John Colvin (engineer)

{{Short description|British engineer}}

{{about|the engineer in India|the lieutenant-governor of the North-West Provinces of India|John Russell Colvin}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2017}}

{{Use British English|date=September 2017}}

{{Infobox person

| name = John Colvin

| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CB}}

| image =

| alt =

| caption =

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1794|08|20|df=y}}

| birth_place = Glasgow, Scotland

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1871|04|27|1794|08|20|df=y}}

| death_place =

| nationality = British

| other_names =

| occupation = engineer

| years_active = 1810–1839

| known_for = constructing canals in northern India

| notable_works =

| father = Thomas Colvin

| education = Military Seminary at Addiscombe

}}

Lieutenant-Colonel John Colvin {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CB}} (20 August 1794 – 27 April 1871Rolfe-Smith 2013.) was a British engineer who served the East India Company in India, and who is mainly remembered for his role in constructing canals in northern India.

Colvin was born in Glasgow, Scotland, the son of Thomas Colvin, a local merchant. He was one of the first cadets to pass through the East India Company's Military Seminary at Addiscombe, passing his final examination in December 1809;{{Cite book |first=H.M. |last=Vibart |title=Addiscombe: its heroes and men of note |place=Westminster |publisher=Archibald Constable |year=1894 |page=42 |ol=23336661M }} after which he was appointed to the Bengal Engineers in 1810. Over the following 27 years he was principally involved in the construction of canals in northern India.{{cite book|title=Statement of Services of the late Colonel John Colvin, CB, Bengal Engineers|year=1871|publisher=George Eyre and William Spottiswoode|location=London}} He established a reputation as a first class engineer and was appointed superintendent of canals in the Delhi area, and later referred to as the "Father of irrigation in northern India".{{cite book|last=Skempton|first=A.|title=Biographical Dictionary of Civil Engineers, vol 1 1500–1830|publisher=Thomas Telford Publishing}} Colvin became interested in the fossils found in the Siwalik Hills and gave several large donations to the Asiatic Society of Bengal's museum, as well as specimens to museums in Britain. Colvin returned to England in 1838 and married Josephine Puget Baker, the sister of his colleague and friend William Erskine Baker at Ludlow. He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in the 1838 Coronation Honours.{{London Gazette |issue=19638 |date=20 July 1838 |page=1661}}

Colvin retired in 1839 and became involved in the work of the Ludlow Natural History Society and their museum, as well as serving on local committees, as a magistrate, and as a patron of local good causes such as education.