William Edmund Garstin
Sir William Edmund Garstin (born January 29, 1849 in Bengal ; † January 8, 1925 ) was a British civil engineer and high-ranking colonial official in Egypt .
Life
Garstin was born as the second son of Charles Garstin in Bengal, British India , where his father worked as a civil engineer for the government. His mother was Agnes Helen Mackenzie († 1871). He attended Cheltenham College and studied civil engineering at King's College , London.
On October 9, 1888, he married Mary Isabella North (1868-1953), daughter of Charles Augustus North and Rachel Elizabeth Grant. The marriage was divorced in 1902 after an affair between his wife and the officer Charles à Court became known.
Career
In 1872 he took up a position in the Public Works Department (PWD) in India, an authority that took care of the construction and maintenance of roads, bridges and government buildings.
13 years later Sir Colin Scott Moncrieff brought him to Egypt, where he had just taken over the Ministry of Public Works. This is where some British engineers should tackle the Egyptian irrigation system. You should u. a. Ensure irrigation for the Asyut , al-Minya and Beni Suef administrative districts. Garstin became General Inspector, traveled to Upper Egypt and Sudan, and made a number of maps.
During this time, the planning of the first Aswan Dam and the Asyut weir , based on a design by Sir William Willcocks (1852-1932) and plans by Sir Benjamin Baker (1840-1907) and William Edmund Garstin by the company Sir John Aird & Co. were erected from 1898 to 1902.
In 1904 he became an advisor to the Egyptian government as Under-Secretary of State in the Ministry of Public Works. Antiquities were also subordinate to the ministry. In this capacity he worked closely with the Service des Antiquités d'Egypte (SAE) (= Antique Service today: Supreme Council of Antiquities ) and Gaston Maspero . In 1905 Lord Carnarvon asked him for an excavation license, which he gave him. Maspero asked that the lord be given a suitable digging site. It was not until two years later that Carnarvon asked Maspero to recommend an excavation supervisor, and Howard Carter entered his service.
After his retirement in 1907, he was appointed Director of the British Government in the Suez Canal Company (today: Suez Canal Authority ). During the First World War he worked for the Red Cross in England. He died on January 8, 1925.
Awards
- 1887 Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George (KCMG)
- 1902 Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St. Michael and St. George (GCMG)
- 1918 Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE).
- Osmanje order, first class
literature
- Garstin, Sir William Edmund . In: Encyclopædia Britannica . 11th edition. tape 31 : English literature - Oyama, Iwao . London 1922, p. 182 (English, full text [ Wikisource ]).
- Arthur Goldschmidt: Biographical dictionary of modern Egypt . Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2000, ISBN 978-1-55587-229-8
Web links
- Texts for the keyword "William Edmund Garstin" in the internet archive
Individual evidence
- ↑ Construction of the Aswan Dam in 1902
- ^ Sir William Edmund Garstin on thepeerage.com , accessed August 19, 2015.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Garstin, William Edmund |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British civil engineer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 29, 1849 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Bengal |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 8, 1925 |