Cabry family
Cabry, Henry
Born Percy Main 5 June 1805. Following work at pit in Killingworth
joined Robert Stephenson & Co. in late 1823 or 24. Locomotive Superintendent
of Leicester & Swannington Railway where Comet was first locomotive.
Dismissed on 15 January 1834. Sent by George Stephenson to Belgium in 1835
to work on Brussels & Mechlin Railway opened on 6 May 1835. On 24 July
1837 appointed chief mechanic and engineer Belgian State Railways. He was
seriously injured in a crash involving the Royal Train at Ghent on 21 August
1838. He married Elizabeth-Mathilde Vifquain, daughter of a well-known civil
engineer. Patented a modified gab gear (Belgian patent 2028 of 31 July 1841).
Invented an exhaust regulator fitted to locomotives supplied by Sharp Roberts
to South Eastern Railway. His valve gear probably led to the Walschaerts
type. He invented a sledge brake for use on the incline at Liege, and a gripper
mechanism for a continuoulsy running cable. Probaly invented steam trumpet
used on Leicester & Swannington Railway (where he was Engine Superintendent
Locomotive Mag., 1932, 38,
272). Became a Belgian Citizen on 13 October 1846 and rose to tank of
Inspector General. He died on 6 March 1881 Obituary: Proc. Instn Mech.
Engrs., 1874, 25, 16..
Cabry, Joseph
Nephew of Thomas Cabry: Locomotive
Superintendent MGWR 1856-62. In aboiut 1865 he was appointed Manager
of the Blyth & Tyne Railway. When this was amalgamated with the NER he
carried on as Passenger Superintendent until 1883 when he became Engineer
of the NER Central Division until his retirement in 1891.
Cabry, Thomas
Born New York (Northumberlnad, near Whitley Bay) on 6 June
1801, died York 1 September 1873. Worked for Robert Stephenson. Assisted
in erection of stationary engines on Stockton & Darlington Railway at
Brusselton and Etherley in 1824/5. When Head Foreman for Stephenson he was
associated with Thomas Shaw Brandreth in attempting to lower the friction
of wagons (Patent 8 November 1825). Involved in erection of stationary engine
on Daubhill Incline on Bolton & Leigh Railway in May 1827. From the summer
of 1829 he was involved with the stationary engines on the Canterbury &
Whitstable Railway, practical improvements to Invicta on that Railway.
From 21 November 1836 he was resident engineer on the York & North Midland
Railway and in 1843 took charge of the North Midland Railway department,
returning to York in 1846 as Locomotive Superintendent of the York &
North Midland Railway. He invented a form of locomotive valve gear. On formation
of the NER he became engineer of the Southern Division. He was involved in
experiments with sledge brakes on the Whitby & Pickering Railway. Cabry
was closely associated with Hudson's ventures and he was active in public
life in York. He was a founder member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers:
thus it is extraordinary that he is not in the ODNB (which may reflect upon
the officials of that Institution). Obituary: Proc. Instn Mech. Engrs.,
1874, 25, 16-17...See: Brian Lewis.
The Cabry family, railway engineers. 1994.
Brian Lewis is also responsibe for
the biography in Chrimes (pp. 157-8).
Brian Lewis The Cabry family: railway engineers. Railway & Canal Historical Society. c1994; also in Dawn Smith under "Cabrey" with entries for Joseph (no mention of Irish activity) and Thomas
2019-11-06