Thomas Brassey was a civil engineering contractor who constructed railways, bridges, tunnels and locomotives as well as harbours and London's sewers. At the height of his career he employed more than 80,000 men worldwide.

Brassey was born in 1805 in the parish of Aldford near Chester where he attended school. He began his career as trainee land surveyor on Thomas Telford's Shrewsbury to Holyhead road. He became a quarry manager on the Wirral and with experienced gained in civil engineering set up his own construction company based in Birkenhead. From here he established himself as one of the greatest railway builders of his age, working with the early influential railway engineers.

At the time of his death in 1870 Thomas Brassey had built one third of the railways in the UK and 1 in 20 miles of the world's network across most continents.

The 8th December 2020 marked the 150th anniversary of the death of Thomas Brassey. There is at present no permanent memorial that commemorates the work of Thomas Brassey and the major contribution that he made to railway engineering worldwide. In order to promote these achievements and raise awareness, the Thomas Brassey Society was formed and inaugurated in November 2019. The Society has already raised sufficient money for the installation of an Interpretation Panel at Chester railway station. We are now seeking to erect a statue to honour this great civil engineer.

This particular fund raising appeal is to carry out Stage 1, Preliminary Design, for a statue to be located in the area of Chester railway station. Your support will be greatly appreciated.

Steve Langtree....Chairman. Peter Bolt....Secretary