John Gunson, engineer. Source: Picture Sheffield.
John Gunson was born in Hunslet, Leeds, married Charlotte Simpson in 1831 and joined the Sheffield Waterworks Company in the same year. The couple had three sons and a daughter and at the time of the Flood Gunson, aged 54, was living on Division Street at its junction with Carver Lane, next door to the Company’s Offices. When a Government Inspector was sent from London to make a thorough investigation into the cause of the Flood, Gunson appeared before him as the Resident Engineer of the Waterworks Company and responsible for the construction of the Dale Dyke reservoir. Gunson was a devoted and conscientious worker and had supervised the building of other dams in the area. Even late in his life, when his health deteriorated and he was unable to go to his office, he worked from home and colleagues continued to seek his advice due to his vast knowledge of the Company’s affairs.
He was the one who came under most criticism from the Government Inspector, but the Waterworks Company stood by him, and he remained in their employment for the rest of his life. He was never to forget that horrific night on the moors above Bradfield or the sight of the destruction and plight of those who suffered.
John Gunson died at his home at Clarkson Street on 10 October 1886, having worked for the Company for 55 years. For 22 of those years, Gunson, a person of a ‘singularly retiring disposition’ had carried with him the massive memory of the collapse of the Dale Dyke Dam. ‘The perils of that night and the terrible results of the catastrophe, were ever vividly remembered by him’ according to the Sheffield Telegraph of 12 October 1886. He was buried in H 146 in the Nonconformist area of the Cemetery.
You can read more about the Great Sheffield Flood in the Sheffield General Cemetery Trust’s publication Drowned Voices and follow the self-guided trail Drowned Voices – Stories of The Great Sheffield Flood