George Turnbull (engineer)
George Turnbull | |
---|---|
Edinburgh University from 3 November 1824 | |
Occupation | Engineer |
Spouses |
|
Children | Five by his wife Fanny Thomas .. two children died as infants in India |
Engineering career | |
Discipline | Civil engineer |
Institutions | Institution of Civil Engineers 1838–1889 |
Projects | East Indian railways;
Middlesbrough Dock ;
Great Northern Railway (Great Britain) |
Awards | In 1863 gazetted by the Indian Government as the "First Railway Engineer in India". He was also offered a British knighthood. |
George Turnbull was the Scottish engineer responsible from 1851 to 1863 for the construction of the first Indian long-distance railway line:
On completion, Turnbull was gazetted by the Indian government as the "First railway engineer of India". He declined a British knighthood.[1][2]
Early life
George Turnbull was born in
Career in England
In 1828 he sailed from Dundee to London to train under the famous civil engineer Thomas Telford building St Katharine Docks. In 1830 he became Telford's draughtsman and clerk, living in Telford's house in 24 Abingdon Street. He became an Associate of the Institution of Civil Engineers at age 19 and eventually the oldest member.[3]
In 1832, he helped survey the options for supplying water to London both from the north and south, gauging the north-side rivers
In 1834 Telford died: Turnbull (Telford's young clerk) made arrangements for his house and correspondence and was involved with his burial in Westminster Abbey.
Turnbull was promoted to be resident engineer building the Bute ship canal and Bute Dock (now West Bute dock) in Cardiff, reporting to William Cubitt and meeting Lord Bute regularly.
In August 1836 George went to Bristol to see the 1½-inch bar drawn between the River Avon's precipices for the future Clifton Suspension Bridge. Isambard Kingdom Brunel visited him at his Cardiff works in 1839.
Amongst other journeys, Turnbull's January 1837 diary records travel from Cardiff to his parents' Perthshire home: the mail coach to Bristol (with no then Severn Bridge or Severn Tunnel); all the next day Bristol to London "on Cooper's coach, sitting on the box seat outside with the coachman" (there was snow 10-feet deep near Marlborough); the steamer Perth for the 41-hour journey to Dundee; and then overland to Huntingtower, near Perth.[4]
From 1840 to 1842 Turnbull built
In 1845 he was the engineer in Birkenhead for the complex Seacombe Wall sea defence that helped drain the marshes behind the town of Seacombe.
In 1846-9 he was the resident engineer for the Great Northern Railway making cuttings and the South Mimms, Copenhagen and three other tunnels for the first 20 miles out of London, and making the first plans for King's Cross station.
East Indian Railway
In 1850 he was appointed Chief Engineer of the
Offered a knighthood
Turnbull was offered a British knighthood for his railway building in India, but declined it as he felt that he did not have sufficient money to live to the standard he felt was needed (he later regretted declining the knighthood, if only because it reduced his later earning power).[3]
Calcutta drainage and sewerage
In 1856 the Bengal Government appointed Turnbull to be the Commissioner of Drainage and Sewerage.[5]
Calcutta University Syndicate
In 1861 Turnbull was appointed a member of the Syndicate of the Calcutta University.[6]
Sulkea Dock
In Calcutta in 1861 the
Great Indian Peninsular Railway
In February 1868, Turnbull was offered £2000 to settle the claim by contractors who had built part of the
Personal life
In 1845 he married Jane Pope in
The family retired to Cornwall Gardens in London and then in 1875 to Rosehill, Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire, England. The house Rosehill was built in the 1820s and demolished circa 1952. The house stood on Gallows Hill where the Gade View flats are today.[9][10] He was the Vice-Chairman of the Assam Tea Company – his younger son (Alexander) Duncan Turnbull worked for the company in London and then Assam, where Duncan's daughter Doris was born in 1898. George Turnbull's wife Fanny died in 1903.
Abbots Langley
Applying his engineering skills, Turnbull wrote the prospectus for the Abbots Langley Water Company and was much involved with the village's drainage and sewerage scheme in 1885. In March 1877, he also took a lease on 24 Collingham Place in London.
The village church includes a stained-glass memorial window[11] with the inscription To the Glory of God in memory of George Turnbull C.E. born 1809 died 1889. It was donated by his widow Fanny.
References
- ^ Cambridge University, England
- ^ George Turnbull, C.E. 437-page memoirs published privately 1893: copies in England's National Library; Scotland's National Library, Edinburgh; and a scanned copy in the British Library, London on compact disk.
- ^ a b c d George Turnbull, C.E. 437-page memoirs (largely from his diaries) written by George himself. primarily he says requested by his dear wife, printed by Cooke and Co, 147 Great Saffron Hill, London E.C.and published privately 1893 ... scanned copy held in the British Library, London on compact disk since 2007 and with an original copy in the England National Library in 2023.
- ^ George Turnbull, C.E. page 27 of the 437-page memoirs published privately 1893, scanned copy held in the British Library, London on compact disk since 2007
- ^ George Turnbull, C.E. page 155 of the 437-page memoirs published privately 1893, scanned copy held in the British Library, London on compact disk since 2007
- ^ a b George Turnbull, C.E. page 178 of the 437-page memoirs published privately 1893, scanned copy held in the British Library, London on compact disk since 2007
- ^ George Turnbull, C.E. pages 230–235 437-page memoirs published privately 1893, scanned copy held in the British Library, London on compact disk since 2007
- ^ George Turnbull, C.E. pages 157, 165, 168, 210, and 222 of the 437-page memoirs published privately 1893, scanned copy held in the British Library, London on compact disk since 2007
- ^ Rosehill: 51°41′55″N 0°25′58″W / 51.698586°N 0.432844°W
- ISBN 0-9520929-0-5.
Between 1875 and 1887, the house was home to George Turnbull whose wife survived him and lived on there until 1899.
- ^ Luncarty's Engineer: A short biography by John Andrews of Luncarty, West Stormont Historical Society, 2018, page 50 of 51 pages.