William Frederick Faviell (1822 – 3 July 1902) was a British railway constructor. He constructed the first railway in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and later built railways in

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

Biography

Faviell was born in 1822 in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

. Son of a builder of bridges and canals, he began to work as a railway engineer on the

Great Eastern Railway The Great Eastern Railway (GER) was a pre-grouping British railway company, whose main line linked London Liverpool Street to Norwich and which had other lines through East Anglia. The company was grouped into the London and North Eastern R ...

in Colchester with two of his brothers. Later, he decided to move his interests overseas and built railways in India, Ceylon and South Africa. Back in England, he bought the estate of Down Place in the Surrey where he lived with his wife Sarah and their six children until 1890. There, he decided to create one of the first

Model Farm A demonstration farm, or model farm, is a farm which is used primarily to research or demonstrate various agricultural techniques, with any economic gains being an added bonus. Demonstration farms are often owned and operated by educational instit ...

of the South of England at Blackwell Farm. He employed Henry Peak to design the new building. He died on 3 July 1902 at

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the Weald, High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Roc ...

Work

India

In 1850, Faviell obtained the contract to build the first section of railway in India. Although the idea came in 1843 from the chief engineer of the Bombay Government

G. T. Clark Colonel George Thomas Clark (26 May 1809 – 31 January 1898) was a British surgeon and engineer. He was particularly associated with the management of the Dowlais Iron Company. He was also an antiquary and historian of Glamorgan. Biography ...

, the construction of the 15.75-mile route began 7 years after under the direction of Faviell. It connected

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

with

Thane Thane (; also known as Thana, the official name until 1996) is a metropolitan city in Maharashtra, India. It is situated in the north-eastern portion of the Salsette Island. Thane city is entirely within Thane taluka, one of the seven talukas ...

Kalyan Kalyan (Pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, əljaːɳ is a city on the banks of Ulhas River in Thane district of Maharashtra state in Konkan division. It is governed by Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation. Kalyan is a subdivision (Taluka) ...

and with the Thal and

Bhor Ghat Bhor Ghat is a mountain pass located between and for railway and between Khopoli and Khandala on the road route in Maharashtra, India, on the crest of the Western Ghats. History In February 1781, Bhorghat was the site of a battle between th ...

inclines. Given the topography of the area on the crest of the Western Ghat mountain ranges, about 42,000 workers had to travel 15–20 miles each day carrying an estimated 6,296,061 cubic yards of earthwork on their heads. The low wages and the working conditions resulted in a riot in January 1859. Europeans were attacked by the Indian workforce with sticks and stones. Finally, Faviell gave up his contract in 1859 and was replaced by Solomon Tredwell.

Ceylon

In 1863, Faviell began a new project of railway from

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

through the hills of

Kandy Kandy ( si, මහනුවර ''Mahanuwara'', ; ta, கண்டி Kandy, ) is a major city in Sri Lanka located in the Central Province. It was the last capital of the ancient kings' era of Sri Lanka. The city lies in the midst of hills ...

. In spite of the difficult geographical condition, the construction of the 73-mile route was a success when it was finished four years later.

South Africa

His last foreign contract was in

in 1877, where he undertook to extend the

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, Sou ...

railway, then only 67 miles long, into the interior in the direction of Cradock and

Graaff-Reinet Graaff-Reinet is a town in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is the oldest town in the province. It is also the sixth-oldest town in South Africa, after Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Simon's Town, Paarl and Swellendam. The town was the c ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Faviell, William Frederick 1822 births 1902 deaths British railway pioneers 19th-century British businesspeople