Michell's Pass

In the article below, Tony Murray highlights the remarkable achievements of John Montagu and the influence he had on civil engineering in South Africa. The piece first appeared in the publication 'Past Masters: Pioneer Civil Engineers who contributed to the growth and Wealth of South Africa'. Click here to view the stories of other great engineers.

Montagu was not an engineer, but perhaps we can regard him as the first professional client in the country.  In any event he had a resounding influence on civil engineering in the Cape Colony in the mid -19th century and thus deserves a place in our annals.

John Montagu (Past Masters)

He was born in India, the son of Lt. Col. Edward Montagu, on 21st August 1797. He joined the army and served at Waterloo before re-entering civilian life. In 1823 he was posted to Tasmania as private secretary to the Governor, Sir George Arthur. At the time the island was simply a penal colony for the most difficult of the Australian convicts. Montagu assisted Arthur in developing a strict but fair system of dealing with the lags and his administrative talents were soon recognised; after a series of promotions he was appointed Secretary of the Colony in 1834. Through some astute land deals he built up a little fortune which would have sustained him in later years.

Arthur retired and...

In the article below, Tony Murray looks at the remarkable life of Andrew Geddes Bain. The piece first appeared in the publication 'Past Masters: Pioneer Civil Engineers who contributed to the growth and Wealth of South Africa'. Click here to view the stories of other great engineers.

Bain was a major figure in opening transportation routes into the interior of South Africa, and is also regarded as the father of South African geology. He was born in Thurso, Scotland in May 1797, the only child of Alexander Bain and his wife Jean Geddes. Both parents died when he was a child and he was brought up by an aunt who lived near Edinburgh. Here he obtained a classical education but received no vocational training. In 1816 he emigrated to South Africa in the company of his uncle Lt. Col. William Geddes of the 83rd Regiment, which was stationed at the Cape.

In November 1818 he married Miss Elizabeth Maria von Backstrom, who bore him 11 children. The seventh child, Thomas J.C. Bain, also became a prominent South African civil engineer. Elizabeth died in 1857, and he was then briefly married to Theodora Kerr.

Bain established himself as a saddler in the town of Graaff-Reinet, and became known as a hunter and explorer. With a companion he was the first white man to penetrate Africa as far north as latitude 24° S and survive.

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