Excerpt:
Thomas Bouch was born on 25th February 1822 in Thursby, Cumberland. He was educated at the village school, although his academic interest is said only to have been stirred by a lesson about moving water uphill. Thomas went on to spend three years as a boarder at the Academy School in Carlisle but the death of his father in 1838 led him to take up an apprenticeship with a firm of mechanical engineers based in Liverpool. Thomas quickly found the position unsuitable and returned to Thursby where he started a job as an assistant to George Larmer, a railway surveyor.
Annotation:
Biography from the BBC's Forensic Engineering.