Charles Beyer
| Charles Frederick Beyer (orig. Carl Friedrich Beyer) | |
|---|---|
by Unknown artist
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| Born |
14 May 1813 Plauen, Saxony |
| Died | 2 June 1876 (aged 63) Llantysilio, near Llangollen, Wales |
| Education | Dresden Polytechnic |
| Engineering career | |
| Institutions | Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Institution of Civil Engineers |
Charles Frederick Beyer (an anglicised form of his original German name Carl Friedrich Beyer) (14 May 1813 – 2 June 1876) was a celebrated German-British locomotive designer and builder, and co-founder of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. He was the co-founder and head engineer of Beyer, Peacock and Company in Gorton, Manchester. A philanthropist and deeply religious, he founded three parish churches (and associated schools) in Gorton, was a governor of Manchester Grammar School, and remains the single biggest donor to what is today the University of Manchester. He is buried in the graveyard of Llantysilio Church, Llantysilio, Llangollen, Denbighshire North Wales. Llantysilio church is within the grounds of his former 700 acre Llantysilio Hall estate. His mansion house, built 1872-1874, is nearby.
Beyer was from humble beginnings, the son of a weaver. Born in Plauen, Saxony, he was expected to follow in his father's footsteps and become a hand weaver's apprentice. He was taught to draw by a student architect convalescing in the district. His mother dreamed of him being an architect and she paid him to teach mathematics and drawing. Some of his pinned-up drawings were noticed by an "eminent medical gentleman", a "Mr Von Sechendorf" (who was visiting another family member), and a place was procured for him at Dresden Polytechnic, an institute of technical education (it was said that his parents were poor and had no money to send their son to college, but were afraid of giving offence to the civil servant). Beyer supplemented a meagre state scholarship by doing odd jobs (a philanthropic lady was in the habit of giving Sunday dinner to the student with the highest marks that week. Beyer relied on the meal, and consequently made sure that he out-performed everyone else).
Upon completing his studies at the Dresden Academy, Beyer took a job in a machine works at Chemnitz, and he obtained a state grant from the Saxon Government to visit the United Kingdom to report on weaving machine technology. He visited Manchester, the world's first industrial city. It was the cotton mills that drove the local economy.The Liverpool and Manchester Railway, the world's first steam hauled purpose built passenger railway had just opened and people were now able to travel faster than horses for the first time. He returned to Dresden to file his report on the latest developments in cotton mill technology, and was rewarded by the Saxon government.
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