Annual Report of the Cotincil. xlvii 



William Brockbank was born in St. John Street, in this 

 city, in 1830, which year saw the opening of the Manchester and 

 Liverpool Railway, in the construction of which his father had 

 been largely concerned, building the bridge over the Irwell 

 and supplying the hurdles upon which the line was carried over 

 Chat Moss. At his father's house young Brockbank met Dixon, 

 Locke, and other engineers, which gave his mind a bent which 

 led his father to have him apprenticed to his cousin, Mr. Thomas 

 Carrick, then a well-known Manchester surveyor. In 1853, a 

 partnership was entered into, under the style of Carrick and 

 Brockbank ; the firm was largely engaged in railway surveys, and 

 the staki?ig out of new lines ; the firm also made the surveys of 

 the Manchester Corporation Waterworks, as well as the greater 

 part of the plans (now in the Town Hall) of the completed 

 works, including the Thirlmere Parliamentary Surveys, in which 

 the leading share was taken by Mr. T. Silk Wilson, who had 

 become a partner in the firm ; Mr. Brockbank, in the meanwhile, 

 had retired from it and was devoting his attention to his large 

 and increasing business as metal merchant in Manchester and 

 Birmingham, which became very considerable ; but, like many 

 other very busy men, he found time to benefit the culture and 

 comfort of those with whom he was brought in contact. 



A descendant of a family who joined the Society of Friends 

 on its foundation by George Fox, Mr. Brockbank took an active 

 interest in their welfare. He had an important share in the 

 initiation and founding of Dalton Hall, a hall of residence in 

 connection with the Owens College, in Victoria Park, which was 

 opened in 1882, and has since served as a model for several 

 other halls of residence in connection with other provincial 

 colleges. The scheme for such an institution was formulated by 

 Mr. Brockbank, and was carried on experimentally in Lloyd 

 Street, Greenheys, as the Friends' Hall, and its success led to 

 the larger undertaking in Victoria Park, which has more than 

 answered the expectations of its founders. 



Mr. Brockbank ha4 a very strong individuality, his imposing 

 figure and presence, massive handsome head, and his courteous 



