William Martley

William Martley (4 January 1824 – 6 February 1874) was the locomotive superintendent of the London Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR) in England from 1860 until his death.

Biography

William was born in Ballyfallon, in County Meath, Ireland, in 1824. In 1841 he was articled to Daniel Gooch at the Swindon Works of the Great Western Railway, and in 1847 became locomotive superintendent of the Waterford, Limerick and Western Railway. He soon moved to the South Devon Railway, and then, in 1850, became locomotive superintendent of the South Wales Railway, based at Newport. In 1860 he moved to the London Chatham and Dover Railway, where he was the first locomotive superintendent. He became a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1867, but died in office in February 1874.

London Chatham & Dover Railway

During his period at the LCDR Martley established the Longhedge Railway Works (Battersea) 1860–1862 and used it for the construction of new locomotives, and the Stewarts Lane motive power depot.

Martley

Coordinates: 52°14′09″N 2°21′37″W / 52.23584°N 2.36018°W / 52.23584; -2.36018

Martley is a village and civil parish in the Malvern Hills district of the English county of Worcestershire. It is approximately nine miles north-west of Worcester. The population of the village is approximately 1,200 people. The mixed farming of the area includes arable, formerly cherry, apple, damson orchards and hopyards.

It is a popular village for retired people and professionals working in the city and surrounding towns, and has a large high school to which around 700 pupils are bussed daily from the surrounding area. It has a sports hall with rock climbing wall and a gym within the grounds of the school can be used by the public out of school times.

Geology

The village and its extensive parish sits astride the Malvern Line, a north-south aligned lineament originating in Precambrian times. To the east are Triassic sandstones whilst to the west are Devonian mudstones. Along the lineament itself are a complex mix of rocks of Precambrian, Cambrian and Silurian age.