Proby Cautley

Who was Proby Cautley?

Sir Proby Thomas Cautley KCB, English engineer and palaeontologist, born in Suffolk, is best known for conceiving and supervising the construction of the Ganges canal in India. The 350 mile canal stretches some 350 miles between its headworks at Hardwar and its confluence with the Ganges river mainstem in Kanpur.

Proby Cautley was educated at Charterhouse School, followed by the East India Company's Military Seminary at Addiscombe. After less than a year there, he was commissioned second lieutenant and dispatched to India, joining the Bengal Presidency artillery in Calcutta. In 1825, he assisted Captain Robert Smith, the engineer in charge of constructing the Eastern Yamuna canal, also called the Doab canal. He was in charge of this canal for 12 years between 1831 and 1843. By 1836, he was Superintendent-General of Canals.