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Who Was Edward Garlick? EDWARD GARLICK M.I.C.E. - ENGINEER

Who Was Edward Garlick?

The question arose on a local history Facebook group called 'Preston History'.  It had come from another local Facebook group (the Preston Past and Present group).  It was asking about a commemorative plaque on Winckley Square that noted Edward Garlick, who was a former resident of number 21.

I wasn't aware of the plaque, but had come across him on the Foundation Stone of Preston Dock, which I had photographed in April this year (2024).  A number of members posted various pieces of information that they knew about him, or had found online.  Here are a few things that I had discovered along the way.

EDWARD GARLICK M.I.C.E. an ENGINEER


EDWARD GARLICK M.I.C.E. an ENGINEER
EDWARD GARLICK M.I.C.E. an ENGINEER

(M.I.C.E. - Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers)


The best summary comes from his Obituary, which was taken from a publication by ICE (the Institution of Civil Engineers).


EDWARD GARLICK, born in 1822, served his engineering apprenticeship to Mr. Philip Park, of Preston. His first important engagement was that of Resident Engineer on the Fleetwood, Preston and West Riding Junction Railway, which post he held for three years, being responsible during that time for the construction of the tunnel under the town of Preston. He then acted for two years as an assistant to Mr. Park, and in 1851 joined the firm of Park, Son and Garlick, and carried on business in Preston. 

    Among the works executed by Mr. Garlick may be mentioned the Sea Wall, Carriage Drive and Promenade at Blackpool, and the construction of many miles of embankment on the Lancashire coast. As Engineer to the Ribble Navigation Company he constructed the old quays and river training-walls, and reclaimed from the sea several hundred acres of land. He was appointed Engineer to the Ribble Navigation after the Corporation purchased the undertaking, and he subsequently designed the present dock, tidal basin and river diversion, and the dredging plant, but owing to ill-health he was compelled to relinquish the work and to retire from business for a time. 

    Mr. Garlick was for many years Engineer and Stoward to the Corporation of Preston, in which capacity he carried out many town improvements, including the cattle markets and the large covered market, as well as various works for the water-supply of Preston. In 1868, a very dry season, the storage in the reservoirs was all but exhausted. To meet this emergency, &Jr. Garlick erected two engines which pumped water out of the Hodder, the only available supply, the water being conveyed down an aqueduct 7 miles long, with little fall and one incline, the entire work being completed in a few days.

    Mr. Garlick constructed many waterworks reservoirs, and at the time of his death, which took place at Preston on the 13th January, 1900, was Engineer to the Fylde Waterworks. For many years he was frequently engaged as a witness in arbitration cases and before Parliamentary Committees. 

    He was elected a Member of the Institution on the 8th January, 1861.


Obituary, taken from an Institution of Civil Engineers publication.



Obituary, taken from an Institution of Civil Engineers publication.

Obituary, taken from an Institution of Civil Engineers publication.


One thing that it doesn't mention here is that he was Mayor of Preston in 1882 - 1883.  Garlick’s involvement in the public life of the town culminated in his election as mayor in 1882.  His old partner, Philip Park, had similarly been elected mayor twenty years earlier.


Preston Docks

His role in the creation of a Dock at Preston is arguably the endeavour, which he was heavily involved in, that has had the most lasting effect on the landscape of Preston. The dock opened in 1892. At the time, it was the largest single dock in Europe. The basin was named after Queen Victoria's first son, Albert Edward the Prince of Wales, who laid the dock foundation stone in 1885. This foundation stone notes the following:

EDWARD GARLICK M.I.C.E. ENGINEER

(M.I.C.E. = Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers)


Preston Dock opened in 1892. The foundation stone was laid in 1885.
Preston Dock opened in 1892. The foundation stone was laid in 1885.



The Albert Edward Basin

The Albert Edward Basin is 3,000 feet (910 metres) long by 600 feet (180 metres) wide. It covers an area of around 42 acres (17 Hectares). It provided over 1.8 km (1.1 miles) of quayside for loading and unloading vessels.


Edward Garlick's Proposed Plan for Preston Docks 1884
Edward Garlick's Proposed Plan for Preston Docks 1884



On its opening in 1892 it was the largest single dock, largest inland dock and largest enclosed dock in Europe.


Edward Garlick's Resignation

On 23rd July 1887, the Preston Guardian reported the resignation of Edward Garlick as chief engineer for the construction of Preston Dock.  His health was breaking down, and he had presented his last report a month earlier.  His junior partner, Benjamin Sykes, replaced him.

In 1861, he had been the first to propose building a Preston Dock, a more ambitious undertaking than had previously been considered by the Ribble Navigation Company, which was by then more concerned with selling as farm land the thousands of acres it had reclaimed on either side of the river.

Four years later the company had come round to Garlick’s way of thinking, urged on by a group of local councillors, and he drew up plans for a dock. Garlick proposed converting the Ribble from Fishergate to Ashton into a 31-acre dock, with the river itself diverted to the south. 

Garlick was the company’s engineer for more than thirty years, and before that for ten years he was the pupil, then assistant and finally partner of the company’s first engineer, Philip Park.

His involvement with the development of Preston extended beyond the Ribble works.  From his office in Winckley Square he and his partners were responsible for designing a number of buildings in the town, including the Conservative Club in Guildhall Street, the old Preston Gas Company’s offices on Fishergate and the old Harris Orphanage on Garstang Road.

A few years later, he began to come in for criticism for his handling of the dock scheme, although James Barron, the historian of the Ribble Navigation and himself the Preston Dock engineer from 1901 to 1933, rejected attacks on Garlick’s good faith:

‘Reckless mis-statements were the rule at this time … and little credence need be placed on the whispered confidences of those who revelled in a pretended knowledge of underhand dealing. The fact appears to be that there was not a vestige of truth in these tales.’

