James Walton (1820-1901)
James Walton (1820-1901)
1901 Obituary [1]
JAMES WALTON was born in Liverpool on 22nd February 1820.
At the age of fourteen he was apprenticed to Messrs. Fawcett, of Liverpool, for a term of seven years. On its termination he remained for a short time with the firm, and then removed to Woolwich where he was employed for about four years in the marine-engine factory of the Royal Dockyard.
He next was engaged by Messrs. Day, Summers and Co., marine engineers at Southampton, by whom he was sent to Alexandria as superintending engineer on a new steamer which they had built for the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co. So pleased were the firm and the Egyptian Government with the way in which be performed his duties, that he was appointed superintendent of a line of steamers which the Egyptian Government supplied for the transit of Indian passengers from Alexandria to Cairo. In those days the journey from Cairo to Suez was across the desert, re-embarking at Suez for India and China.
On the completion of the railway from Alexandria to Suez, he was appointed locomotive superintendent, which post he retained until his retirement in 1874. In recognition of his long service with the Egyptian Government, the Khedive created him a Bey.
His death took place at his residence at Old Charlton, Kent, on 11th May 1901, at the age of eighty-one.
He became a Member of this Institution in 1877.