George Urquhart - Civil Engineer

 by Roberta McGee

Margaret Mackervail, the fourth child of shoemaker Robert Mackervail and Lillias Bryden, was born in 1823 in Cumnock. Robert and Lillias had six children. Margaret's siblings seemed to be content to spend a settled life in Cumnock but for Margaret life turned out a little bit different. 

She met James Urquhart, who was a railway contractor, and they married in 1846 in Old Cumnock. After their marriage they lodged in Main Street, Auchinleck. James's brother William, who was a blacksmith, lived in Main Street so perhaps they lodged with him. Four of their children were born in Auchinleck, James, Lillias, Janet-Jessie and Robert.

By 1861 the family had moved to Lochans Village, Inch, Wigtownshire and two more children had been born, George and Alexander. In 1871 the family were living in Springbank, Neilston with the addition of another two children, William and Margaret. The 1881 census shows the family at 44 Apsley Place, Glasgow Gorbals. James is now a contractor (waterworks). James sadly died in Glasgow in 1889.

So, in total, James and Margaret had eight children. Like Margaret's siblings, all of their children, with one exception, were content to live their lives in Scotland. George was the exception.

His father James was a manager with the Glasgow & South West Railway and, as he gained experience, James moved into laying pipes for waterwork schemes as a contractor. George served his apprenticeship as a mason with his uncle Peter McInroy, a master mason, in Cumnock before joining his father. He worked with his father for three years gaining experience in everything connected with the building of railways, from navvy work up through the different grades of earthwork, banking, bridge work to levelling.

In 1883 George decided to travel to Santo Domingo in the Caribbean. A railway line was being laid through a swamp and he was appointed manager. He was there for three years after which he came back home where he remained for six months. 

Location of Santo Domingo - Wikipedia 

  

In 1887 he set out for the Argentine Republic. He went there 'on spec' but, ten days after he arrived, he was working on the construction of a 250 miles long railway. He was put in charge of the masonry initially, but after two years he was in full charge of laying the track and had 600 men working under him. After four years in the Argentine George came back home, this time for five months.

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Soon he was travelling again, this time with a companion, a Scotsman. They headed for Mexico. They had no contacts there and no set plan. They found themselves in Pueblo in Central Mexico and learned that a railway was being laid between Pueblo and Ohaco (Oaxaca) down on the Pacific coast. The engineer in charge was Scottish and he was pleased to see them. When he found that they knew about bridge building he gave them a contract. Similar work came along and they spent fourteen months in Mexico. 

This time they didn't go home when their contract ended. They heard that an English company was laying a railroad in Colombia so they headed for Mendellin in Antioquia which was about 5000 feet above sea-level. They had a long, difficult and expensive journey to get there by ship and by mule and when they arrived they found that there were problems. The political and military struggles and constant warfare had a damaging effect on the economy and it wasn't guaranteed that they would receive payment for any work done. They decided to retrace their steps and George headed for home via New York. He remained at home for four or five years. 

His father James died in 1889 so perhaps George remained at home to support his mother while she decided what to do after her husband's death. The 1891 census for East Brennan, Kilmory, on the Isle of Arran, shows George aged 32 years, a civil engineer and unmarried, living with his widowed mother Margaret, his unmarried brother Alexander, who was a bank teller and his two unmarried sisters Lillias and Margaret.

According to the 1895 Valuation Rolls Margaret was back home in Cumnock. She was a tenant at Pitlochrie Cottage in Glaisnock Street. The cottage was owned by Mrs Annie McInroy. George had been an apprentice of his uncle Peter McInroy a master mason in Cumnock, so Annie was probably a relative. 

In 1898, following the invasion and occupation of Egypt, the British began construction of the Assouan Dam, the first dam across the River Nile. The main contractor was the British Civil Engineering firm of John Aird & Company who appointed George Urquhart as mason contractor. This was an enormous undertaking. The Assouan Dam was designed as a gravity-buttress dam and was the largest masonry dam in the world.

Quote from a newspaper (Cumnock Connections)

'Its length is a mile and a quarter and its height varies from 65 feet to over 130 feet, or nearly as high as the spire of the Crichton Memorial Church in Cumnock.'

Assouan Dam (sometimes known as Aswan Dam) - Various internet images

In 1899, with his mother and unmarried siblings now settled in Cumnock, George left for Egypt to work on this new project. The Assouan Dam was opened in December 1902. During the building of the dam he had been able to go back home to Cumnock a few times. 

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George's skills seemingly hadn't gone unnoticed.

'While engaged on this gigantic task Mr. Urquhart was invited to Khartoum where he designed and built the Grand Hotel with 600 bedrooms. The biggest task in this connection was to bring the water to the hotel, in which endeavour Mr. Urquhart was eminently successful. He returned home after completing this contract and, at the request of Lord Kitchener, then Sirdar, he came back to Khartoum to add an additional wing to the Hotel of 300 bedrooms. His last big contract prior to Government service was the erection of a mosque in Cairo. Thereafter he was contractor for the Sudan Government railways, building the bridges from Port Sudan to Khartoum.'

The Cumnock Chronicle 1936

Grand Hotel, Khartoum

George retired from active contracting at the outbreak of WW1 and returned to Cumnock to spend his retirement with his mothers and sisters. His brother Alexander had died in 1903 at Pitlochrie Cottage, Glaisnock Street, Cumnock.

His mother Margaret purchased Kingarth House, 32 Auchinleck Road, Cumnock between 1905 and 1909. Her daughter Jessie died there in 1909. The previous owners were the Kirkland family, proprietors of the Burns Inn. The Kirklands previously were tea planters.

Kingarth House, Auchinleck Road, Cumnock

The 1911 census shows Margaret and her two daughters living in Kingarth House and Margaret died there in 1915 aged 91 years. Her life had come full circle. She was born in Cumnock and died in Cumnock. 

Cumnock Chronicle 1915

The Urquharts seemed to enjoy holidaying in the Isle of Arran and 1921 finds George and his sisters staying in 'Tomore', a boarding house in Kilmory. They even took their own cook and general servant with them. 

George died at Kingarth House, Cumnock in 1936.

'Mr Urquhart took no active interest in public affairs, preferring to move about among his friends in a quiet and unobtrusive manner'.

Obituary 13/3/1936 Cumnock Chronicle

Perhaps George had had enough adventure and excitement in his life and enjoyed the slower pace of life Cumnock offered.

The main source for this story about George Urquhart's life was the newspaper articles in the

Cumnock Connections tree. Click on the link to read more about his amazing life.