[2] In 1851, Robert had a steam powered flour and grist mill built in Chepstow, between the gas works and the railway embankment.

[2][3] On 8 February 1860, Robert Sharpe & Sons (a partnership between Robert and his two sons Paul Wallace and William John) signed a contract with the San Paulo Railway Company, to build a line between Santos and Jundiahy, via São Paulo, for the agreed sum of £1,745,000.

[2] Robert Sharpe died on 25 July 1868 at Addlestone, Chertsey, Surrey, aged sixty four.

Lord Romilly and Sir W. M. James stated that if the contractors had disapproved of the new arrangements, they ought to have entered into a fresh contract with the company.

It was clear, they said, that the engineer had no power to alter the contract, and that the verbal agreement between him and contractor could not bind the company.