Charles Hutton Gregory

Charles Hutton Gregory
Born	14 October 1817 Woolwich
Died	10 January 1898(1898-01-10) (aged 80) London
Nationality	British
Work
Engineering discipline	civil engineer
Institution memberships	Institution of Civil Engineers (president)
Significant advance	railway semaphore signalling
Significant awards	Knight Commander of the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George

Funerary monument, Brompton Cemetery, London

Sir Charles Hutton Gregory KCMG (14 October 1817 – 10 January 1898)^[1] was a British civil engineer. He was president of the Institution of Civil Engineers between December 1867 and December 1869.^[2]

Charles was the son of Dr Olinthus Gilbert Gregory a master of mathematics at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. The chair of mathematics at that time was held by Charles Hutton, who acted as Dr. Gregory's patron. It was in Hutton's honour that Charles was named.^[1]

Gregory was consulting engineer of several major railway construction works, including those in Ceylon, Trinidad, Cape Colony, Perak and Selangor.^[1] He was the first to use railway semaphore signalling which he employed on the London and Croydon and the South Eastern Railways in 1842-3. This method later superseded all others and was dominant from 1870.^[3] In 1882 he was a member of the Channel Tunnel Committee and in 1886 was a Royal Commissioner for the Colonial and Indian Exhibition. He was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George in November 1884.^[4] In 1894 he married Fanny Stirling, an actress who died the following year. Gregory died in London on 10 January 1898, and is buried in Brompton Cemetery.^[1]

Publications

• Practical Rules for the Management of a Locomotive Engine: In the Station, on the Road, and in cases of Accident (London, 1841)

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} New York Times Obituary (January 11 1898)
2. ^ Watson, Garth (1988), The Civils, London: Thomas Telford Ltd, p. 251, ISBN 0-727-70392-7 
3. ^ The Origin of Railway Semaphore
4. ^ London Gazette: no. 25415. p. 4949. 18 November 1884. Retrieved 2008-05-08.

Professional and academic associations
Preceded by John Fowler	President of the Institution of Civil Engineers December 1867 – December 1869	Succeeded by Charles Blacker Vignoles

Persondata
Name	Gregory, Charles Hutton
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	14 October 1817
Place of birth	Woolwich
Date of death	10 January 1898
Place of death	London