Changes

Public Works in India, such as the construction of roads, water tank, etc. was originally conducted by the military. This started with the Pioneers and then by the Public Works Department of the [[Town Major's List]] ([[Bengal]] & [[Bombay]]) or the [[Effective Supernumeraries]] ([[Madras]]). Much of the responsibility for public works was then passed over to a special section of the [[Indian Civil Service]] in the mid-19th century. Later, the military once more took responsibility for much of the public works.

*Drawing attention of the Government to the unsatisfactory management and state of affairs in public works, the Court of Directors of the East India Company, in early 1850, instituted a Commission in each Presidency for investigation. The members of the Commission were unanimous on the inability of the Military Board in the management of public works. Lord Dalhousie founded the Public Works branch detatched from the Department (PWD ) through which roads, railways, bridges, irrigation and became the Military other public utility works were undertaken <ref name=pwd>[http://www.pwdwb.in/home/page/history "Public Works Service under the [[Indian ArmyDepartment of West Bengal History"]] in 1899; Retrieved on 22 Jun2016</ref>.

The Commission proposal, which was implemented in 1854, set out the following basic features <ref name=pwd/>: -*Europeans employed on State [[Railways]] were usually on the strength The Control of PWD was removed from under the PWD Military Board and therefore a civil servant (eligible for pension etc)placed under the Chief Engineers. NB in this context, if your ancestor turns up on a railway in India and the record contains "*The PWD" in came under the note or description, then this does not refer to "Permanent Way Department" (as it would in a UK context) but control of respective provincial Government *Chief Engineers to be assisted by the Public Works Department!Superintending Engineer & Executive Engineer.

*The publication ''Indian Engineering'' is held by the [[British Library]]. For comments about this publication, refer the online editions, below. The British Library catalogue shows the following issues are held: UIN: BLL01013927488 "1910-1952; Volvol.47 - vol3.130, no.[1], etc (7 Jan.1888 - Jan. ; 1952)". However, for the catalogue entry UIN: BLL01012090738 it is advised Deficient: vol.64, no.17 - vol.67, 1918-20".*The publication ''Biographical Dictionary of Civil Engineers in Great Britain and Ireland'' is held by the [[British Library]]. Published by ICE Publishing 2002-2014, currently (March 2016) in three volumes: Volume 1. 1500-1830. Volume 2: 1830–1890. Volume 3: 1890–1920. [http://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/doi/abs/10.1680/bdoceigbai.58347.114 Sample page, Volume 3] with entry for Harold Edward Byrne, Federated Malay States. For more sample pages, see Individuals below.

* The [https://www.ice.org.uk/disciplines-and-resources/ice-library-and-digital-resources ICE Library] Institution of Civil Engineers, London. Includes an Archive service. [https://www.ice.org.uk/ICEDevelopmentWebPortal/media/Documents/About%20Us/guide-to-ice-historical-archives.pdf Guide to the ICE Archives 2010]. Previously the [http://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/?myhome=true ICE Virtual Library] (Institution of Civil Engineers) may could be searched for an obituary of an ICE member, which often gives details of a person's work history, but it is unclear if this facility is now only available to ICE members. *[http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Main_Page Grace’s Guide to British Industrial History]. The website advises “Grace's Guide is the leading source of historical information on industry and manufacturing in the UK”. Includes Biographies of selected Engineers.

