Sir Cusack Patrick Roney (baptised February 1809 – 30 September 1868) was an Irish civil servant who was a private secretary in the

British Civil Service In the United Kingdom, the Civil Service is the permanent bureaucracy or secretariat of Crown employees that supports His Majesty's Government, the Scottish Government and the Welsh Government, which is led by a cabinet of ministers chosen ...

. He is most associated with the railway industry, being secretary to two railway companies and managing director of the

Grand Trunk Railway Company of Canada The Grand Trunk Railway (; ) was a Rail transport, railway system that operated in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and in the List of states and territories of the United States, American sta ...

. He was knighted for his role as secretary to the Great Industrial Exhibition held in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

in 1853.

Early life and family

Cusack Roney was born in

around 1809, the son of Cusack Roney, who was twice president of the

Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) is a not-for-profit medical professional and educational institution, which is also known as RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences. It was established in 1784 as the national body ...

(RCSI), and his wife, Charlotte. He was educated in Paris and at

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

. He was admitted to Trinity College on 20 October 1823, aged 14½. He received his BA in 1829. He qualified as a surgeon with the RCSI but did not pursue a medical career. He married Elizabeth Anne Whitcombe in 1807. She died in 1861. They had a son, Cusack Willes Roney.

Career

Roney's early career was as a writer in London for '' The Athenaeum'' and other periodicals. He then had a succession of administrative jobs. He was secretary of the

Royal Literary Fund The Royal Literary Fund (RLF) is a benevolent fund that gives assistance to published British writers in financial difficulties. Founded in 1790, and granted a royal charter in 1818, the Fund has helped an extensive roll of authors through its lon ...

from 1835 to 1837, manager at the Polytechnic Institution from 1839 or 1840, and private secretary to

Richard More O'Ferrall Richard More O'Ferrall (10 April 1797 – 27 October 1880) was an Irish politician, a high level British government official and a Governor of Malta. Born to a noble Irish Catholic family at Balyna, he was the eldest son and heir of Ambrose ...

when he was secretary to the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong * Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Tra ...

. He was then a clerk at the Admiralty. Roney's first railway appointment was as secretary to the Cambridge and Lincoln Railway Company in 1845. He was also secretary of the

Eastern Counties Railway The Eastern Counties Railway (ECR) was an English railway company incorporated in 1836 intended to link London with Ipswich via Colchester, and then extend to Norwich and Yarmouth. Construction began in 1837 on the first at the London end. Co ...

. He became managing director of the Grand Trunk Railway Company of Canada in 1853, whose corporate headquarters was in London. In 1855 he prepared a report with A. M. Ross and S. P. Bidder for the board of directors on the prospects for the Grand Trunk railway in Canada, concluding that it "cannot fail to prove a highly profitable enterprize". In 1853, he was knighted by

Edward Eliot, 3rd Earl of St Germans Edward Granville Eliot, 3rd Earl of St Germans (29 August 1798 – 7 October 1877), styled Lord Elliot from 1823–45, was a British politician, peer, and diplomat. Background and education St Germans was born in Plymouth, Devon, the son of W ...

for his role as secretary to the Great Industrial Exhibition, held that year in Dublin. In 1863–64, he was involved in a legal case relating to shares in The Llanharry Hematite Iron Ore Company Limited of which he was a director.

Death

In 1868, Roney published ''Rambles on Railways'', the publication of which was delayed by his serious illness. In the Preface, Roney stated that he had enough material for a further volume, mainly on foreign railways, that he expected to be published later the same yearRoney, Sir Cusack Patrick. (1868)
Rambles on Railways.
'. London: Effingham Wilson. Preface. but it never was and he died on 30 September 1868 at Cleveland Square, in the Bayswater district of London."Sir Cusack Patrick Roney"
''The Register, and Magazine of Biography, &c.'', January 1869, pp. 206–207.

Arms

Selected publications

*
Reports of Sir Cusack P. Roney; Mr. A. M. Ross; Mr. S. P. Bidder; to the London Board of Directors
'. John Thomas Norris, London, for the Grand Trunk Railway Company of Canada, 1855. *
How to Spend a Month in Ireland and What it Will Cost
'' W. Smith and Sons, London, 1861. * ''The Alps and the Eastern Mails''. London, 1867. *
Rambles on Railways. With Maps, Diagrams, and Appendices
'. Effingham Wilson, London, 1868.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roney, Patrick Cusack 1809 births 1868 deaths Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Irish business executives Irish non-fiction writers Railway executives Irish knights Private secretaries in the British Civil Service Date of birth missing Civil servants from Dublin (city) 19th-century Irish businesspeople