Sir William Stanier

Sir William Stanier has had many books written about his locomotives plus two previous biographical accounts of his engineering career in the railway sphere. This new biography has become possible largely by the unearthing of material previously unused, which has enabled the author to include many personal anecdotes of an illustrious career and the associated family life. This has permitted a deeper insight into his dealings with his many professional and civic responsibilities and with those-close to him, both at work and at home. The unique feature which enabled some personal quotes of Sir William to be used in the 21st century was the receipt of a tape-recording, made in 1962, of an interview with HAV Bulleid. Without all this, some of Stanier's dealings with specific matters could not have been covered in such detail. Also, much of Sir William's comparatively rare writings have been unearthed which indicate how strong the impact of Churchward's forward thinking was in his design approach.