James William Punter
James William Punter (c1866-1947)
1949 Obituary [1]
"Captain JAMES WILLIAM PUNTER, whose death occurred on. 10th November 1947, at the age of eighty-one, was closely concerned with railway signal engineering throughout his long professional career. After obtaining his general and technical education in Brussels, he began in 1885 his apprenticeship with Messrs. Saxby and Farmer, Ltd., railway engineers, on the conclusion of which, eight years later, he took up an appointment as signal engineer to the Madras Railway.
Returning to this country in 1897 he was engaged for the next four years as continental superintendent for Messrs. Saxby and Farmer, and from 1901 to 1905 acted as chief inspector of new works for the London and North Western Railway at Crewe. On his return from Cairo in 1909, where he had been chief engineer in the mechanical and electrical signalling department of the Egyptian State Railways, he became general manager for Messrs. Tyer and Company, Ltd., electrical and signalling engineers, of London. and Slough, and began a connection which lasted until his retirement some thirty years later.
Eventually, towards the end of his career he joined the board of directors. Captain Punter was elected a Member of the Institution in 1915. He was also a Member of the Institution of Electrical Engineers and a past president of the Institution of Railway Signal Engineers. Prior to, and throughout, the war of 1914-18 he held a commission in the Royal Engineers. For services rendered to the Egyptian Government, Captain Punter was awarded the Insignia of the Fourth Class of the Imperial Order of the Osmanieh."