6,295
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
no edit summary
'''James John Berkley''' (1819-1862)
<br> Chief Engineer of the [[Great Indian Peninsula Railway]](GIPR) from 1850 to 1856.
<br>The account below extracted from Grace’s Guide
<ref>[https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/James_John_Berkley Grace's Guide 'James John Berkley']; Retrieved 3 Apr 2020</ref>.
==Background==
At the end of 1849, on the strong recommendation of [[Robert Stephenson]], the London Based GIPR Consulting Engineer and supported by Brunel, Cubitt, Rennie, Bidder and other eminent engineers, Berkley was appointed chief resident engineer of the [[Great Indian Peninsula Railway]](GIPR), and in this capacity he constructed the first line of railway that was opened in India.
A Tender from two Engineers, Henry Fowler and[[William Frederick Faviell]], had been accepted by the GIPR for the construction of thev section from Bombay to Tanna. Fowler left for Bombay in December, 1850, and after collecting materials and assistants for the work. Faviell followed in February, 1851. Fowler’s health failed after a few months’ exposure to the climate of India, and compelled his return to England. The execution of the contract then devolved entirely upon Faviell, and was completed to the satisfaction of the Company, the line being opened for traffic on the 16 April, 1853. <ref>[https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/William_Frederick_Faviell 'Grace's Guide' - "William Frederick Faviell"]; Retrieved 4 May 2020</ref>. They worked under the direction of the GIPR Chief Engineer ==Railway Achievementsin India==*1849; '''[[Great Indian Peninsula Railway]]''' Appointed chief resident engineerChief Resident Engineer. The Court of Directors of the [[East India Company]] appointed James John Berkeley as Chief Resident Engineer with [[Charles Buchanan Ker]] and [[Robert W Graham]] as his assistants <ref name=GIPR>[http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Great_Indian_Peninsula_Railway Grace's Gide "Great Indian Peninsula Railway which quotes from 'Morning Post' - Saturday 18 August 1849""]; Retrieved on 25 May 2020</ref>.
*1850 January; he left England for India. Having first decided on a scheme for the construction of a short line of thirty-three miles from [[Bombay]] to Callian, he turned his attention to the extensions of the railway, and especially to the great work involved in carrying the line over the Western Ghâts Mountains, and designed two great inclines ascending mountains more than 2,000 feet high — the [[Bhore Ghat Railway Construction|Bhore Ghat]] and the [[Thal Ghat Railway Construction|Thul Ghat]].
*1852; the surveys were begun, and four years were spent in surveying the [[Bhore Ghat Railway Construction|Bhore Ghat]].
*1855 he became a magistrate; in 1857 a commissioner of the Bombay Municipal Board, and in 1858 a member of the Senate of Bombay University.
*1856; with his health failing, Berkley returned to England, but revisited India to see his cherished work on the [[Bhore Ghat Railway Construction|Bhore Ghat]] fully developed. Compelled, however, by ill-health to leave India, he returned to England in April 1861, but his constitution was undermined by hard work in a tropical climate, and he died in 1862 at the comparatively early age of 42.
*Berkley remained as Chief Engineer, up to 1862 and during his leadership GIP lines were extended to [[Jalgaon]] in Northeast and [[Sholapur]] in the Southeast direction.
==Historical books online==
*[http://access.bl.uk/item/viewer/ark:/81055/vdc_100036301297.0x000001#ark:/81055/vdc_100036301307.0x000008 ''Paper on the Bhore Ghaut Incline of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway. Read at the Bombay Mechanics' Institution in the Town Hall, Bombay, on Monday, December 21, 1857. With an appendix by A.A. West.''] by James J. Berkley (James John), published 1863. British Library ItemVIEWER. May be slow to load.
== External Links==
*[https://victorianweb.org/sculpture/funerary/30.html Monument To James John Berkeley, Camberwell Old Cemetery] https://victorianweb.org/
== References ==
