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Proby Cautley
Sir Proby Thomas Cautley, KCB (3 January 1802 – 25 January 1871), was an English engineer and palaeontologist who is best known for having conceived and supervised the construction of the Ganges canal during East India Company rule in India. The canal stretches some 350 miles between its headworks at Haridwar and, after bifurcation near Aligarh, its confluences with the Ganges river mainstem in Kanpur and the Yamuna river in Etawah. At the time of completion, it had the greatest discharge of any irrigation canal in the world.
Proby Cautley was educated at Charterhouse School (1813–18), followed by the East India Company's Military Seminary at Addiscombe (1818–19). After less than a year, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant and dispatched to India, joining the Bengal Presidency artillery in Calcutta. In 1825, he assisted Captain Robert Smith, the engineer in charge of constructing the Eastern Yamuna canal, also called the Doab canal. He was in charge of this canal for 12 years between 1831 and 1843. By 1836, he had become Superintendent-General of Canals.
Cautley is also known for his research on fossils found in India, particularly those found in the Siwalik Hills, which he conducted in collaboration with Hugh Falconer. In 1846, he was made a fellow of the Royal Society for this work.
Proby Cautley was born in Raydon, Suffolk on 3 January 1802 to Catherine, née Proby (c. 1772–1830), and Thomas Cautley (c. 1756–1817). Proby Cautley's grandfathers on both sides were clergymen. His father, Thomas, was an erudite man who had spent most of his life at the University of Cambridge. Thomas had entered Trinity College in 1772. He was chosen Second Wrangler in the B. A. examination. He went on to receive the M.A. and B.D. degrees. After being elected a Fellow of Trinity College in 1778, he held various administrative positions at Cambridge until c. 1796.
In 1791, Thomas was granted a living and rectorship at Raydon, where, after his marriage and departure from Trinity, he took up residence. However, his wife died after the birth of the couple's second daughter. Eighteen months later, Thomas married Catherine, the second of eight daughters of the clergyman, Narcissus Charles Proby (1738/9–1804) in nearby Stratford St. Mary. Reverend Proby, who owned land in Stratford, Cheshire, and Ireland, was wealthy by what was typical for that time and place. Each daughter had a marriage settlement of £1,000. In 1803, the year following Proby Cautley's birth, Thomas Cautley combined his living with his father-in-law's. Upon Reverend Proby's death in December 1804, the Cautleys moved into the Stratford parsonage. Proby was the eldest surviving son; a year after him, a sister, Catherine Maria, was born, followed later by a brother George, and a second sister Arabella.
Supported by Thomas Cautley's two incomes, the family lived comfortably. The children were raised in an intellectually invigorating atmosphere. Their interests included painting, collecting plants in their natural environment, fossils, and reading. River Stour, which ran through Stratford, had a lock which survives. Later in life, George produced some books of verse. One poem dedicated to Proby on the occasion of the opening of the Ganges Canal in 1854, replayed childhood memories:
The garden brook, home of thy first essay,
The mimic sluice, and fairy waterwheel,
And those mild eyes which blest thy thoughtful play...
Thomas Cautley's health began to falter in 1807. He died on 13 July 1817 and was buried in Roydon church, where his first wife is also memorialised. Proby's brother George entered Pembroke College, Cambridge, in 1825 and became a clergyman, while his sisters remained at home with their mother until her death in June 1830. There are memorials to her and Proby's father in Stratford St Mary church. Proby's childhood was passed amidst a large family: his own family, and, living nearby, his grandmother Proby, his mother's seven sisters, and his cousins. This contrasted markedly with his life in India, where he was to arrive alone on a vast continent still shy of his 18th birthday.
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Proby Cautley
Sir Proby Thomas Cautley, KCB (3 January 1802 – 25 January 1871), was an English engineer and palaeontologist who is best known for having conceived and supervised the construction of the Ganges canal during East India Company rule in India. The canal stretches some 350 miles between its headworks at Haridwar and, after bifurcation near Aligarh, its confluences with the Ganges river mainstem in Kanpur and the Yamuna river in Etawah. At the time of completion, it had the greatest discharge of any irrigation canal in the world.
Proby Cautley was educated at Charterhouse School (1813–18), followed by the East India Company's Military Seminary at Addiscombe (1818–19). After less than a year, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant and dispatched to India, joining the Bengal Presidency artillery in Calcutta. In 1825, he assisted Captain Robert Smith, the engineer in charge of constructing the Eastern Yamuna canal, also called the Doab canal. He was in charge of this canal for 12 years between 1831 and 1843. By 1836, he had become Superintendent-General of Canals.
Cautley is also known for his research on fossils found in India, particularly those found in the Siwalik Hills, which he conducted in collaboration with Hugh Falconer. In 1846, he was made a fellow of the Royal Society for this work.
Proby Cautley was born in Raydon, Suffolk on 3 January 1802 to Catherine, née Proby (c. 1772–1830), and Thomas Cautley (c. 1756–1817). Proby Cautley's grandfathers on both sides were clergymen. His father, Thomas, was an erudite man who had spent most of his life at the University of Cambridge. Thomas had entered Trinity College in 1772. He was chosen Second Wrangler in the B. A. examination. He went on to receive the M.A. and B.D. degrees. After being elected a Fellow of Trinity College in 1778, he held various administrative positions at Cambridge until c. 1796.
In 1791, Thomas was granted a living and rectorship at Raydon, where, after his marriage and departure from Trinity, he took up residence. However, his wife died after the birth of the couple's second daughter. Eighteen months later, Thomas married Catherine, the second of eight daughters of the clergyman, Narcissus Charles Proby (1738/9–1804) in nearby Stratford St. Mary. Reverend Proby, who owned land in Stratford, Cheshire, and Ireland, was wealthy by what was typical for that time and place. Each daughter had a marriage settlement of £1,000. In 1803, the year following Proby Cautley's birth, Thomas Cautley combined his living with his father-in-law's. Upon Reverend Proby's death in December 1804, the Cautleys moved into the Stratford parsonage. Proby was the eldest surviving son; a year after him, a sister, Catherine Maria, was born, followed later by a brother George, and a second sister Arabella.
Supported by Thomas Cautley's two incomes, the family lived comfortably. The children were raised in an intellectually invigorating atmosphere. Their interests included painting, collecting plants in their natural environment, fossils, and reading. River Stour, which ran through Stratford, had a lock which survives. Later in life, George produced some books of verse. One poem dedicated to Proby on the occasion of the opening of the Ganges Canal in 1854, replayed childhood memories:
The garden brook, home of thy first essay,
The mimic sluice, and fairy waterwheel,
And those mild eyes which blest thy thoughtful play...
Thomas Cautley's health began to falter in 1807. He died on 13 July 1817 and was buried in Roydon church, where his first wife is also memorialised. Proby's brother George entered Pembroke College, Cambridge, in 1825 and became a clergyman, while his sisters remained at home with their mother until her death in June 1830. There are memorials to her and Proby's father in Stratford St Mary church. Proby's childhood was passed amidst a large family: his own family, and, living nearby, his grandmother Proby, his mother's seven sisters, and his cousins. This contrasted markedly with his life in India, where he was to arrive alone on a vast continent still shy of his 18th birthday.