Sir Thomas Tancred.
Sir Thomas Telby Tancred, the eighth baronet of his line, was brought up in the office of the well-known engineer, the late George Willoughby Hemans. He left England in 1865, shortly after the term of his pupilage had expired, and obtained a position in the Public Works Department of New Zealand. After a time he abandoned the profession in favour of sheep farming, in which pursuit he distinguished himself, becoming a famous breeder, and receiving many medals at different exhibitions. In 1876 Sir Thomas Tancred returned to England, and became associated with Mr. Falkiner as consulting engineer for the New Zealand Government, the business being carried on under the title of Messrs. Hemans, Falkiner, and Tancred, and under that of Falkiner and Tancred, as contractors for public works. The partnership was dissolved in 1886, and afterwards Sir Thomas carried out large contracts in Asia Minor, besides completing the Delagoa Bay railways, a work that was very rapidly executed under his own supervision. He is at present engaged in constructing a railway across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, over nearly the same route as that located by the late Captain James B. Eads for his proposed ship railway. Sir Thomas Tancred became an associate member of the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1868, and like Mr. Falkiner has practised as an engineer, besides having been a contractor on a large scale for public works.