Thomas Webster Rammell was born in 1814 on the Isle of Thanet,

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

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. He became an engineer, working for the Metropolitan Board of Works. He was a close friend of Henry Austin, son-in-law of

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

. In 1849 he visited the North

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

town of

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to open an inquiry into the "sewage, drainage and supply of water and the sanitary conditions of the inhabitants". He died in 1879 as a result of developing diabetes. Shortly before his death his wife wrote to Richard Temple-Grenville, 3rd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos, an old friend, asking whether he had any knowledge of

insulin Insulin (, from Latin ''insula'', 'island') is a peptide hormone produced by beta cells of the pancreatic islets encoded in humans by the insulin (''INS)'' gene. It is the main Anabolism, anabolic hormone of the body. It regulates the metabol ...

which had recently been developed. Rammell is buried in an unmarked grave in

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. Contrary to popular belief, he did not die in

poverty Poverty is a state or condition in which an individual lacks the financial resources and essentials for a basic standard of living. Poverty can have diverse Biophysical environmen ...

Career highs

He might be called an "unsung hero" of railway history. He was responsible for the experimental pneumatic railway at Crystal Palace. The Crystal Palace atmospheric or pneumatic railway was built in 1864 at the lower end of the Crystal Palace Park, and was working for a matter of months. It ran for about 600 yards in a 10-ft diameter brick tunnel between the Sydenham and Penge gates to the Park. The tunnel had a gradient of one in 15 and the railway went round in a sharp curve. It had a coach which could seat 35, and a sliding door at each end. There was a remote steam engine coupled to a fan. The railway had a collar of bristles which made it airtight and enabled the coach to be sucked along - at a speed of probably 25 mph. The trip apparently cost sixpence. He was also involved with the abandoned Waterloo and Whitehall Railway under the Thames between Waterloo and Charing Cross railway stations.''Metropolitan Railways''. ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' newspaper, 28 January 1865 p12 column C. He wrote "A New Plan for Street Railways".

References

1879 deaths Year of birth missing {{UK-engineer-stub

Career highs

See also

References