Sir Charles Hutton Gregory (14 October 1817 – 10 January 1898)New York Times Obituary (11 January 1898)
/ref> 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 ...

. He 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 ...

between December 1867 and December 1869. Charles was the son of Dr Olinthus Gilbert Gregory, a master of mathematics at the

Royal Military Academy, Woolwich The Royal Military Academy (RMA) at Woolwich, in south-east London, was a British Army military academy for the training of commissioned officers of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. It later also trained officers of the Royal Corps of S ...

. The chair of mathematics at that time was held by

Charles Hutton Charles Hutton FRS FRSE LLD (14 August 1737 – 27 January 1823) was a British mathematician and surveyor. He was professor of mathematics at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich from 1773 to 1807. He is remembered for his calculation of the ...

, who acted as Dr. Gregory's patron. It was in Hutton's honour that Charles was named. Gregory was consulting engineer of several major railway construction works, including those 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 ...

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with ...

Perak Perak () is a state of Malaysia on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. Perak has land borders with the Malaysian states of Kedah to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kelantan and Pahang to the east, and Selangor to the south. Thailand' ...

and

Selangor Selangor (; ), also known by its Arabic honorific Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity", is one of the 13 Malaysian states. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the east, Negeri Sem ...

. He was the first to use

railway semaphore signal Railway semaphore signal is one of the earliest forms of fixed railway signals. This semaphore system involves signals that display their different indications to train drivers by changing the angle of inclination of a pivoted 'arm'. Semaphor ...

ling which he employed first at New Cross on the

London and Croydon Railway The London and Croydon Railway (L&CR) was an early railway in England. It opened in 1839 and in February 1846 merged with other railways to form the London Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR). Origins The Croydon line and other railways Th ...

in 1841, and the South Eastern Railways in 1842-3. This method later superseded all others and was dominant from 1870.The Origin of Railway Semaphore
/ref> In 1882 he was a member of the Channel Tunnel Committee and in 1886 was a Royal Commissioner for the

Colonial and Indian Exhibition The Colonial and Indian Exhibition of 1886 was held in South Kensington in London with the objective to (in the words of the then Prince of Wales) "stimulate commerce and strengthen the bonds of union now existing in every portion of her Majes ...

. With these uses in mind, he was interested in the properties of the less usual timbers. In 1886 he, in the company of other leading figures such as Sir Philip Cunliffe-Owen,

Sir John Coode Sir John Coode (11 November 1816 – 2 March 1892), English civil engineer, known for harbour works. Life He was born at Bodmin on 11 November 1816. He was educated at Bodmin Grammar School and after leaving school entered his father's office ...

and

Sir Frederick Bramwell Sir Frederick Joseph Bramwell, 1st Baronet FRS FRSA (17 March 1818 – 30 November 1903) was a British civil and mechanical engineer. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1873 and served as president of the Institution of Civil Enginee ...

, attended an exhibition at the Chelsea works of A. Ransome and Co, manufacturers of woodworking equipment. There they saw experiments on more than 40 different varieties of colonial timber, including Karri wood and

Jarrah ''Eucalyptus marginata'', commonly known as jarrah, djarraly in Noongar language and historically as Swan River mahogany, is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a tree with r ...

from Western Australia, and

Padouk ''Pterocarpus'' is a pantropical genus of trees in the family Fabaceae. It belongs to the subfamily Faboideae, and was recently assigned to the informal monophyletic ''Pterocarpus'' clade within the Dalbergieae. Most species of ''Pterocarpus'' ...

from India. Gregory was instrumental in furthering the careers of many fellow engineers, e.g. * Frederick George Slessor (1831-1905) -- in 1874, appointed to the staff of

Cape Government Railways The Cape Government Railways (CGR) was the government-owned railway operator in the Cape Colony from 1874 until the creation of the South African Railways (SAR) in 1910. History Private railways The first railways at the Cape were privately ow ...

, first as Chief Officer of Surveys and Resident Engineer, and then Chief Resident Engineer of the Eastern system. * Frank Alexander Brown Geneste (1842-1888) – in 1877, appointed as an Assistant (later District) Engineer on Cape Government Railways, in the construction of the Beaufort West Extension. * Henry David Alexander Reid (1856-1899) – in 1878, to take charge of the construction of a section of the Kandy and Matalit Railway in Ceylon. * William Hugh Woodcock (1844-1908) -- In 1892, appointed to report to the Cape Government on the condition of the bridges on the railways throughout the Colony; the best method complete the Cape Town Harbour Works. Gregory was a Freemason for much of his working life, and was a member of at least six Lodges. On 7 December 1869 he was given

Freedom of the City of London The Freedom of the City of London started around 1237 as the status of a 'free man' or 'citizen', protected by the charter of the City of London and not under the jurisdiction of a feudal lord. In the Middle Ages, this developed into a freedom o ...

by the

Worshipful Company of Turners The Worshipful Company of Turners is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. The Turners' Company is one of the oldest Livery Companies in the City of London. Its origins go back to early medieval times: the first reference to a London ...

. He was Master Turner of the Company in 1879, when King Leopold II of the Belgians was presented with honorary membership for "his skill and keenness as an amateur turner". Gregory was appointed a Companion of the

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III. It is named in honour ...

(CMG) in 1876, and appointed KCMG in May 1884. In 1894, Sir Charles married Fanny Stirling, an actress who died the following year. Gregory died in London on 10 January 1898, and was buried beside his wife. “The grave is on the west side of the main avenue of

Brompton Cemetery Brompton Cemetery (originally the West of London and Westminster Cemetery) is a London cemetery, managed by The Royal Parks, in West Brompton in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is one of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries. Establ ...

, not very far from the Richmond Road entrance”. In his will, Sir Charles bequeathed £1,000 to "Thomas Olinthus Donaldson, of Lee". This was the son of

Thomas Leverton Donaldson Thomas Leverton Donaldson (19 October 1795 – 1 August 1885) was a British architect, notable as a pioneer in architectural education, as a co-founder and President of the Royal Institute of British Architects and a winner of the RIBA Royal Gold ...

, architect and co-founder of the

Royal Institute of British Architects The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three supp ...

. Thomas Olinthus was presumably a godson of Sir Charles's father, Olinthus Gregory.

Publications

* (1841). "Practical Rules for the Management of a Locomotive Engine: In the Station, on the Road, and in cases of Accident". London: John Weale. * (1844). "On Railway Cuttings and Embankments; with an account of some Slips in the London Clay, on the line of the London". ''Minutes of the Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers.'' 3: 135–145. * (1857). "Report of Mr. Charles Hutton Gregory, C.E: dated the 15th of August, 1857, upon the works of the Grand Trunk Railway Company of Canada". London: Waterlow. * (1868). "Address of C. H. Gregory Esq. on his election as President of the Institution of Civil Engineers, session 1867-68". London: William Clowes & Sons * (1869). "Remarks on Notification of the Government of India. (by Charles Hutton Gregory, Nov 9 1869)". ''Minutes of the Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers.'' 29: 1–3.

References

External links

* * English civil engineers Presidents of the Institution of Civil Engineers Presidents of the Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers British railway mechanical engineers 1817 births 1898 deaths Burials at Brompton Cemetery Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George {{civil-engineering-stub