George Turnbull | |
|---|---|
&sq=Envato&lang=en&file=File:George_Turnbull_(1809-1878).jpg) George Turnbull | |
| Born | 2 September 1809 |
| Died | 26 February 1889 (aged 79) Rosehill, Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire, England |
| Nationality | Scottish |
| Education | Perth Grammar School from 18 September 1819 Edinburgh University from 3 November 1824 |
| Occupation | Engineer |
| Spouses |
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| 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; 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. |
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George Turnbull was the Scottish engineer responsible from 1851 to 1863 for the construction of the first Indian long-distance railway line: Calcutta to Benares up beside the Ganges river, 541 miles (871 kilometres), (601 miles including branches). The main line was later extended to Delhi. He had some 100 British civil engineers and 118,000 Indian workers. All railway lines, engines etc etc were brought from Britain in ships (before the Suez Canal existed) -- most then went in Indian ships up the Ganges river, despite monsoons.
On completion, Turnbull was gazetted by the Indian government as the "First railway engineer of India". He declined a British knighthood.[1][2]
- ^ Diaries of George Turnbull (Chief Engineer, East Indian Railway Company) held at the Centre of South Asian Studies at 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.