John McKenzie Davidson
John McKenzie Davidson (c1870-1941)
1942 Obituary [1]
JOHN MCKENZIE DAVIDSON was engaged for practically the whole of his professional career in India. After serving his apprenticeship from 1887 to 1892 in the engineering department of Messrs. Davidson and Sons, paper manufacturers, in Aberdeen, he became engineer assistant to Messrs. McKenzie and Company, general contractors, at Karachi. In 1893 he was appointed general foreman, and was placed in charge of the foundry and machine shop and of the bridge, roof and boiler works. He was later promoted to the position of manager, and became managing partner in 1896, when the designation of the firm was altered to Messrs. McKenzie Davidson and Company.
He erected many bridges on the North Western and other Indian railways and several road bridges in Cashmere; he also built a pier for the Port Trust, Karachi, and supervised the erection of depots at the ports of Zanzibar and Mombasa for the storage of oil in bulk. During the war of 1914-18 he placed his services gratuitously at the disposal of the Indian Government, returning to England in 1919, when he became associated with Messrs. Andrew Brown and Company, metal merchants and agents, of Cannon Street, London, until his retirement in 1921.
Mr. Davidson, whose death in his seventy-first year occurred on 3rd April 1941, was elected an Associate Member of the Institution in 1896, and was transferred to Membership in 1901.