apprenticed to mechanical
engineering at the works of Messrs. Fairbairn, and from half-past eight
in the morning till six at night had, as he says, 'to file and chip
vigorously, in a moleskin suit, and infernally dirty.' At home he
pursued his studies, and was for a time engaged with Dr. Bell in
working out a geometrical method of arriving at the proportions of Greek
architecture. His stay amidst the smoke and bustle of Manchester, though
in striking contrast to his life in Genoa, was on the whole agreeable.
He liked his work, had the good spirits of youth, and made some pleasant
friends, one of them the authoress, Mrs. Gaskell. Even as a boy he was
disputatious, and his mother tells of his having overcome a Consul at
Genoa in a political discussion when he was only sixteen, 'simply from
being well-informed on the subject, and honest. He is as true as steel,'
she writes, 'and for no one will he bend right or left... Do not fancy
him a Bobadil; he is only a very true, candid boy. I am so glad he
remains in all respects but information a great child.'

On leaving Fairbairn's he was engaged for a time on a survey for the
proposed Lukmanier Railway, in Switzerland, and in 1856 he entered the
engineering works of Mr. Penn, at Greenwich, as a draughtsman, and was
occupied on the plans of a vessel designed for the Crimean war. He did
not care for his berth, and complained of its late hours, his rough
comrades, with whom he had to be 'as little like himself as possible,'
and his humble lodgings, 'across a dirty green and through some
half-built streets of two-storied houses.... Luckily,' he adds, 'I
am fond of my profession, or I could not stand this life.' There was
probably no real hardship in his present situation, and thousands of
young engineers go through the like experience at the outset of their
career without a murmur,' and even with enjoyment; but Jenkin had
been his mother's pet until then, with a girl's delicate training, and
probably felt the change from home more keenly on that account. At
night he read engineering and mathematics, or Carlyle and the poets, and
cheered his drooping spirits with frequent trips to London to see his
mother.

Another social pleasure was his visits to the house of Mr. Alfred
Austin, a barrister, who became permanent secretary to Her Majesty's
Office of Works and Public Buildings, and retired in 1868 with the title
of C.B. His wife, Eliza Barron, was the youngest daughter of Mr.
E. Ba