Edmund Wragge

Edmund Wragge CE (1837 - 26 November 1929) was a British-born and trained engineer who constructed the first common-carrier narrow gauge railways in North America. He was invited back to Britain in 1897 to engineer the difficult approaches of the Great Central Railway to a new terminus at London (Marylebone).

Edmund Wragge was the second son of seven children born to Charles John and Frances Anne Wragge of Red Hill House, Old Swinford, near Stourbridge, Worcestershire. Wragge’s parents were cousins, married at Oakamoor, Cheadle, Staffordshire. Their families were prosperous lawyers and bankers in the English Midlands, although with engineering and manufacturing connections. Ingleby & Wragge, Solicitors of New Street, Birmingham, handled some of the legal business of Boulton and Watt. The Worcestershire Wragges were lawyers and bankers. Charles John Wragge was an attorney who in 1835 became a partner in Rufford’s Bank, Stourbridge with Francis Rufford, a railway financier, Member of Parliament, and speculator. In 1851 the bank suffered a liquidity crisis as a result of Rufford’s speculations, and failed. All the assets were sold in 1852, including Red Hill House. Edmund Wragge was 15 years of age at the time and the impact of these events must have been considerable.

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