*[http://archive.org/stream/incidentsandane00sprogoog#page/n6/mode/2up ''Incidents and Anecdotes in the Life of '''Lieut.-General Sprot ''' Volume 1''] 1906 Archive.org. The author spent 12 years in India, from 1849, [http://archive.org/stream/incidentsandane00sprogoog#page/n34/mode/2up page 13], with the British Army [[83rd Regiment of Foot]] but much of this time was attached to the Public Works Department, Bombay Presidency.*[https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/records/item/621999-memoir-of-general-sir-william-erskine-baker-k-c-b-royal-engineers-bengal ''Memoir of General Sir '''William Erskine Baker''', K.C.B., Royal Engineers (Bengal)''] 1882. Born 1808, he arrived in India in 1828 and worked on the canals of Upper India where he became involved with fossil discoveries. Papers about these were written in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. He worked mainly with Canals and latterly the Railways, and in 1855 became the first Secretary of the Public Works Department. He left India in 1857 and in 1858 became Military Secretary at the India Office. FamilySearch Digital Library. You need to sign in to FS to view the book.*'''Lieutenant John C Harris ''' of the [[Bengal Sappers and Miners|Bengal Engineers]] was involved in flood mitigation work following a major flood at Cuttack in 1855. See [[Cuttack]] for details.*[http://gwydir.demon.co.uk/jo/genealogy/dibblee/index.htm '''Frederick Lewis Dibblee''']. Railway engineer. Worked in India 1864-1888* ''Life of '''Lieut.-General the Hon. Sir Andrew Clarke''', Colonel-Commandant of Royal Engineers'' edited by Col. RH Vetch 1905 Archive.org. [https://archive.org/details/lifeoflieutgener00vetc/page/n239 "Member of Council of the Viceroy of India 1875-1880"] page 193-221. He was head of the Indian Public Works Administration.*[https://archive.org/details/cu31924022898211 ''Village, Town, and Jungle life in India''] 
by '''A.C. Newcombe ''' 1905 Archive.org He was in India 1874-1902 as a Civil Engineer in the Public Works Department*'''Tom Salkield ''' , was Engineer to the Municipality of Delhi 1905-1922. He was awarded the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaisar-i-Hind Kaiser-i-Hind] decoration for public service in India .He was also in the Punjab Volunteer Rifles for 16 years. There are further details in his obituary ''ICE Proceedings Volume 16, Issue 3, 01 July 1960'' , pages 348 –349. <ref>[http://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/content/issue/iicep/16/3 ''ICE Proceedings Volume 16, Issue 3, 01 July 1960'' , pages 348 –349] </ref> Details of [http://janus.lib.cam.ac.uk/db/node.xsp?id=EAD%2FGBR%2F0115%2FY3022YY Tom Salkield Delhi Photograph Album 1905-1916] Janus (Archives in Cambridge)*"East African Campaign 1914 – 1918: Faridkot Sappers & Miners" by Richard Sneyd [http://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http%3A%2F%2Fgweaa.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2012%2F02%2FCampaign-East-Africa-Copy-for-GWAA-site.pdf html version], [http://gweaa.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Campaign-East-Africa-Copy-for-GWAA-site.pdf pdf] gweaa.com. '''Robert (Robin) Thomas Stuart Sneyd''' was working as a civil engineer in Madras Presidency when he joined the Indian Army Reserve of Officers in March 1915 and joined the Faridkots at Voi in British East Africa in October 1915 as a Lieutenant.*'''Charles Spedding''', Engineer, of the road making contacting company Spedding & Co, making the road from Gilgit to Kashmir c 1891, and '''W.P. Appleford''', an engineer employee - refer [[Punjab Rifles]]*[http://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/content/article/10.1680/iicep.1957.1944 '''Colonel Frederick Charles Temple''', C.I.E., C.B.E., V.D., 1879-1957] Obituary ICE Virtual Library. He came to India c 1905 and served in various capacities with the Military Works Services and with the Public Works Department. In 1919 he was appointed Chief Town Engineer and later Administrator, for the Tata Iron and Steel Co., being responsible for the design and building of the town of [[Jamshedpur]]. Later, he became Relief Engineer and Supply Officer to the Government of Bihar and Orissa after the January 1934 earthquake and was responsible for the reconstruction of the towns, roads and bridges destroyed.* Sample pages from ''Biographical Dictionary of Civil Engineers in Great Britain and Ireland: Volume 3: 1890–1920'', published 2014 by ICE Publishing. icevirtuallibrary.com**[http://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/doi/abs/10.1680/bdoceigbai.58347.163 '''John Edwin Dallas''' 1855-1938] Indian PWD, Railway Branch c late 1870s Bombay etc, Assam, Burma. Retired 1910. **[http://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/doi/abs/10.1680/bdoceigbai.58347.457 '''Sir Francis Langford O’Callaghan''' (1839-1909)]. Indian PWD, Railways 1862-1894, including north-west frontier.**[http://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/doi/abs/10.1680/bdoceigbai.58347.626 '''Brigadier-General Sir William Danvers Waghorn''' (1867-1936)]. Commissioned as a Royal Engineer 1887, joined the Public Works Department, Railways. Served in the Boer War as Deputy Assistant Director of Railways, and the Western Front, WW1 as Chief Engineer of XVII Corps. Retired 1924 India.

