Henry Orlando Bridgeman

Henry Orlando Bridgeman was born on 26 January 1825 to a well-connected Shropshire family; his cousin, the Earl of Bradford, was MP for Shropshire South, a government minister, and Lord Lieutenant of the county. He entered a career in civil engineering, working on the Syston & Peterborough Railway, and in 1848 was first employed by John Fowler as Resident Engineer on the Lincoln branch of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway. Presumably it was his relationship with FowlerHenry Fowler, Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the Midland Railway 1909-1923, and of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway 1923-1933, rather than his local connections, which led to his employment by FowlerHenry Fowler, Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the Midland Railway 1909-1923, and of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway 1923-1933 as Resident Engineer on the Severn Valley Railway. He died in 1879.

In his capacity as Resident Engineer, Bridgeman was responsible for day-to-day construction work on the line. He also laid the foundation stone of Victoria Bridge, in a ceremony held on 24 November 1859.