2-914-025 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Messrs. Peto, Brassey, and Betts' Office, Waterloo-Road, 1854. After the British government requests a Civil Engineering Corps to build the Grand Crimean Central Railway, the London offices of Peto, Brassey and Betts are '..besieged by masses of fine stalwart men, eager to be engaged for that service, in the capacity of navvies, masons, carpenters, blacksmiths, plate-layers, and engine-drivers; and also as gaugers, time keepers, and foremen...Those engaged quit England in steamers from Liverpool, Sunderland, and Southampton...Most of the workmen have been employed, under Mr. Beatty, on the Canadian railroads, and are, consequently, well acclimatised for a Crimean winter. They are not pensioned in case of wounds, but they are very highly remunerated - a labourer obtaining five shillings per day and soldier's rations, and his passage paid...The engagement is for six months'. From "Illustrated London News", 1854.