John Montriou Campion
John Montriou Campion (1847-1927)
1927 Obituary[1]
THE LATE MR. J. M. CAMPION.
The death after a brief illness of Mr. John Montriou Campion, at his home, 51, Madeley-road, Ealing, London, W.5, on December 20, removes from a large circle of friends an engineer who had spent many years of his life in India, and for some years occupied the position of Chief Engineer and Secretary for Public Works to the Government of the Punjab.
Mr. Campion, who was born on August 3, 1847, became an articled pupil of Mr. H. Bolden, M.Inst.C.E., in his eighteenth year. During his period of training he was chiefly employed in levelling and surveying operations and in the preparation of drawings and estimates. He was also engaged on work in connection with the setting out of the Barry Railway, and carried out a trigonometrical survey of Barry Island and harbour.
After studying at King’s College, London, for a few months, Mr. Campion sat for and passed, in July, 1869, the competitive examination for entry into the Indian Public Works Department. The young engineer proceeded to India in September, 1869, and his first piece of work was in connection with the construction of the small arms factory at Dum Dum, which was then being built. He was transferred to the Punjab Northern State Railway in January, 1870, and continued in this branch of the service until March, 1875, when he came back to England on leave. During this period he had charge of various divisions of the railway, and set out and superintended the construction of the permanent way, bridges, stations, and culverts.
On his return to India, in February, 1876, after his first long leave, Mr. Campion, who now held the position of assistant engineer, first grade, was appointed to the Holkar-Neemuch State Railway. His first duty was to prepare drawings and compile estimates for the line from Rutlam to Neemuch, some 82 miles in length. Subsequently he was transferred to the Indus Valley State Railway, and was appointed to the Gotki division. Some seven months after this, in March, 1877, he was appointed to the Radhien division, and immediately undertook the building of 90 bridges and culverts and the construction of a large locomotive shed and other buildings. These works were speedily completed, and he received the special thanks of the chief engineer of the railway for his services.
In 1879, Mr. Campion was transferred, at his own request, to the Bhopal State Railway. During the two years which followed he did a considerable amount of work in connection with the surveying and setting out of lines in the region of the Bhopal Ghats. He was promoted to the rank of executive engineer in 1880, and some twelve months later was placed on the Punjab Provincial Staff. In his new capacity he became responsible for the construction of many of the Government offices and buildings at Simla.
Subsequently he was attached to the Military Works Department for various periods of service, and reached the grade of superintending engineer in 1896. Three years later he was selected to fill the position of Chief Engineer and Secretary for Public Works to the Government of the Punjab. For his subsequent services he received the thanks of that Government on several occasions, and prior to his retirement, in 1902, he was awarded the newly instituted Kaiser-i-Hind Gold Medal.
Mr. Campion continued to serve India after his return to his native country. An organisation to promote the welfare of Indian students and to assist them in regard to their technical training was set up during Lord Morley’s term of office as Secretary of State for India. Under this scheme, Mr. Campion was selected to help young Indian engineering students to obtain practical training in connection with their academic courses. He continued his activities in this direction until some two years ago, when the work was transferred to the India Store Department as a result of reorganisation by Sir Atul Chatterjee, High Commissioner for India.
Mr. Campion became an associate member of the Institution of Civil Engineers on December 3, 1872, and was elected to full membership on February 24, 1885.