George Turnbull (civil engineer)

George Turnbull
George Turnbull (civil engineer)
Born	2 September 1809 Luncarty, Perth and Kinross (then Perthshire)
Died	26 February 1889 Rosehill, Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire, England
Nationality	Scottish
Education	Perth Grammar School from 18 September 1819 Edinburgh University from 3 November 1824
Spouse(s)	Jane Pope, Fanny Thomas
Children	5
Engineering career
Discipline	Civil engineer
Institutions	Institution of Civil Engineers 1838–1889
Projects	East Indian Railway

George Turnbull was a British engineer responsible from 1851 to 1863 for construction of the first railway line from Calcutta to Benares, some 600 miles – later extended to Delhi. Turnbull was acclaimed by the Indian government as the "first railway engineer of India".

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.

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.

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.