Benjamin Piercy

Benjamin Piercy (16 March 1827 – 24 March 1888) was a civil engineer. He developed railway lines in Wales, Sardinia (Italy), France and India and is also well known as an agrarian businessman and entrepreneur. Early life Benjamin was initially trained in his father's office. His father Robert Benjamin, was a land surveyor operating in the Counties of Montgomery, Denbigh and Flint and a business partner of Brunel. After achieving his degree in Civil Engineering in 1847, Benjamin became Chief Assistant to Charles Mickleburgh, surveyor and land-agent in Montgomeryshire. In this position, he found himself involved with the Welsh railways. In 1851, Henry Robertson, sought his assistance to prepare plans for the Shrewsbury and Chester Railway line, and later for a railway from Oswestry to Newtown. His success in getting parliamentary approval for the latter line despite a strong opposition from rival entrepreneurs boosted his reputation as a technical expert in railways and since then he became involved in almost every running rail project in Wales. Some notable pieces of engineering he delivered during this period are the Talerddig trench, the bridges over the Severn estuary, the Mawddach and the Traeth Bychan rivers and the fine stations at Oswestry and Welshpool. In 1855 he married Sarah Davies and moved to Wrexham in North Wales. Sarah gave him three sons and six daughters. On 8 January 1861 he was elected Chairman of the Institution of Civil Engineers.