*[https://web.archive.org/web/20131231025838/http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-openpage/article2443690.ece "How our British rulers 'legalised' bribery"] by M B Lal September 11, 2011. The Hindu.com, now an archived webpage.*[https://web.archive.org/web/20121104121836/http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120901/j&k.htm#2 Heritage tag for 110-yr-old power project] by Majid Jahangir. The second oldest power project, the Mohura [Mohra] Power House located in the Uri area of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, was commissioned in 1902. This article also mentions the first power house set up in 1901 by the Maharaja of Mysore. ''The Tribune'' Saturday, September 1, 2012, Chandigarh, now an archived webpage. The Mohura Power House was situated midway between Uri and Baramulla.

*''Indian Engineering'' (Archive.org). This Calcutta publication, "An Illustrated Weekly Journal" appears to covers all aspects of engineering- railways, buildings, bridges etc. It also has sections where it mentions people, their jobs, their deaths, promotions etc.

:[http://books.google.com/books?id=N1POAAAAMAAJ&pg=PP5 Volume 1 1863-64], [http://books.google.com/books?id=g1POAAAAMAAJ&pg=PP5 Volume 2 1865], [http://books.google.com/books?id=wVPOAAAAMAAJ&pg=PR4 Volume 3 1866], [http://books.google.com/books?id=_FPOAAAAMAAJ&pg=PR6 Volume 4 1867], [http://books.google.com/books?id=OVTOAAAAMAAJ&pg=PP5 Volume 5 1868], [http://books.google.com/books?id=a1TOAAAAMAAJ&pg=PP5 Volume 6 1869] Google Books. :Volume 7, 1870 is available to read online on the [[Online books#Digital Library of India| Digital Library of India]] website. Preface computer page 3 Index commences computer page 10 (first page of index missing). [httphttps://dli.sercbooks.iiscgoogle.ernetcom.inau/handle/2015/475395 Pdf download, DLIbooks?id=ZHItAQAAMAAJ&pg=PP25 Volume 7 1870] Google Books. :[httphttps://dliarchive.sercorg/details/in.iiscernet.ernetdli.in/handle/2015/.515145 Second Series Volume 1, 1872] Pdf download, Digital Archive.org. Public Library of IndiaCollection. [http://www.archive.org/stream/professionalpap00regoog#page/n9/mode/1up Second Series Volume 2, 1873]-([https://books.google.com.au/books?id=PaEEAAAAQAAJ&pg=PP9 1873 Google Books]), [http://www.archive.org/stream/professionalpap01regoog#page/n9/mode/1up Second Series Volume 5, 1876], [http://www.archive.org/stream/professionalpap00regoog#page/n9/mode/1up Second Series Volume 7, 1878], [http://www.archive.org/stream/professionalpap02brangoog Second Series Volume 8, 1879] Archive.org

*[httphttps://booksarchive.googleorg/details/in.ernet.dli.com/books?id=SJ4EAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover 2015.3385 ''Indian Engineering''The Bombay Builder] by William Lumisden Strange 1923. Full title: an illustrated journal ''Indian engineering, relating to irrigation, water supply of engineering architecturetowns, science & art Volume 1roads and buildings''] 1865 Google Books. Archive.org, Public Library of India Collection.

*[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.91147 ''History of Services of Gazetted and other Officers serving under the Government of Burma July 1931 Vol I Part II'' ] . This Volume is titled The title page also states ''Officers of Public Works Department''. It may be read online on the [[Online books#Digital Library of India| Digital Archive.org, Public Library of India]] websiteCollection. For transcriptions from this book, refer above.