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Arthur Joseph West (1863 in
On 3 February 1898, barely two years after the beginning of construction, the railway first opened for service. However, completion of the entire Beaufort–Weston section took two more years. From 1900, West used all his energy to extend the railway line along the Padas River to
Arthur Joseph West (1863 in Bromsgrove
Bromsgrove is a town in Worcestershire, England, about north-east of Worcester and south-west of Birmingham city centre. It had a population of 34,755 in at the 2021 census. It gives its name to the wider Bromsgrove District, of which it is ...
; – 2 November 1937 in Bexhill-on-Sea
Bexhill-on-Sea (often shortened to Bexhill) is a seaside town and civil parish in the Rother District in the county of East Sussex in South East England. It is located along the Sussex Coast and between the towns of Hastings, England, Hastings ...
) was a British civil engineer. Under his leadership, the Labuan Coal Line and the North Borneo Railway from Beaufort to Weston
Weston may refer to:
Places Australia
* Weston, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra
* Weston, New South Wales
* Weston Creek, a residential district of Canberra
* Weston Park, Canberra, a park
Canada
* Weston, Nova Scotia
* W ...
and Melalap were built.
Personal life
West was born in 1863 in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire,England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
, the son of a farmer. Little is known about his youth and early professional career, but he was recorded in a census as a teacher at the age of 17. On the recommendation of his friend William Clark Cowie,K. G. Tregonning. p. 56. he was appointed as Chief Railway Engineer on 7 July 1896 by the North Borneo Chartered Company
The North Borneo Chartered Company (NBCC), also known as the British North Borneo Company (BNBC), was a British chartered company formed on 1 November 1881 to administer and exploit the resources of North Borneo (present-day Sabah in Malaysia) ...
with an annual salary of 4,800 Straits dollar
The Straits dollar was the currency of the Straits Settlements from 1898 until 1939. At the same time, it was also used in the Federated Malay States, the Unfederated Malay States, Kingdom of Sarawak, Brunei, and British North Borneo.
Histor ...
s. Although his previous experience was limited to the construction of the kilometre-long narrow Labuan Line, with which the coal mines of Labuan had been connected to the port of Victoria Town, his position was completely independent from any control of the Governor, being mainly directed by Cowie.
West began his work on Bukau in 1896 as the first section for the North Borneo Railway. At the same time he had to construct both the line to the north of Beaufort and south towards Brunei Bay
Brunei Bay () is on the northwestern coast of Borneo island, in Brunei and Malaysia. It is located east of Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei.
It is the ocean gateway to the isolated Temburong District of Brunei, separated from the rest of Brunei by th ...
. The terminus of the line on Brunei Bay had been selected by Cowie but proved to be too shallow as it was a mangrove forest area. West called the station there "West Town", which later became Weston. West married Mary Louisa Dixon in 1895 at Newington, London
Newington is a district of Central London, just south of the River Thames, and part of the London Borough of Southwark. It was an ancient parish and the site of the early administration of the county of Surrey. It was the location of the County ...
; and had two children named Arthur Gilbert Dixon (b.1898) and Willie. His first son was born in Labuan
Labuan (), officially the Federal Territory of Labuan (), is an island federal territory of Malaysia. It includes and six smaller islands off the coast of the state of Sabah in East Malaysia. Labuan's capital is Victoria, which is best kno ...
and baptised there on 28 November 1897 by the Governor of Beaufort. His family remained in the island during the first phase of construction of the North Borneo Railway.
On 3 February 1898, barely two years after the beginning of construction, the railway first opened for service. However, completion of the entire Beaufort–Weston section took two more years. From 1900, West used all his energy to extend the railway line along the Padas River to Tenom
Tenom (, ) is the capital of the Tenom District in the Interior Division of Sabah, Malaysia. It is located about 176 kilometres south of Kota Kinabalu and 128 kilometres north of Long Pasia, which is one of the famous attractions in Sabah. Ten ...
and then to Melalap. Tenom was reached in 1905; Melalap in 1906. On 1 April 1900, his family moved to Bukau. His two sons received an academic and technical education in Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...
and entered a technical career; Gilbert, the older of the two became an assistant chief engineer at the British Broadcasting Company
The British Broadcasting Company Limited (BBC) was a short-lived British commercial broadcasting company formed on 18 October 1922 by British and American electrical companies doing business in the United Kingdom. Licensed by the British Gener ...
(BBC) while Willie became a geologist
A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...
.
As his career and presence was mainly linked to Cowie, he was relieved of his post and left Borneo
Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...
on Cowie's death in 1910. West died on 2 November 1937 in Bexhill-on-Sea.
Notes
Literature
*References