Gentlemen Engineers : The Careers of Frank and Walter Shanly

The engaging story of the 19th-century working lives of Frank and Walter Shanly, two Canadian civil engineers and businessmen who worked on many of the significant projects of the age. An important study of the professionalization of civil engineering. "Gentlemen Engineers tells the engaging story of the working lives of Frank and Walter Shanly, two well-connected nineteenth-century Canadian civil engineers and businessmen who worked on many of the significant projects of the age. Drawing on rich documentary sources, Richard White reveals details of their work, not just in the office and in the field, but in their homes and private studies as well." "The most striking discovery White makes is that when the brothers entered the civil engineering profession in the 1840s, it was already an established profession with a fairly high social status. The Shanlys were from an old Irish gentry family, but found the profession quite compatible with their social position and gentry culture. The author thoroughly explores the connection between the Shanlys as engineers and as gentlemen." "White finds another unexpected theme in the Shanlys' lives. In much of the recent social history of business, studies of elite nineteenth-century businessmen have tended to concentrate on how these men acquired, consolidated, and transmitted power and status over generations. But the careers of Frank and Walter Shanly were, in fact, full of hard work, struggle, and disappointment." "This study is an important contribution to our understanding of the professionalization of civil engineering, and to the modernization of business practices in nineteenth-century Canada."--Résumé de l'éditeur "Gentlemen Engineers tells the engaging story of the working lives of Frank and Walter Shanly, two well-connected nineteenth-century Canadian civil engineers and businessmen who worked on many of the significant projects of the age. Drawing on rich documentary sources, Richard White reveals details of their work, not just in the office and in the field, but in their homes and private studies as well." "The most striking discovery White makes is that when the brothers entered the civil engineering profession in the 1840s, it was already an established profession with a fairly high social status. The Shanlys were from an old Irish gentry family, but found the profession quite compatible with their social position and gentry culture. The author thoroughly explores the connection between the Shanlys as engineers and as gentlemen." "White finds another unexpected theme in the Shanlys' lives. In much of the recent social history of business, studies of elite nineteenth-century businessmen have tended to concentrate on how these men acquired, consolidated, and transmitted power and status over generations. But the careers of Frank and Walter Shanly were, in fact, full of hard work, struggle, and disappointment." "This study is an important contribution to our understanding of the professionalization of civil engineering, and to the modernization of business practices in nineteenth-century Canada."--Jacket

Gentlemen Engineers tells the engaging story of the working lives of Frank and Walter Shanly, two well-connected nineteenth-century Canadian civil engineers and businessmen who worked on many of the significant projects of the age. Drawing on rich documentary sources, Richard White reveals details of their work, not just in the office and field, but in their homes and private studies as well.

The most striking discovery White makes is that the civil engineering profession these brothers entered in the 1840s was already an established profession with fairly high social status. The Shanlys were from an old Irish gentry family, but found the profession quite compatible with their social position and gentry culture. The author thoroughly explores the connection between the Shanlys' as engineers and gentlemen.

White finds another unexpected theme in their lives. In much of the recent social history of business, studies of elite nineteenth-century businessmen have tended to concentrate on power and status: how these men acquired, consolidated, and transmitted it over generations. But the careers of Frank and Walter Shanly were, in fact, full of hard work, struggle, and disappointment.

This study is an important contribution to our understanding of civil engineering professionalization, and to the modernization of business practices in nineteenth-century Canada.

Contents 7 PREFACE 9 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 15 MAPS 17 Part One 23 1. The Shanly Boys Leave Home 23 2. Learning on the Job 48 3. A Rough Ride on the Grand Trunk Railway 82 Part Two 123 4. Boldness and Weakness: Frank Shanly, 1855–1882 123 5. Honour and Pride: Walter Shanly, 1855–1899 160 Part Three 201 6. Gentlemen Engineers 201 NOTES 215 BIBLIOGRAPHY 257 PICTURE CREDITS 275 INDEX 277