Sir Guilford Lindsey Molesworth (1828–1925) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

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 ...

Biography

Early years

Molesworth was born in

Millbrook, Hampshire Millbrook is a suburb and former civil parish of Southampton. As the area developed, several settlements grew within the parish, some of them becoming parishes in their own right, thus reducing the extent of the Millbrook parish. As well as th ...

and was the son of

John Edward Nassau Molesworth John Edward Nassau Molesworth (1790–1877) was an English cleric of High Church views, vicar of Rochdale for around 38 years. Family background The great-grandson of Robert Molesworth, 1st Viscount Molesworth, John Edward Nassau Molesworth was ...

, Vicar of Rochdale who was a great grandson of

Robert Molesworth, 1st Viscount Molesworth Robert Molesworth, 1st Viscount Molesworth PC (Ire) (7 September 1656 – 22 May 1725) was an Anglo-Irish politician and writer. Molesworth came from an old Northamptonshire family. He married Hon. Letitia Coote, daughter of Richard Coote, 1st ...

. Sir Guildford's great niece was Margaret Patricia Molesworth (1904–1985), the grandmother of Sophie, Countess of Wessex. Molesworth was educated at the College for Civil Engineers at

Putney Putney () is a district of southwest London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. History Putney is an ancient paris ...

, apprenticed under Mr Dockray in the London and North Western Railway, and under Sir William Fairbairn at Manchester.

Career

He became a chief assistant engineer of the

London, Brighton and South Coast Railway The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR; known also as the Brighton line, the Brighton Railway or the Brighton) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1846 to 1922. Its territory formed a rough triangle, with London at its ...

, but soon resigned to conduct the constructions at the

Royal Arsenal The Royal Arsenal, Woolwich is an establishment on the south bank of the River Thames in Woolwich in south-east London, England, that was used for the manufacture of armaments and ammunition, proofing, and explosives research for the Britis ...

Woolwich Woolwich () is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was maintained thr ...

, during the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...

. He received the Watt Medal and the Manby premium in 1858 from the Institution of Civil Engineers for his paper on ''Conversion of Wood by Machinery.'' He returned to London for a number of years, worked at his profession, then went to

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 ...

in 1859 and in 1862 became chief engineer of the government railways in

. From 1871 to 1889 he was consulting engineer to the Indian government with regard to State railways. In May 1888, he was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire (KCIE).Great Britain. India Office He received medals from the British Government for his services during the Afghan War and the Burma War, and was president of the

Institution of Civil Engineers The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) is an independent professional association for civil engineers and a charitable body in the United Kingdom. Based in London, ICE has over 92,000 members, of whom three-quarters are located in the UK, whi ...

in 1904.

Gauge

Molesworth was consulted on a number of occasions on the suitability of adopting a narrow gauge rather than a broad one. He was generally against the narrow gauge as he regarded the cost savings as illusory. His broad gauge line to

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 ...

is proof that this gauge is practicable in steep mountains.

Bibliography

He published the ''Molesworth's Pocket Book of Engineering Formulae''. This useful little volume contained formulas and details on many engineering related subjects. The first edition was published in November 1862 and ran to over thirty editions (The twenty-eighth edition was published in 1921). His other works include: * ''State Railways in India'' (1872) * ''Metrical Tables'' (1880; fourth edition, 1909) * ''Imperialism in India'' (1885) * ''Silver and Gold'' (1891) * ''Our Empire under Protection and Free Trade'' (1902) * ''Economic and Fiscal Facts and Fallacies'' (1909) * ''Indian Railway Policy'' (1920)

References

External links

* 1828 births 1925 deaths British railway civil engineers English non-fiction writers British people of the Second Anglo-Afghan War British people of the Crimean War Presidents of the Institution of Civil Engineers Engineers from Southampton Knights Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire Railway officers in British India English male non-fiction writers {{England-engineer-stub