Public Works Department

The Public Works Department was a government department that was responsible for buildings, roads, irrigation and railways.

• The Military Works branch detatched from the PWD and became the Military Works Service under the Indian Army in 1899.

• Europeans employed on State Railways were usually on the strength of the PWD and therefore a civil servant (eligible for pension etc). NB in this context, if your ancestor turns up on a railway in India and the record contains "PWD" in the note or description, then this does not refer to "Permanent Way Department" (as it would in a UK context) but to the Public Works Department!

Records

The following India Office Records held at the British Library may help researchers.

• PWD Civil Lists 1861-1940 [IOR: V/13]

External links

Public Works in the Bengal Presidency by Major General George Borlase Tremenheere from Minutes of Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers(Great Britain) 1858 page 483. Google Books

India List & India Office List 1905 Your railway ancestor may be here.