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{{EngvarB|date=September 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}}
{{for|the inventor of Linoleum|Frederick Walton}}
'''Frederick Thomas Granville Walton''' [[Order of the Indian Empire|CIE]], [[Institution of Civil Engineers|M. Inst C.E.]], [[Telford Medal]], was a British [[railway engineer]] in [[British Raj|India]]. He specialised in bridge construction. He was commonly known by his middle name Granville, and was often referred to as Mr F.T.G. Walton. Walton was born in September 1840 in [[Hampton, London|Hampton]], [[Middlesex]], England to William Walton (1795–1889) of [[Reading, Berkshire|Reading]], Berkshire and Elizabeth Louisa Plunkett (1801–1866) originally of [[Dalston]], [[Cumberland]].<ref name="gritquoy">http://www.gritquoy.com/genealogy/getperson.php?personID=I18158&tree=001Master</ref>

== Career ==
[[Image:Malviya Bridge 2.JPG|thumb|alt=Malviya Bridge|Dufferin Bridge (1887), now known as the [[Malviya Bridge]]]]
[[File:Godavari Bridge.jpg|thumb|Havelock Bridge (1900) on left, now known as the [[Old Godavari Bridge]]]]

Walton studied under Richard Johnson, chief civil engineer of the [[Great Northern Railway (Great Britain)|Great Northern Railways]]. He worked as an Assistant Engineer at Cheshire Railways from 1860 to 1868. Walton then moved to India and worked for the [[Oudh and Rohilkhand Railway]] Company from 1868 to 1888. During this time he was in charge of the construction of the [[Ramganga]] River Bridge and Lines.<ref name="en.wikisource">[[Wikisource:The Indian Biographical Dictionary (1915)/Walton, Frederick Thomas Granville]]</ref>

Between 1881 and 1887, Walton was in charge of the construction of the [[Malviya Bridge|Dufferin Bridge]] over the [[Ganges]] at [[Benares]]. The bridge carries rail track on the lower deck and the [[Grand Trunk Road]] on the upper deck and is one of the major bridges over the Ganges. It has 7 spans of {{convert|350|ft|m}} and 9 spans of {{convert|110|ft|m}} and it was the first bridge of its type constructed in the Indian sub-continent by the engineers of the Oudh and Rohilkhand Railway. The bridge is {{convert|1048.5|m|ft}} long.<ref name="irsme">{{Cite web |url=http://irsme.nic.in/files/mmfiles/BRIDGES_RRB.pdf |title=Bridges: The Spectacular Feat of Indian Engineering By R.R.Bhandari |access-date=1 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305002840/http://irsme.nic.in/files/mmfiles/BRIDGES_RRB.pdf |archive-date=5 March 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> It was renamed the Malviya Bridge in 1948.

In 1886, Walton was elected as a member of the [[Institution of Civil Engineers]]. Between 1889 and 1896, he was engineer-in-chief of Oudh and Rohilkhand Railway.<ref name="en.wikisource"/>

Between 1896 and 1900, Walton was the engineer-in-chief for the construction of the [[Old Godavari Bridge|Havelock Bridge]] over the [[Godavari River]], at [[Rajahmundry]]. This bridge of stone masonry piers and steel girders was one of the longest bridges in India at the time of construction, with the bridge consisting of 56 main spans of {{convert|150|ft|m}} each and a total length of {{convert|2950|m|ft}}.<ref name="irsme" /> In 1948, this bridge was renamed the Old Godavari Bridge.

Walton was also responsible for the construction of significant bridges at [[Wainganga]], [[Bareilly]], [[Moradabad]], and [[Kosi River|Kosi Rampur]].<ref name="en.wikisource" />

Walton's bridge-building activities caught the attention of the author [[Rudyard Kipling]], who it is believed used him as one of the inspirations for his character "Findlayson" in his story, ''The Bridge-Builders''. It is believed Kipling stayed with Walton during a visit to India when Walton was working on the Dufferin bridge.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kipling.org.uk/rg_bridgebuilders1.htm|title=The Bridge-Builders|publisher=|access-date=9 September 2014}}</ref>

The bridge featured in ''The Bridge Builders'' is the Kashi Bridge. [[Varanasi|Kashi]] is another name for the city of [[Varanasi|Benares]], the location of Walton's Dufferin Bridge. Just like the Kashi bridge of the story, the Dufferin Bridge's opening ceremony was delayed due to a major flood<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kipling.org.uk/rg_bridgebuilders1_p.htm |title=The Bridge-Builders |access-date=9 September 2014}}</ref> adding further weight to the theory this was the bridge the story was based on.

== Personal life ==
In 1877, Walton married Charlotte Eliza Roney, second daughter of [[Cusack Patrick Roney]], author and secretary of the [[Eastern Counties Railway]], and a director of the [[Grand Trunk Railway]] Company of Canada and the [[London, Chatham and Dover Railway]]. <ref>British Businessmen and Canadian Confederation: Constitution Making in an era of anglo globalization, Andrew Smith, 2008, McGill, Queens University Press, London</ref>

They had two sons, [[Colonel]] Sir Cusack Walton [[Distinguished Service Order|DSO]], [[Royal Engineers|RE]](1878–1949) and [[Colonel]] [[Granville Walton]] [[O.B.E.]], [[Justice of the Peace|JP]], [[Deputy Lieutenant|DL]], [[Royal Engineers|RE]] (1888–1974), a leading member of [[The Boy Scouts Association]].<ref name="gritquoy" />

Walton was the uncle of [[William Beckett (engineer)|William Beckett]], another [[British Raj|Indian]] bridge and railway engineer.<ref>http://www.gritquoy.com/genealogy/getperson.php?personID=I18174&tree=001Master</ref> Beckett was greatly influenced in his career choice by his uncle, for whom he had great respect.

Walton was an inaugural member of the management committee of the British Empire Club in London alongside fellow members; The [[Earl of Derby]] (Chairman), [[Lord Ampthill]], [[Thomas Brassey, 1st Earl Brassey|Lord Brassey]], [[Lord Rothschild]], Sir [[John Cockburn (Australian politician)|John Cockburn]] and Sir [[Felix Schuster]].
<ref>{{cite web|url=http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=WDT19060703.2.14.4|title=Papers Past — Wairarapa Daily Times — 3 July 1906 — BRITISH EMPIRE CLUB.|work=Wairarapa Daily Times|access-date=9 September 2014}}</ref>

Walton died aged 85 years old in 1925.{{cn|date=January 2020}}

== See also ==

*[[List of longest bridges above water in India]]
*[[List of bridges in India]]

== References ==

{{reflist}}



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{{DEFAULTSORT:Walton, Frederick}}
[[Category:1840 births]]
[[Category:1925 deaths]]
[[Category:British railway civil engineers]]
[[Category:Railway officers in British India]]
[[Category:Engineers from London]]
[[Category:People from Hampton, London]]

Frederick Walton (engineer) - Revision history

>Citation bot: Alter: title. | Use this bot. Report bugs. | Suggested by Abductive | Category:1925 deaths | via #UCB_Category 1830/2409