My first year as general manager’s clerk was, I have always thought, the most important in my railway life.  Certainly in that year I learned much and acquired from my chief business habits which have stood me in good stead since.  Mr. Wainwright was a man of no ordinary nature, as all who knew him will admit.  He was a pattern of punctuality and promptitude, never spared himself in doing a thing well and expected the same thoroughness in others, though he would make allowance for want of capacity, but not for indolence or carelessness.  Straightforwardness, honesty and rectitude marked all he did.  His word was his bond.  His disposition was to trust those around him, and his generous confidence was usually justified.  High-minded and possessing a keen sense of honor himself, he had an instinctive aversion to anything mean or low in others.  A man of great liberality and generous to a fault he often found it hard to say no, but when obliged to adopt that attitude it was done with a tact and courtesy which left no sting.  In all business matters he required a rigid economy though never at the expense of efficiency.

Intellectually he stood high, as I had ample opportunity of judging, but if asked what were his most striking qualities I should say goodness and a charm of manner which eludes description, but irresistibly attracted all who met him.  In appearance he was tall and portly, and his bearing, carriage and presence were gentlemanly and refined.  He was of fair complexion, was possessed of a delightful smile, and had side whiskers (turning white) continued in the old-fashioned way under the chin, and yet he was so bright and debonair that he never looked old-fashioned.  Like myself he was a great lover of Dickens, and I think his most prized possession was a small bookcase which had belonged to Dickens’ study and which he purchased at the sale at Gad’s Hill.  His directors esteemed him highly, and the officers of the company were all sincerely attached to him.  In his room he held almost daily conferences.  Correspondence formed but a small part in his method of dealing with departments.  He believed in the value of viva voce discussion, and discouraged all unnecessary inter-departmental correspondence.  In this he was right I am sure.  The daily conferences were cheerful and pleasant, for he had the delightful faculty of “mixing business with pleasure and wisdom with mirth.”  I consider that I was singularly fortunate at this period of my life in finding myself placed in close and intimate association with such a man as Mr. Wainwright, in enjoying his confidence as I did, and in being afforded the opportunity of benefiting by his kind precepts and fine example.

[W.  J. Wainwright:  wainwright.jpg]