IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 0103 MS ADD 401
Held at: University College London
Title: Adams Autobiography
Date(s): 1891
Level of description: Collection (fonds)
Extent: 1 volume
Name of creator(s): Adams | William Alexander | 1821-1896 | engineer
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
Born at Quintero, Chile, 1821; came to London, 1826; worked in the carriage works of his father, William Bridges Adams, and uncle, c1836-1846; became manager of the London Works, Birmingham, 1846; in business with George Alcock, 1846-1850; began his own business, 1850; member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers; presented papers on railway carriages and wagons, 1850, 1852; formed the Midland Wagon Company, 1853; elected Associate of the Institution of Civil Engineers, 1865; a director of Muntz's Metal Company; introduced into the USA the purchase lease system of letting railway wagons, 1874; formed the Union Rolling Stock Company for financing wagons on that system in the USA, 1875; presented to the Institution of Civil Engineers a paper on railway rolling stock capacity, 1876; director of the Birmingham Joint Stock Bank; Justice of the Peace and Deputy Lieutenant for Herefordshire; died at Gaines, Herefordshire, 1896. Publications: Twenty-six years Reminiscences of Scotch Grouse Moors (H Cox, London, 1889); Bores and Loads for Sporting Guns for British game shooting (H Cox, London, 1894).
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Bound typescript autobiography, 'The Record of a Busy Life', by William Adams, 1891, detailing his life in Chile, London, and the Midlands, including family history, family and associates, business, and other reminiscences, with a two-page printed biography from the Minutes of Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers (vol cxxiv, Session 1895-1896, pt ii) inserted.
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: English
System of arrangement:
Conditions governing access:
Open.
Conditions governing reproduction:
Normal copyright restrictions apply.
Physical characteristics:
Binding in poor condition.
Finding aids:
Collection level description.
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:
Accruals:
Archival history:
Immediate source of acquisition:
Received from Brian Adams via Professor Frederick Rosen in 1997.
ALLIED MATERIALS
Existence and location of originals:
Existence and location of copies:
Microfilm copy at University College London Special Collections.
Related material:
University College London Special Collections also holds correspondence between William Bridges Adams and his wife Elizabeth and her father Francis Place, concerning their travels in South America (Ref: MS ADD 396), correspondence of William Bridges Adams with Sir Edwin Chadwick (Ref: CHADWICK), and various other papers of Francis Place.
Publication note:
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Note:
Archivist's note: Sources: biography from the Minutes of Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, vol cxxiv, Session 1895-1896, pt ii; British Library OPAC. Compiled by Rachel Kemsley as part of the RSLP AIM25 project.
Date(s) of descriptions: Jun 2001