James Edward Fulton (11 December 1854 – 6 December 1928) was a New Zealand surveyor and civil engineer. He was born in Outram,

South Otago South Otago lies in the south east of the South Island of New Zealand. As the name suggests, it forms the southernmost part of the geographical region of Otago. The exact definition of the area designated as South Otago is imprecise, as the area is ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

on 11 December 1854, and was the son of

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

and Catherine Valpy Fulton. He was survived by his wife and daughter (born 19 June 1887). He worked for a short time as an engineer in flax mill, before becoming a

Public Works Department This list indicates government departments in various countries dedicated to public works or infrastructure. See also * Public works * Ministry or Board of Public Works, the imperial Chinese ministry overseeing public projects from the Tang ...

cadet. In 1875 he went to Napier and in 1878 was promoted to Assistant Engineer. He left PWD in 1880 and worked on the Kaihu railway. He became Resident Engineer of the

Longburn Longburn (or Karere) is a rural settlement just outside Palmerston North in the Manawatū-Whanganui area of New Zealand. Made up of large dairy processing plants Longburn is often mistaken to be a small township and not seen as a large satellite t ...

Waikanae Waikanae (, ) is a town on the Kapiti Coast, 60 kilometres north of the Wellington CBD. The name is a Māori word meaning "waters" (''wai'') "of the grey mullet". The town lies between Paraparaumu, eight kilometres to the southwest, and Ōtak ...

section of the Wellington-Manawatu Railway from 1882 under Harry Higginson (with his brother Arthur Fulton), and the WMR manager and locomotive superintendent from 1889. He resigned in 1897 after accepting responsibility for an incident when his unofficial special train to Plimmerton with an engine and a carriage for his family met a freight train head on; trains were not normally scheduled on a Sunday! He was the driver with another company official as fireman. In 1897 he re-entered private practice and worked on the

Wellington Cable Car The Wellington Cable Car is a funicular railway in Wellington, New Zealand, between Lambton Quay, the main shopping street, and Kelburn, a suburb in the hills overlooking the central city, rising over a length of . The one way trip takes appro ...

, the original Kelburn Viaduct at Tinakori Gully
Ballance Bridge
in the Manawatu Gorge, Otaki, Ohau, Rangitikei and Lower

Shotover Shotover is a hill and forest in Oxfordshire, England. The hill is east of Oxford. Its highest point is above sea level. Early history The toponym may be derived from the Old English , meaning "steep slope". Shotover was part of the Wychwood ...

(on the Queenstown Trail) bridges. In 1906 he visited the US and Europe to study new engineering techniques, then built Cambridge High Level Bridge, Victoria Bridge, Hamilton and Taupo-Totara Timber Co tramway. He is commemorated as an ex-President of

IPENZ Engineering New Zealand Te Ao Rangahau (ENZ; previously the New Zealand Institution of Engineers – NZIE and then Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand – IPENZ) is a not-for-profit professional body that promotes the integrity a ...

by the Fulton-Downer Gold Medal. James retired in 1926, and died in Wellington in 1928 aged 73 years, leaving a widow and daughter. He is buried in Karori Cemetery.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Fulton, James Edward 1854 births 1928 deaths New Zealand civil engineers New Zealand surveyors People from Otago Valpy-Fulton-Jeffreys family 19th-century New Zealand engineers 20th-century New Zealand engineers New Zealand people in rail transport