William Janvrin Du Port
William Janvrin Du Port (Bey) (1834-1891) M.I.C.E.
1891 Died in Alexandria
1891 Obituary [1]
WILLIAM JANVRIN DU PORT (Du Port Bey), who was the second son of Mr. James Du Port, of St. Peter’s Port, Guernsey, was born in that island on the 22nd of March, 1834.
After being educated at Elizabeth College, he served his apprenticeship as a Civil Engineer with Mr. George Fosbery Lyster, Member of Council Inst. C.E., who was then carrying out the new harbour and breakwater works at Guernsey. His first appointment was that of Engineer of a section of the Marseilles and Toulon Railway. On the completion of that section he was put in charge of the Guernsey Harbour works, in place of his former chief, Mr. Lyster, who had been appointed engineer to the Liverpool Dock Estate.
After a short period he removed, at Mr. Lyster’s invitation, to Birkenhead, where he took charge as Resident Engineer of the new docks then in course of construction. At the close of this work Mr. Du Port went to Singapore as Engineer-in-Chief for the construction of the Tajong-Pagar docks, which important undertaking he brought to it successful completion in 1869.
In the following year he was appointed, on the recommendation of Sir John Fowler, Past-President Inst. C.E., then Consulting Engineer to the Viceroy of Egypt, Government Engineer-in-Charge of the construction of the new harbour works at Alexandria. The construction of this harbour, which included the building of a breakwater two miles in length and several miles of quays and jetties, was the great work of Mr. Du Port’s life, and to it he devoted the whole of his time and energy from 1870 to 1879. The last portion of the undertaking was the reconstruction of the Mahmoudieh Locks, the difficulty of which was considerably increased by the necessity of maintaining the navigation during the progress of the work. During the execution of the harbour works many difficulties were met with, some of which involved considerable change in the original plans. Owing to the perseverance and skill of the Resident Engineer these difficulties were all overcome, with the result that the Alexandria Harbour is now one of the best in the Mediterranean. Another important work, to which Mr. Du Port devoted considerable study and attention, was the much-needed improvement of the Boghaz Pass which forms the outer approach to the harbour from the sea. This pass is a tortuous rocky channel, too difficult for navigation at night or in bad weather, and too shallow to admit of first-class men-of-war, or vessels with a draught of over 25 feet, entering the harbour. Unfortunately at the time of the completion of the latter the funds necessary for carrying out this work were not forthcoming.
In 1888, however, the Egptian Government decided to undertake it, and Mr. Du Port sent in a tender, which, however, was not accepted. It is believed his plans were so well matured that, had the work been entrusted to him, it would have been completed before the date of his death. On the completion of the Alexandria Harbour works at the end of 1879, Mr. Du Port went to Cairo as Inspector-General of Dredging at the Ministry of Public Works, which position he occupied until 1883, making some important improvements in that department. His services to the Egyptian Government were recognized by the Viceroy on several occasions, and on his retirement in 1884 he received from the Khedive Tewfik the decoration of the Commandership of the Order of the Mejidieh, and was created a Bey of the first class. Du Port Bey then took, in partnership with Mr. J. Hunter Jones, a contract for the dredging of the Ibrahmieh, the principal irrigation canal in Upper Egypt, which he successfully carried on up to the time of his death. This was the first contract for irrigation work in Egypt by paid labour, instead of, as formerly, by forced labour.
During 1890, although failing health had considerably impaired his strength, he took a leading part in promoting the construction of the new English Church at Ramleh, one of the principal suburbs of Alexandria. It was opened for Divine Service only a short time before his death, a room in his own house having been for some time previously devoted to that purpose every Sunday.
Du Port Bey died at his residence in Ramleh on the 20th of June, 1891. His funeral was attended by nearly the whole of the British Colony in Alexandria, the Viceroy being represented by a special delegate. His character combined in a remarkable degree the elements of gentleness, courage and determination. At the time of Arabi’s rebellion he was one of the last to leave Alexandria before the commencement of its bombardment. His subordinates, whether Europeans or Arabs, were devoted to him and placed implicit confidence in his judgment. During the last epidemic of cholera in Upper Egypt his Mohammedan employees were attacked at the time of their annual Fast of Ramadan. Noticing that the compulsory abstention from food from sunrise to sunset rendered his men less able to resist the disease, he issued a peremptory order that every man in his employment should partake of one substantial meal during the day under penalty of instant dismissal. The men, declaring it to be the will of Allah that they should do so, immediately responded to his order, and thus all further serious progress of the disease among them was prevented. His death leaves a gap in the British Colony in Egypt which will not easily he filled.
He was elected a Member of the Institution on the 24th of May, 1870. Of him an intimate friend has referred to his powers as a linguist, to his scientific attainments outside professional work, and to his warm sympathy for every person, however humble, with whom he was brought in contact.