Henry Horniblow
HORNIBLOW, Henry, (1841-1910)
HORNIBLOW, HENRY, engineer and railwayman, was born on 5 April 1841 at Bransford, Worcestershire, England, the son of Job Freeman Hornblow (described as a miller) and Mary Ann Parry. At the age of fourteen he was apprenticed as a fitter to the London and North Western Railway at the Wolverton Works. He completed his indenture in five years, serving six months in the drawing office, nine months in the machine shop and the remainder of the time in the erecting shops, partly on repairs but mainly on new work. On completion of his indenture he worked for two years as a journeyman and two years as a draughtsman.
Hornblow gave up that position to accept an appointment in Queensland arranged through Sir Charles Fox, consultant to the Queensland Railways. He was engaged in London in June 1864 to go to Queensland as foreman in charge of tools, but on arrival at Ipswich in November 1864 he found that too many foremen had been engaged for the work in hand; rather than return to England he accepted work as a journeyman. After three years he was appointed locomotive foreman in Toowoomba and held that position until the end of 1875 when he was transferred to Ipswich as Locomotive Foreman of the much bigger shops there. He held that position until appointed Locomotive Superintendent, Southern and Western Division, in 1876. In 1871 he visited railway workshops in Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Tasmania on behalf of his employers and in 1879 when g1v1ng evidence before a select committee enquiring into the operation of the Ipswich workshops, he stressed the need for enlarged and better-equipped facilities to cope with the work-load involved in maintaining efficient operation of the railway system.
In 1883 Horniblow was appointed Locomotive Engineer with responsibility for general supervision over all district offices throughout Queensland. This involved his transfer from Ipswich to Brisbane where his duties included advising the Department on requirements for new locomotives and rolling stock, the preparation of drawings and specifications and the letting of contracts for their construction. At first all locomotives were imported from England or America but in 1887 the first specification was issued for locally built locomotives and a contract was let to the Phoenix Engineering Co. of Ipswich for constructing fifteen units. Horniblow was the engineer responsible for this change in policy.
In 1899 Horniblow gave extensive evidence before a court of enquiry into two boiler explosions in railway locomotives. In answers to questions he stated that he was not satisfied with the condition and equipment of the existing workshops for handling the demands of increasing traffic but that ground-plans had been prepared for improvements which were already being put into effect. Later in the year he was made Assistant Chief Mechanical Engineer but in 1900 he was granted leave of absence to make a private tour of England and the continents of Europe and America to study the administration of railway mechanical departments. On his return he resumed his service as Deputy Chief Mechanical Engineer but when that position was discontinued in 1904 Horniblow reverted to his former position of Locomotive Engineer and held that office until his death.
Wherever he was stationed Horniblow took an active part in community affairs. In Toowoomba he was one of three responsible for the establishment of the successful Railway Friendly Society and he occupied the position of Superintendent of the Fire Brigade. In Ipswich he was a member of the Fire Brigade and was also appointed by the Government to the State Schools Committee of North Ipswich; in 1892 he became President of the Queensland Institute of Mechanical Engineers. For his personal qualities he was always highly esteemed by his staff and his many friends inside and outside the railway service.
In 1866 he married Jenneth Spinks at Ipswich and had a family of eight, of whom five survived to adulthood; he died in Brisbane on 4 February 1910.
References:
Eminent Queensland Engineers Vol 1 is available here.
V&P (LA Qld), 1879 (2nd Sass.), Vol. 2, p. 535, 1899 (1st Sass.), p. 627;
Qld Govt Blue Books; Qld Govt Gazettes to 1910; Brisbane Courier, 7 February 1910;
Information ·from Mr J.F. Jeffcoat, Qid Rallways and Mr G.E. Bond, Aust. Rlwys Hist. Soc. (Qld Branch).
