William Bragge
| William Bragge | |
|---|---|
| Born | 31 May 1823 Birmingham, England |
| Died | 6 June 1884 Birmingham, England |
| Nationality | English |
| Education | Birmingham |
| Occupation | Civil engineer, antiquarian, author |
| Known for | Bibliotheca nicotiana |
| Home town | Birmingham |
| Title | F.S.A., F.G.S. |
William Bragge, F.S.A., F.G.S., (31 May 1823 – 6 June 1884) was an English civil engineer, antiquarian and author. He established a museum and art gallery. He was notable in his day for collecting a library containing the entire literature on tobacco. The collection contained tobacco information in all its forms, almost all languages, with pamphlets, engravings, and other publications filling 17 large volumes. In the English language, the two oldest bibliographies on books are Bragge's original and revised volumes on tobacco.
Bragge was born in Birmingham. His father, Thomas Perry Bragg, was a jeweller. His brother, Joseph, was six years younger. Bragge studied mechanics and mathematics in Birmingham, practical engineering with two firms in Birmingham, and trained as an engineer and railway surveyor.
He began his career in 1845 as a civil engineer and began railway surveying, first as an assistant engineer, later as Chief Mechanical Engineer with the Birkenhead Railway for a portion of the Chester to Holyhead railroad line.
With a recommendation from Sir Charles Fox, Bragge, representing Edward T. Belhouse & Co. of Manchester, was sent to Brazil where he worked on the project to light Rio de Janeiro with gas, as well as surveying the first railway in Brazil. For his fine work, Bragge received distinctions from the emperor Don Pedro II, including the Order of the Rose. Bragge built the first line that was hauled by the locomotive, La Porteña, on the Ferrocarril Oeste de Buenos Aires. In addition, he built gas and waterworks for the city of Buenos Aires. He was a founder of Argentina's Primitiva de Gas Company.
Bragge returned to England in 1858 and, in Sheffield from 1858–1872, was a managing director of John Brown & Company. In 1870, he became Master Cutler of Sheffield. He established an armour-plate manufactory in Sheffield as well.
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