At the time of the 1861 England Census Richard B Bristed, age 4, born in Old Tower Without, Middlesex, was with his parents at 19 George Street, Old Tower Without, Middlesex.
In the 1939 Register Richard B Bristed (b. 8 Jul 1856), civil engineer, retired, major, and wife Constance (b 30 May 1859), home maker, were in Red Roofs, Frinton and Walton, Essex. At the same address were [their daughter] Phyllis Barry, unpaid domestic duties, her husband Ian Barry (b. 16 Sep 1875), 2nd general marine engineer, and their son Claude Barry (b. 20 Nov 1920), student.
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Biography (can be read in full here). 4
Richard Bristed received his general education at Christ's Hospital in London from 1864 to 1876. He then completed a course in scientific engineering at King's College, London from 1876 to 1877. Following his studies at King's College he emigrated to New Zealand where he worked a period of pupilage with two firms; Dennison & Grant Civil Engineers in Oamaru, a town on the east coast of the south island of New Zealand located to the south of Christchurch, from 1878 to 1885 and Edward Dobson, M.I.C.E. in Christchurch from 1885 to 1886....
His work with Edward Dobson from 1885 to 1886 involved the survey of the Midland Railway of New Zealand. In 1886 he married Constance Robinson (born in 1859), a young lady from Liverpool who also was living in New Zealand.
During the year 1886 Bristed left the employ of Edward Dobson and went into private practice as a civil engineer where he mainly worked on roads and bridges throughout New Zealand. He continued in his private practice until 1889 when he took a position with the New Zealand Government Engineering Staff as the District Engineer in North Island. His work entailed surveying, opening up roads in new forest country and the subdivision of land into blocks for settlement. In 1888 he had become a Member of the New Zealand Institute of Surveyors.
In 1890 the Bristeds were living on Hawkestone Terrace in Wellington and 1891 he was living in Napier, Hawkes Bay, a town on the east coast of New Zealand located to the north of Wellington. It would appear that his work as a government engineer and surveyor kept him and wife moving around New Zealand quite frequently. By 1891 they were back in Wellington where their first child, Geoffrey Thornborrow Bristed was born in the 16th of January 1891. The Bristeds were residing on Hawkestone Street at the time.
The Bristeds had two additional children while they were living in New Zealand; Phyllis, who was born in 1893 and Joan who was born in 1895. In 1896 he terminated his employment with the New Zealand Government Engineering Staff. His wife and children left New Zealand in 1896. They sailed from Lyttleton on board the SS "Gothic" and arrived in London in August.
During 1896 he applied to become an Associate Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers (I.C.E.) located at Great George Street, Westminster, London S.W. His application for membership in the I.C.E. was prepared on the 16th of July 1896 and was considered by the I.C.E. Council for the first time on the 9th of February 1897. It should be noted that most of the information regarding Bristed's work while in New Zealand was taken from his I.C.E. application form. He was elected an Associate Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers (A.M.I.C.E.) in 1897. Bristed signed agreeing to abide by the Royal Charter of the Institution on the 17th of February 1897. He was residing at that time in Marton, New Zealand.
Bristed left New Zealand in 1897 and took a position with Sir W. Shelford & Son in Lagos, Nigeria. He worked there under Mr. William Gee, Resident Engineer on the Lagos Government Railway until 1898 when he moved to the Gold Coast. On the Gold Coast he worked as a District Engineer under Mr. J.G. Napier, the Resident Engineer for the Gold Coast Government Railway until 1900. His subsequent assignment, starting in 1900, was as the District Engineer in charge of Headquarters in Sekondi, Gold Coast where he worked on the construction of workshops, buildings and the Sekondi Pier. His immediate supervisor at Sekondi was Mr. William Bradford, the Resident Engineer.
