41 CARTE DE VISITE PHOTOGRAPHS OF TURNBULL AND HIS EXTENDED FAMILY The photographs date from the early 1860s and include 4 fine portraits of Turnbull himself and one group family photo. They are mostly original photographic images, but a few of the older family members are depicted by photographs of earlier engravings and painted portraits.

TURNBULL, GEORGE. ENGINEER.

Published by 1860-1880, 1860

About this Item

41 images, each 4 x 2.5 inches. Nearly every one is fully annotated with the details of the sitter. Bound in a oblong Victorian leather bound photograph album with two images per page each in cut-out window mounts that allow the images to be removed. The images include Turnbull his first wife and her relatives, and his second wife Fanny (Cubitt's niece), Fanny's family members, and their children. In very good unfaded condition. relate George Turnbull (b 1809 in Scotland) trained as an engineer in London under Thomas Telford, then building St Katharine Docks, in 1828. By 1830 he became Telford's draughtsman and clerk. He was made an Associate of the Institution of Civil Engineers at age 19 and eventually was the oldest member. In 1845 he married Jane Pope in St. Margaret's, Westminster. She died in 1850 in Calcutta. In 1855 he married Fanny Thomas, niece of the engineer William Cubitt. They had five children. Turnbull's illustrious career encompassed several disciplines, working with many of the greatest names in engineering. In 1832, he helped survey the options for supplying water to London. He was involved in 1833 with experiments for fast passenger canal boats on the Paddington Canal, working alongside Cubitt and Dundas. Turnbull was promoted to chief engineer building the Bute ship canal and Bute Dock in Cardiff, reporting to Cubitt. In August 1836 Turnbull was in Bristol witnessing the 1½-inch bar drawn across the river at Clifton for the future suspension bridge. Brunel visited him at the Cardiff works in 1839. From 1840 to 1842 Turnbull built Middlesborough Dock. In 1843 he was resident engineer for Cubitt, building the railway line from the Shakespeare Tunnel along the shore to Dover station (he entertained the Duke of Wellington, "pale, old and shaky on his legs", who visited the works). He also built a pier and landing stages at Folkestone Harbour. In 1845 he was the engineer in Birkenhead for the complex Seacombe Wall defences that helped drain the marshes behind the town of Seacombe. In 1846-9 he was the resident engineer for the Great Northern Railway, making cuttings and the South Mimms, Copenhagen and three other tunnels for the first 20 miles out of London, and drawing up the first plans for Kings Cross station. In 1850 Turnbull was appointed Chief Engineer of the East Indian Railway and between 1851 1862 built the first 541 miles of railway from Calcutta to Benares (on the route to Delhi), and designed Calcutta's terminus at Howrah. This was a massive logistical undertaking, as no steel works existed in India at this time, hence all the rails and ironwork for the many bridges had to be imported from England. Another constraint was the difficulty of moving enormous volumes of materials from Calcutta up the Ganges on local boats, particularly during the Indian Mutiny when many boats were sunk and materials stolen. He continued with many other important railway, navigation and public health projects in the sub-continent. He is known as the First Railway Engineer of India. He returned to England in 1875, where he continued to involve himself in further important engineering projects. PHOTOGRAPHY INDIA PHOTOGRAPHY.

Seller Inventory # 23950

Bibliographic Details

• Title: 41 CARTE DE VISITE PHOTOGRAPHS OF TURNBULL AND HIS EXTENDED FAMILY The photographs date from the early 1860s and include 4 fine portraits of Turnbull himself and one group family photo. They are mostly original photographic images, but a few of the older family members are depicted by photographs of earlier engravings and painted portraits.
• Publisher: 1860-1880
• Publication Date: 1860