780-1856 , civil engineer