George Turnbull was the Chief Engineer responsible for construction from 1851 to 1863 of the first railway line from Calcutta (the then commercial capital of India): the 541-mile line to Benares en route to Delhi. He was acclaimed in the Indian Government's Official Gazette of 7 February 1863 paragraph 5 as the "First railway engineer of India".

Early life

George Turnbull was born in Luncarty, 5 miles north of Perth, Scotland in 1809, the 11th child of William Turnbull and Mary Sandeman — they moved in 1814 to nearby Huntingtower village, where his father developed a bleachfield. His two grandfathers Hector Turnbull and William Sandeman had jointly developed linen bleachfields in Luncarty. Initially largely schooled by his older sister Mary, George in 1819 from age 10 rode a pony to Perth Grammar School. In 1824 he attended Edinburgh University learning Latin, Greek and mathematics.

Thomas Telford's draughtsman: St Katharine Docks, London

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.

Water supply for London; fast canal boats

In 1832, he helped survey the options for supplying water to London both from the north and south, gauging the north-side rivers Colne, Gade, Lea, Odess and Ver; and on the south side the River Wandle. He was involved in 1833 with experiments for fast passenger canal boats on the Paddington Canal with Cubitt, Dundas and other prominent engineers.

Telford’s death; Bute docks in Cardiff; Clifton Suspension Bridge

In 1834 Telford died: Turnbull (Telford’s clerk) was involved with his burial in Westminster Abbey. Turnbull was promoted to be resident engineer until 1840 building the Bute ship canal and docks in Cardiff, reporting to William Cubitt and meeting Lord Bute regularly. In August 1836 George was in Bristol to see the 1½-inch bar drawn across the river at Clifton for the future suspension bridge. Brunel visited him at the Cardiff works in 1839. Amongst other journeys, his January 1837 diary records travel from Cardiff to his Perthshire home: the mail coach to Bristol (with no Severn Bridge or tunnel of course); 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.

Middlesbrough dock; Dover railway; Folkestone pier

From 1840 to 1842 Turnbull built Middlesbrough Dock which was later bought by the Stockton and Darlington Railway. In 1841 he travelled through deep snow to Stirling to agree a contract to supply sleepers for the railway. In 1843 he was responsible for the railway line from the Shakespeare Tunnel along the shore to Dover station (he entertained the Duke of Wellington, “pale, old and shaky on his legs”, who visited the works) and built a pier and landing stages at Folkestone.

Birkenhead

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.

Kings Cross station and five tunnels

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 Kings Cross station.

East Indian Railway

In 1850 he was appointed Chief Engineer of the East Indian Railway building 1851-1862 the first railway 541 miles from Calcutta to Benares (on the route to Delhi), 601 miles including branches. He designed Calcutta’s terminus at Howrah which now has 21 platforms. The monsoon-ravaged Ganges tributaries such as the Sone River were particularly challenging to bridge: a major constraint for Turnbull was the lack of both quality clay and brick-building skills resulting in the change to importing much ironwork from England for the many bridges and other structures (all rails were imported from England as no Indian steel works existed). Another constraint was the difficulty of moving enormous volumes of materials from Calcutta up the Ganges on its primitive "country boats", particularly during the period of the Indian Mutiny when many boats were sunk and materials stolen. Cholera killed thousands.

George Turnbull was offered a 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).

In February 1868, Turnbull was offered £2000 to settle the claim by contractors who had built part of the Great Indian Peninsular Railway. He travelled via Marseilles, Alexandria, train to Suez, and on to Bombay. He and others had a private train for four days "getting down and inspecting every bridge and large culvert" and making copious notes for the 242 miles between Bhusawal and Nagpore.

Marriages

In 1845 he married Jane Pope in St. Margaret's, Westminster. She died 1850 in Calcutta. In 1855, after leave in England and on his way again to India, he married Fanny Thomas, the engineer William Cubitt’s niece (in Neuchatel, Switzerland because of concern that UK marriage to his deceased wife’s half-sister might not be legal in England). They had five children.

Later life

The family retired to Cornwall Gardens in London and then in 1875 to Rosehill, Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire, England. He was the Vice Chairman of the Assam Tea Company — his son (Alexander) Duncan Turnbull worked for the company in Assam and his granddaughter Doris was born there.Applying his engineering skills, he was involved with the Abbots Langley water scheme in 1885. He later wrote the prospectus for the Abbots Langley Water Company and was much involved with it. In March 1877, he also took a lease on 24 Collingham Place in London. His wife Fanny died in 1903.

Image:G Turnbull - boxed ruler 1853.jpg|1853 24-inch brass ruler. Teak box ink-inscribed: "Presented to George Turnbull Esq Chief Engineer of the East Indian Railway Co as a small and deep feeling on the part of Robert Berkeley Bailen[?] Claxton for the most extraordinary kindness towards him and his dear wife Mary Susan Elizabeth Claxton. July 28th 1853. May you ever prosper." The ruler is engraved: "Troughton & Simms, London" and "R B B Claxton".Image:G Turnbull - box of scales 1857.jpg|Boxed set of 1850s ivory engraved engineer's scales. The leather case has the black ink inscription: "This Box of Scales was presented to me by Mr Metford at Monghyr in 1856 or 1857. G. T." The triangular scales are engraved: "METFORD'S ENGINEERS POCKET SCALES" and "THOs D KING BRISTOL"Image:1850s_Indian_gong_purchased_by_G_Turnbull.jpg|Gong plus leather and wood stick purchased in 1850s India by George Turnbull (with two descendents 150 years later!)Image:George Turnbull 1868.jpg|George Turnbull 1868Image:1800s_Indian_carvings_at_Rosehill,_Abbots_Langley.jpg|Mrs Turnbull in the 1880s in her garden at Rosehill, Abbots Langley with carvings bought by her husband George in the 1850s in IndiaImage:Tiffin the gardener at Rosehill, Abbots Langley, late 1800s.jpg|Tiffin the gardener at Rosehill late 1800sImage:Rosehill, Abbots Langley 1907.jpg|His family in 1909 at Rosehill

References