William Bragge

This article is about the civil engineer/antiquarian. For the British physicist, see William Henry Bragg. For the Australian physicist, see William Lawrence Bragg.

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 a 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.

Early life

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.

Career

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.

In 1872, Bragge went to Paris and was unsuccessful in developing a sewage system for Société des Engrais. Upon his return to Birmingham in 1876, he established a watch-making factory.

His memberships include:

• Free Libraries Committee
• School of Art
• Fellow, Society of Antiquaries
• Fellow, Anthropological Society
• Fellow, Royal Geographical Society

Antiquarian

In addition to South America, Bragge's travels took him to Russia and Bragge was a frequent visitor to Spain where he developed an interest in its literature, including that of Miguel de Cervantes.

Bragge donated his collected items to the Birmingham Free Library, including his 1500 volume Cervantes collection in 1873 and study of tobacco collection. The fire of 1879 destroyed many of the items. He collected gems and precious stones from all over Europe, as well as 13,000 pipes, hundreds of types of tobacco, and snuff-boxes. In 1880, Bragge published a revised bibliography on the subject of tobacco, Bibliotheca nicotiana, amounting to 248 quarto pages.

Later years

Bragge lived for a time on Shirle Hill, Birmingham. His wife, a sister of Rev. George Beddow, preceded him in death Bragge was blind for a period before his death at Clarendon House, Handsworth, Birmingham.

His descendents include a daughter, Mrs. W.H. Haywood, who presented to the Birmingham Central Reference Library, Language and Literature Department, a marble profile medallion portrait of her father at age 42, sculpted by Edward William Wyon in 1865. He had three sons, Charles William Bragge (b. Chester, Cheshire), George Stephenson Bragge (b. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), and Frank John Bragge (b. Sheffield).

References

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