Horace Bell (engineer)
| Horace Bell | |
|---|---|
| Born | 17 June 1839 81 Guilford Street, London, England |
| Died | 10 April 1903 114 Lexham Gardens, Brompton, London, England |
| Occupation | Civil engineer Writer |
| Spouse(s) | Marcia Napier Ogilvy/Bell (1850-1940) |
| Children | 4s, 5d |
| Parent(s) | George Bell, Frances Dude/Bell |
Horace Bell (17 June 1839 – 10 April 1903) was a London-born civil engineer. As his career progressed he also became increasingly prolific as an author.
After eight years working in England as a railway engineer Bell relocated to British India (as it was known at the time), where he was in charge of several major railway and related construction projects. He retired in 1894 after which he returned, this time permanently, to England, but he continued to work for several Indian railway companies on a consultancy basis.
He wrote several pamphlets and books on railways policy, later also producing lengthy pamphlets on Economics and on Governance which were used as teaching material in government schools.
Horace Bell was born the son of a London merchant, George Bell and his wife, Frances. He was christened at St Pancras Old Church in London. The boy was educated in Louth in Lincolnshire and overseas, in France. Half a century later an obituary would describe him as a "fluent French scholar".
When he was 15 Bell embarked on an engineering apprenticeship with John Wilson in Westminster, but soon he moved on to work for the firm D. Cook & Co in Glasgow, in order to gain a broader experience in the engineering field. He then took a job with the Caledonian Railway company, working both in the company workshops and on surveying for railway line construction. In 1859 he returned to England, working till 1862 as en assistant engineer for the newly created London, Chatham and Dover Railway company.
On 7 July 1862 he joined the Indian public works department as an assistant engineer, initially on a trial basis, and arriving in India at the end of the year. In India he was sent to the Central Provinces region, where he worked under the direction of J.S. Heyman on the building of the Great Deccan Road, part of a strategically important piece of road infrastructure linking the cities then known as Calcutta and Bombay. He was employed on the Great Deccan Road project for eight years, between 1862 and 1870, achieving a succession of promotions during the period, in March 1869 becoming Second Grade Executive Engineer. His name appears in connection with frequent commendations in official reports provided to and by imperial administrators of the period.
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