Richard Bristed seemed to have developed an attachment to Africa much like he had to New Zealand. Following his work on the Gold Coast Government Railway he was employed by the Royal Engineers from 1902 to 1903 on the geodetic survey of the Gold Coast under the command of Major Watherston, R.E. A rigorous survey of the Gold Coast Colony was rendered necessary in 1901 on account of the large number of gold mining concessions taken up by companies. These concessions were for the most part indifferently demarcated by private surveyors, a great deal of overlapping of boundaries occurred, and a considerable amount of litigation ensued. In the middle of 1901 Major Watherston brought out a small party of Royal Engineer officers, non-commissioned officers and sappers and laid down several long traverse lines on which to base the survey of the concessions and cut one or two concession boundaries in order to obtain a basis on which to determine fair survey fees for boundary cutting. In October 1902 a large party of Royal Engineer officers and men and Queensland and New Zealand surveyors landed at Sekondi to undertake the survey of the concessions under Major Watherston, the Director of Surveys. During the three seasons 1902-3, 1903-4 and 1904-5 upwards of 300 concessions were cut and the country covered with a network of long traverses. Richard Bristed performed survey duties during the first of these seasons.
From 1903 to 1904 Bristed worked on the alignment and construction of the Prestea Railroad on the Gold Coast for Tarbutt & Company. Prestea is a town in the southwest portion of the Gold Coast about 50 kilometers north of the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. It lies on the west bank of the Ankobra River, about 60 miles northwest of Cape coast.
From 1905 to 1908 he worked on the Benguella Railway in Angola in charge of the alignment and later the construction of the railway under Mr. H.C. Colvin-Smith, the Resident Engineer. Benguela is a city in western Angola, south of Luanda, and capital of Benguela Province. It lies on a bay of the same name.
Later in 1908 Bristed left Africa for South America. He went to Rosario, Argentina where he worked on the preliminary design of a railroad line that had yet to be financed. Rosario is the largest city in the province of Santa Fe, in central Argentina. It is located 300 kilometers northwest of Buenos Aires, on the western shore of the Paraná River. In June of 1909 he changed jobs to work on the Arica to La Paz Railway for Sir John Jackson (Chile) Limited. This work consisted of the relocation of a railway line through difficult terrain between Arica and the Bolivian border. The improved line shortened the distance of the existing railway by 11 kilometers, thereby reducing the cost of construction. While on this project Bristed worked for Mr. H.C. Wynne Edwards, the Resident Engineer. Bristed was engaged on this project until June of 1910.
Beginning in June of 1910 Bristed worked on the southeast section of the Longitudinal Railway of Chile from Cabildo to Capiapó, a distance of 619 kilometers. This work was undertaken for a joint venture between Griffiths & Company Contractors Limited of London and Régie Génèrale de Ch. De Fer & Travaux Publics of Paris. For this project Bristed acted as Agent and Chief Engineer. The work involved the construction of a difficult railway line through mountainous terrain over about 200 kilometers. The project included the construction of four tunnels the lengths of which totaled 4,651 meters. Seven ports were utilized for landing of materials necessary to construct the railway. The railway was a narrow gauge road consisting of one-meter track. Various bridges also were constructed on the line. The total cost of the work was approximately £4,000,000. Bristed left the project in February of 1913 with about 6 months worth of work still to be done to complete the railway line.
On the 21st of May 1913 while he was still employed on the Longitudinal Railway of Chile, Richard Bristed applied to the Institution of Civil Engineers to transfer his standing in that organization from Associate Member to Member. His application was read by the I.C.E. Council for the first time on the 18th of November 1913 and was passed by the Council on the 9th of December 1913. Bristed signed agreeing to abide by the Royal Charter of the Institution on the 20th of March 1914.
Prior to the Great War of 1914-1918 Richard Bristed returned to England. He departed from Buenos Aires, Argentina aboard the Hamburg South American Line ship SS "Blucher" and arrived in Southampton on the 2nd of December
1913. Upon his arrival in England his took up residence at 59A London Wall, London E.C., presumably with the rest of his family. This address is located near Finsbury Circle to the northeast of St. Paul's Cathedral.
Bristed was 57 years old when the Great War broke out in August of 1914. A year after the start of the war he offered his services to the War Office and, because of his age and experience as a civil engineer, he received a commission as a Captain in the Royal Engineers on the 21st of August 1915. Immediately upon commissioning he was assigned to the 2nd Labour Battalion, Royal Engineers and proceeded to France.
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BRISTED.—On Oct. 6, 1947, at St. Leonards-on-Sea, RICHARD BOWER BRISTED, O.B.E. (Mil.), M. Inst. C.E., aged 91. 5
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Richard Bower Bristed of 9 St. Matthews-gardens St. Leonards-on-Sea died 6 October 1947. Probate London 21 November to Phyllis Barry, widow. Effects £462 1s. 7d. 6
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