On Monday evening a deputation from the engine drivers and firemen
waited upon Mrs. Kirtley to present an address of condolence to that
lady, and to testify their high regard and warm affection for the memory
of the late Mr. Kirtley, who was Locomotive Superintendent of the
Midland Railway for many years.
Mrs. Kirtley and the Misses Kirtley received the deputation--Mr. William
Blake, Mr. John Taylor, and Mr. John Chambers, all of whom have been
engine drivers for many years under Mr. Kirtley's direction.
Mr. BLAKE, in making the presentation, expressed the great esteem felt
by the drivers and firemen for the memory of their late chief. He
said--We come to assure you Mrs. Kirtley, that others share a portion,
small though in comparison, of the great sorrow and irreparable loss
which has befallen you; we come to express our deepest sympathy for you
and with you in this dire bereavement; we come to say that while you
feel you have lost a loved and loving husband, we feel that we have been
bereft of one who has been a guide and a father to us all. Such was our
confidence in the late Mr. Kirtley that we could trust our lives in his
hands, for we know our interests were very near to his heart.
Mrs. KIRTLEY, in a few touching words, accepted the beautiful
illuminated volume from Mr. Blake. She expressed her gratification in
receiving it, and intimated that one of her greatest comforts was the
respect and love which they showed to the memory of her departed
husband. They said they looked up to Mr. Kirtley as a father, and she
could assure them that he always looked upon the drivers and firemen as
his children, to be guided, to be cared for, to be protected. Mr.
Kirtley always had a keen sense of the jeopardy in which every one of
them placed their lives, and considered that the hazardous nature of
their duties demanded from him special attention to their well-being.
[The address is written on vellum, and bound up in the form of a book,
the binding being of dark coloured morocco leather with antique corners
and clasps, on which the crest and monogram of Mr. Kirtley are engraved.
The first opening has a portrait of the deceased gentleman, together
with his armorial bearings, crest and motto. These are palce in an
elegant border of yew and forget-me-nots, and a medallion, on which is
figured a locomotive, is placed below the portrait. Each of the other
pages in the book have borders of conventional flowers with miniatures
of the front of the Railway Station, the Grange, Litchurch, and various
offices over which Mr. Kirtley had the control. The whole of the work
has a sombre character, and each border contains a sprig of yew to
carry out the same idea and suggesting the mournful event from which it
arose.
The address was illuminated and bound by Messrs. Bemrose and Sons, and
is one of their most successful works of this character. Messrs. Bemrose
and Sons also lithographed several hundred copies of the address, and
embellished them with a photograph of the late Mr. Kirtley. These have
been supplied to the drivers and firemen at one shilling each.
The Derby Mercury, Wednesday, Nov 12, 1873; Issue 8312