Frederick George Slessor (1831–1905) was a British

railway engineer Railway engineering is a multi-faceted engineering discipline dealing with the design, construction and operation of all types of rail transport systems. It encompasses a wide range of engineering disciplines, including civil engineering, comput ...

who worked in England, India, South Africa, and continental Europe.

Early life

Slessor was born in 1831 in

Sidmouth Sidmouth () is a town on the English Channel in Devon, South West England, southeast of Exeter. With a population of 12,569 in 2011, it is a tourist resort and a gateway to the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site. A large part of the town has ...

, Devon, England to Major General John Henry Slessor. He attended the

Sherborne School (God and My Right) , established = 705 by Aldhelm, re-founded by King Edward VI 1550 , closed = , type = Public school Independent, boarding school , religion = Church of England , president = , chair_label = Chairman of the governors , ...

and later trained as

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...

as a pupil of M. W. Peniston M. Inst. C.E.

Career

In December 1874, following nomination by Sir

Charles Hutton Gregory Sir Charles Hutton Gregory (14 October 1817 – 10 January 1898) was an English people, English civil engineer. He was president of the Institution of Civil Engineers between December 1867 and December 1869. Charles was the son of Oli ...

, he was appointed by

Cape Government Railways The Cape Government Railways (CGR) was the government-owned railway operator in the Cape Colony from 1874 until the creation of the South African Railways (SAR) in 1910. History Private railways The first railways at the Cape were privately own ...

, first as Chief Officer of Surveys and Resident Engineer, and then as Chief Resident Engineer of the Eastern system. After 16 years' service at the Cape he retired on a pension and returned to Britain.

Alicedale Alicedale is a small settlement in Sarah Baartman District Municipality in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa, situated on the banks of the Bushmans River. Railway History Alicedale is a railway junction on the main railway line betwe ...

, a village in the Albany district, was named after his wife, Alice Slessor, who died in

Queenstown, Eastern Cape Queenstown, officially Komani, is a town in the middle of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, roughly halfway between the smaller towns of Cathcart and Sterkstroom on the N6 National Route. The town was established in 1853 and is curr ...

, in September 1882. Slessor died on 15 October 1905 in

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

, England.

Publications

* with J D Tilney *

Notes

References

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External links