Sir Clement Daniel Maggs Hindley (1874-1944)
1874 December 19th. Born
Hindley spent much of his life working in Bengal for the East Indian Railway Company eventually becoming their general manager. He also served as India's first Chief Commissioner of Railways bringing about the nationalisation of the East Indian and Great Indian Peninsular railways, the reorganisation of the Railway Department and establishing the Railway Staff College at Dehradun. His work for the railways was recognised with a knighthood and an appointment as Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire and as a Commander of the Order of Leopold by the Belgian government.
Hindley returned to Britain in 1928 becoming the first chairman of the Racecourse Betting Control Board, as well as a member of the Advisory Council for Scientific and Industrial Research and the board of the National Physical Laboratory. He also served as chairman of the first research committee of the Institution of Civil Engineers and later as the institution's president. Hindley worked extensively with the Ministry of Works and the Air Raid Precautions service during the Second World War, particularly on civil defence and reconstruction matters.
Hindley was born in Dulwich, London to Charles Hugh Hindley, a carpet salesman and his wife Mary. Clement received an education from Dulwich College before studying mechanical sciences at Trinity College, Cambridge from which he graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in 1896.
In 1897 he was appointed as assistant engineer to the East Indian Railway in Bengal where he met and married Anne Rait of Murshidabad with whom he would father three sons.
Hindley visited the United States and Canada in 1904 on behalf of the Institution of Civil Engineers, returning to India in 1905 as personal assistant to the chief engineer of the East Indian railway. He was put in charge of the technical section of the agent's office in 1906, responsible for checking all plans and estimates for engineering works, before becoming the manager for the Delhi district of the railway. He became the secretary of the company in 1914, deputy general manager in 1918 and the general manager in 1920.
Hindley left the company in 1921 for a position as chairman of the commissioner for the Port of Calcutta before becoming the first Chief Commissioner of Railways for India the next year. This latter role made him the chief advisor to the Indian government on railways and he used this to institute a reform of the railway sector including the opening of the Railway Staff College, the reorganisation of the Railway Department and the bringing of the East Indian and Great Indian Peninsular railways into public ownership. He brought the railways back to an efficient state following the decline of investment during the First World War and constructed more than 4,000 miles of new routes before his retirement in 1928. In recognition of his services to India he was knighted in 1925 and was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire in 1929. He was also made a commander of the Belgian Order of Leopold.
Returning to Britain in 1928 Hindley was appointed the first chairman of the Racecourse Betting Control Board whose task was to regulate betting at racecourses across the country. He later served on the Advisory Council for Scientific and Industrial Research and on the board of the National Physical Laboratory.
Hindley was a keen member of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) and in 1935 was made chairman of the new research committee before serving as vice president of the institution for the 1938-9 session and as president for 1939-40.
War work[edit]Following the outbreak of the Second World War Hindley's position as president of the ICE made him useful to the war effort and he was employed as a works advisor to the London civil defence region committee and as chairman of the Air Raid Precautions committee to limit damage to structures and engineering works for the Home Office.
In 1940 he appointed as chair of the committee to consider post war reconstruction for the Ministry of Works and Buildings.
By 1944 Hindley was also the chairman of the Codes of Practice Committee for Civil Engineering and Building for the Minister of Works and of the Civil Engineering Industries Holidays With Pay Scheme, an industry wide board regulating paid holidays for construction workers.
1944 May 3rd. Died at home in Hampton, Middlesex
1944 Obituary [1]
1944 Obituary [2]
Sir CLEMENT DANIEL MAGGS HINDLEY, K.C.I.E., was born on the 19th December, 1874, and died at Hampton Court, Middlesex, on the 3rd May, 1944.
He was educated at Dulwich College and at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he obtained the degree of B.A. in the Mechanical Sciences Tripos and was later awarded the degree of M.A.
In January 1897, he was appointed as an assistant engineer on the East Indian Railway and received his practical training under Messrs. F. E. Robertson and E. H. Stone, MM. Inst. C.E., the Chief Engineers to that railway.
In 1899 he was engaged on the survey of the Grand Chord line of the railway and on the location of 52 miles of line in the Plateau section. In 1900 he was transferred to maintenance work on various divisions of the railway.
In 1904 he participated in the official visit of The Institution to America and Canada, and after returning to India in 1905 he was placed in charge of the Allahabad district, where he was directly responsible to the Chief Engineer for the maintenance of about 450 miles of main line, together with stations, buildings, and signalling. In the same year he was appointed Personal Assistant to the Chief Engineer, and in 1906 was placed in charge of the technical section of the office of the Agent for the East Indian Railway, with responsibility for the scrutiny of all plans and estimates for engineering works. Later he assumed charge of the Delhi district and the completion of the works for the Agra direct access project.
In 1909 he was appointed Resident Engineer of the works for the completion of the Gya-Khatrasgarh Railway. He became Secretary of the East Indian Railway in 1914, Deputy General Manager in 1918, and General Manager in 1920.
In 1921 he was appointed Chairman of the Commissioners of the Port of Calcutta, and in the following year was selected as the first Chief Commissioner of Railways for India, with responsibility for decisions on technical matters, and was the sole adviser to the Government of India on railway policy. During his tenure of this office many important changes were introduced, including reorganization of the Railway Department, the separation of railway finance from the general budget, the transfer of the East Indian and Great Indian Peninsula Railways to State management, and the opening of the first Railway Staff College.
His work also included the restoration of the Indian railways to a state of efficiency after the effects of the war of 1914-1918 and the initiation of a programme of new construction which added 4,000 miles to the railways....[more]