Irish Education 1840 to 1860

[voyager1]

My greatgrandfather  James Francis Crawford probably of English parentage was educated in Wexford according to his entry in Canterbury NZ Biographies. When he arrived in approx 1860 to NZ he surveyed for railways and engineered bridges and water systems for towns. Where in Ireland is he likely to have had his engineering training. The biography says Barrow but I think there has been a spelling mistake and Bannow is the likely place for his early education. Any suggestions appreciated

[Elwyn Soutter]

I can’t comment on educational possibilities in Wexford but I shouldn’t exclude Barrow too quickly if he was an engineer. It was (and still is) a town built on shipbuilding, railways and heavy engineering. He could easily have trained there. There’s a bit of history on this site:

www.visitcumbria.com/sl/barrow-in-furness.htm

[voyager1]

Thank you.............Barrow is the river in Wexford and Barrow is in Cumbria too.I know from past experience that mistakes with spelling were made and Bannow could so easily be interpreted that way. I'm grasping at straws and by throwing it over to others appreciate the replies I get. I'm assuming it is a university course where in those days it was possibly not. Now have to find what engineering courses were there between those dates     Vicki

[Elwyn Soutter]

I agree with you that it may not have been a university level course. However if it was there were only 2 universities in Ireland at that time - Trinity in Dublin and Queens In Belfast. I know that Barrow is a navigable river in Wexford. There is still some commercial shipping on it to this day but I am not aware that any significant ship building/ engineering ever took place on it. There was a bit in Belfast (Harland & Wolff built the Titanic there, but otherwise Ireland didn't have much heavy engineering.

[shanew147]

The school in Bannow was formerly an agricultural collage run by a Mr. Hickey and taken over by the Rev. Newlands and set up a type of secondary school named  "...Bannow grammar school, for the preparation of young men for the Irish University..."  see :

   Parish of Bannow  (Samuel Lewis - Topographical Directory 1837)

So not a likely location for his engineering training. I believe the school was located in the townland of Kiltra to the west of the town of Carrick

links to two of the articles on James Crawford :

  Cyclopedia entry for James Crawford
 
  Obituary - James Crawford (Papers Past)
 
The first is a transcription of an older item and mentions "..born in Liverpool, and educated at Barrow, Wexford, Ireland.." It might be worth checking an original of this book to see if Barrow is a mistranscription .. or two separate places may have been mixed up (i.e. Barrow and Wexford)

The second article is from a newspaper of the time and makes no mention of Barrow or Bannow, just Wexford

The school of Engineering in Trinity was setup in 1841 and was one of the first Engineering Schools in the English speaking world.  See : http://www.tcd.ie/Engineering/


Shane

[voyager1]

Thanks Shanew147......I do have the  NZ items and the suggestion noted about the original of the Cyclopedia. The museum that would hold more info about his early beginnings was recently demolished(a victim of the earthquake) The main Canterbury Museum I have visited but do not know of the existence of the original of the Cyclopedia. As he was born in 1833 I have not had any luck with Liverpool baptisms and have searched most of the Anglican records in that city. I found Trinity most helpful but did not know of the existence of Belfast so will give that a go. He does not appear on census in Great Britain. I appreciate your help. No other family member is interested . I will follow up on the engineering email. Oh yes I found the history of Dr Newlands school too and thought that possible as my great grandfather was Anglican.cheers Vicki

[IMBER]

You say you have checked the census for "Great Britain". There is no "Great Britain" census so I wonder whether you have overlooked any possibilities?

[Pastmagic]

Long shot - You might consider contacting the irish Architectural Archive to see if they have anything on James, or how he might have been educated.

See: http://www.dia.ie/architects/search/crawford

which does not have him, but does have several Crawford engineers  who might possibly turn out to be related.

PM

[voyager1]

Thanks everyone for your help and support Vicki in New Zealand