Garlick’s pay for the work on the scheme came in the form of a percentage of the cost of the undertaking, and it was probably this that led critics to suggest this was an inducement for him to propose a more ambitious scheme than made financial sense.

But his supporters won the day, carried away by prospect of enormous profits, as Barron commented:

‘Ribble enthusiasts held and disseminated fantastic visions of the marvellous revolution that was to take place in the town of Preston by the making of the new dock and channel to Lytham. Similar hopes were entertained by a great majority of the ratepayers who lost their sense of proportion, and made it so uncomfortable for those who did not share their views, that opponents dare not voice their opinions.

‘The Ribble scheme was to bring untold prosperity to all classes, and opponents were treated with derision. Some ratepayers even believed that not only would the Ribble support itself but would bring in such a revenue as would pay all the rates of the town and more.’


Town Hall and Covered Market Committee

In 1860, The Corporation formed a 'Town Hall and Covered Market Committee', which went on to obtain financing through the Preston Corporation Markets Act of 1861 and the Preston Improvement Act 1869.

After difficult negotiations between the Corporation and the Earl of Derby, who was the principal landowner at that time, it was decided that Edward Garlick, the Borough Treasurer and Surveyor would prepare a market plan and proposal to the council. Garlick started his research and visited several different counties to inspect their markets. At this time, Preston Town Centre was described as inaccessible and "choked by blocks of buildings". The market design was expected to open it up "for complete and broad approaches from every side". Ultimately, his plan was approved and put out to tender in 1870.

Unfortunately, the construction was thwarted by a collapse of the canopy.  On the morning of Saturday, 6th August 1870 with 31 of the 32 pillars in place, there were ten men working busily on the canopy roof when it suddenly collapsed in on itself. One man named Thomas Bateson, of 6 Wells Street, was seriously injured and taken to the Royal Infirmary, which had only opened that year. Fortunately he made a full recovery.

This structural failure began a protracted discussion about the reason for the collapse with controversy reaching even the national trade press. Rumours that the contractor, Joseph Clayton owner of a foundry in Greenbank Street, thought Garlick's design was 'over engineered', which led to people accusing him of cutting corners.


Former Preston Conservative Club

It is also interesting to note that the design of the former Preston Conservative Club that is on Guildhall Street is credited to the firm of Garlick, Park & Sykes, of which Edward Garlick was a partner.


Edward Garlick & his partners designed the Conservative Club on Guildhall Street
Garlick & his partners designed the Conservative Club on Guildhall Street


Birth Date and Place

I cannot currently find any information to pinpoint Edward Garlick's exact date of birth or birthplace. All I know is that he was born in 1822. Speculation, on my part, makes me wonder if an Edward Garlick that was baptised on 25th February 1823 at St Michael, Kirkham, Lancashire could be him. If so, that would suggest that he was perhaps born in Greenhalgh.

Baptism: 25 Feb 1823 St Michael, Kirkham, Lancashire

Edward Garlick - [Child] of George Garlick, Yeoman & Betty

Abode: Greenhalgh

Baptised By: Revd. J. Fox

Register: Baptisms 1821 - 1824, Entry 2245

Source: LDS Film 1502434


Lancashire Online Parish Clerks:

https://www.lan-opc.org.uk/Kirkham/stmichael/baptisms_1821-1824.html


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The Winckley Square Connection

Last, but not least, the investigation started at the plaque of Edward Garlick on Winckley Square. Historic England currently have the following details about number 21 Winckley Square, which is a Listed Building, on the National Heritage List for England (NHLE).

The plaque of Edward Garlick on Winckley Square
The plaque of Edward Garlick on Winckley Square


History: Number 21 formed by addition (and presumably internal subdivision), for Edward Garlick.  Who was a partner in Garlick, Park and Sykes.  They were surveyors and architects, among other things, of Preston Dock and Blackpool Promenade.


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Further reading, viewing and sources of information


IEngineer_CAH - Edward Garlick heritage plaque featured in Preston's Winckley Sq. regen.

He was town's Mayor, built Albert Edward dock & Market Canopies

https://x.com/IEngineer_CAH/status/823230581014142977

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Past Mayors of Preston from 1800 to 1899 (Preston City Council)

https://www.preston.gov.uk/article/2669/Past-Mayors-from-1800-1899

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Edward Garlick, M. Inst. C.E. (1821-1900) from the Preston Digital Archive

https://www.flickr.com/photos/rpsmithbarney/5386351024

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Edward Garlick in the Preston Digital Archive

https://www.flickr.com/search/?user_id=22711538%40N07&view_all=1&text=%22Edward+Garlick%22

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Preston Markets - then and now

https://www.prestonmarkets.co.uk/article/5179/Preston-Markets-then-and-now

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EDWARD GARLICK OBITUARY

1900 Institution of Civil Engineers Obituaries

https://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/doi/abs/10.1680/imotp.1900.18797

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The Harris | Explore the Photography Collection

Photograph of Alderman Edward Garlick by Alfred Beattie

https://www.theharris.org.uk/collections/photographs/

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Barron’s History of the Ribble Navigation

https://prestonhistory.com/preston-history-library/barrons-ribble-navigation-history/

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Hewitson’s History of Preston

https://prestonhistory.com/preston-history-library/hewitsons-history-of-preston/

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Historic England National Heritage List for England (NHLE)

FORMER PRESTON CONSERVATIVE CLUB, GUILDHALL STREET

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1207292

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Historic England National Heritage List for England (NHLE)

20,21, WINCKLEY SQUARE

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1219266



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Labels:
Location: 21 Winckley Square, Preston PR1 3LB, UK

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