Civil engineer and palaeontologist. FRS. Born Suffolk. Proby was his mother's maiden name. 1819 went to India as a commissioned second lieutenant. Apart from a few years his work there was mainly engineering in nature rather than military. While there he developed a strong interest in geology and, together with Hugh Falconer, made a large collection of fossils which they gave to the British Museum. Cautley married while in India and had a son. For health reasons his wife and son returned to England while Cautley worked on the Ganges Canal. After two years he joined his family in London in 1845 only to discover that his wife was having an affair and, 9 months later produced twins. This must have been a nasty time for Cautley: his own son died in 1846 while he was laboriously and publicly divorcing his wife. 1865 he remarried and 1868 retired to a large house, The Avenue, at Sydenham Park, where he died.
This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Sir Proby Cautley
Commemorated ati
Skempton Building plaques
2018: Eamonn Doyle has written to correct our "east to west", saying that the...
Other Subjects
Sir William Henry White
2014: Via Facebook Martin Evans suggests this man for the name panel at IC. His close links with IC are indicated by him becoming a governor at the same time that the building was being erected. ...
Edmund Nuttall Limited
Construction company with origins in the Netherlands.
W. F. R. Stanley
Inventor, manufacturer and philanthropist. Born William Ford Robinson Stanley in Islington. He filed 78 patents for precision drawing, mathematical and surveying instruments, as well as telescopes....
Coalbrookdale Company
An iron foundry set up by Abraham Darby in Shropshire. Can you guess what the Coalbrookdale war memorial is made of?
Thomas Telford
Stonemason, architect and civil engineer. Born Eskdale, Dumfriesshire. Aged 12 left school to work for a local stonemason. Aged 25 rode on horseback to London. Built roads, bridges and canals. Neve...