Facts for Factories: being Letters on Practical Subjects, suggested by Experiences in Bombay.

WALKER, William.

Edité par Bombay: Printed and sold at the Education Society's Press, Byculla, 1857

A propos de cet article

First and only edition of this monograph on trade and commerce in Bombay (Mumbai), compiled from a series of letters to the editor of the Bombay Gazette. Their author, William Walker, was the contributor of numerous letters pages of local newspapers, a prodigious proponent of schemes of urban improvement. An extremely rare survival - just three locations noted, British Library, Oxford and Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin - here in unsophisticated state. Walker writes from "experience gathered at sea and on shore, in the Army, in the Navy, and the Merchant Service", in the hope that he may "promote and enlarge the facilities of trade in general. and Bombay in particular". He seems well-versed in the mercantile arts, possessing wide knowledge on manufactures, be it Indian rubber, oil lamps, or roof tiles. A major grievance, returned to time and again throughout the letters, is substandard packaging: Walker bemoans the frequency with which English tradesmen fail to secure their wares properly for transit, whether hand-lever pumps or soft soap. The text concludes with a digression into a minutely detailed scheme for the production of alcohol, specifically the prospects of establishing a brewery at Poona (Pune). By his own report Walker (b. 1807), who wrote under the name of "Tom Cringle" from the hero of Michael Scott's naval tales, went to sea on a merchantman at the age of 12. On reaching Bombay in 1820 he jumped ship seeking adventure and joined the Indian Navy, claiming in later years to have fought Malay and Arab pirates. In 1826 he took his discharge from the navy and signed up with the Company's Horse Artillery for five years, before returning to England where he joined the Royal Regiment of Horse for some eight years, during which time he "assisted at the coronation and marriage of Queen Victoria" (Times of India). After five years as a "riding officer" with the Revenue service, he returned to India, having read about the founding of the Great Indian Peninsular Railway, and apparently succeeded in obtaining the position as John Chapman's secretary and a seat on the committee of preliminary investigation. The biographical article explains that "since 1850 Mr. Walker's daily life has been associated with the affairs of the G.P.I. Railway", and goes on to quote the report of the head of the Public Works Department's annual report for 1864: "The greatest attention seems to be paid to the proper arrangement and safe custody of the stores in charge of Mr. Walker, the General Storekeeper. as many as 153 engines and tenders. have been landed up under the personal supervision of the Head of Department, at comparatively small expense, and with little loss or damage". Of this last posting we can be fairly certain. The biographical article was written as a farewell to Walker who was setting off for retirement in Australia, and he can be found in the columns of Melbourne newspaper The Argus (15 March 1867), advising readers on how to build "A Model Australian Dwelling-House", his bungalow, "Rajpootana", stood on Acland Street, St Kilda. A somewhat fanciful life perhaps, but some of his schemes for municipal improvement in Bombay still surface for discussion and continue to intrigue. Bombay architect Robert Stephens dedicated his recently published book, Bombay Imagined, which documents "200 unrealised urban visions", to Walker. "I like to think of William Walker as one of the earliest environmentally-minded citizen-activists in Bombay's history. Walker penned dozens of dreamy articles which were published in local newspapers, pointing his fellow citizens to a future Bombay that was more thoughtful, more efficient, and in many ways, more kind. Walker proposed to light street lamps with gas captured during the cremation of Bombay's deceased [a gesture he deemed deeply symbolic… even in the darkness of death one exudes a bright light!], and he envisioned an open-air quarry prison on the mainland, where convicts could work towards restructuring.

N° de réf. du vendeur 162529

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: Facts for Factories: being Letters on Practical Subjects, suggested by Experiences in Bombay.
• Éditeur: Bombay: Printed and sold at the Education Society's Press, Byculla, 1857
• Édition: Edition originale