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. pg=PA483 Google Books

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