Henry Gittins

Henry Gittins CBE (1858 – February 1937) was a British engineer and railway pioneer in Canada and Siam who served as Chief Engineer of Royal State Railways of Siam from 1917 to 1922.

Early life Born in Clifton, Bristol in 1858, Gittins served his articles at a firm of architects in Bristol.

Career In 1881, Gittins went to Canada and was employed as an engineer on the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway.

In 1888, he went to Siam as a member of the Punchard survey team, which included fellow engineers Gallwey, Smiles, Hurst and Angier, a British organisation which had been assigned a concession to build railways in the country following a meeting between the governor of the Straits Settlements and the King of Siam in Bangkok in 1876. After completing initial surveys of the country, a German engineer was appointed, for political reasons, to organise the Government Railway Department and oversee the construction work which led to bitterness and recrimination, and the cancellation of the contract between the British and the government.

He settled in London where the Siam government often sought his advice on railway matters. He married and had two sons. He died in London in February 1937, aged 78.

Honours Order of the White Elephant, and Order of the Crown of Siam. Appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1920 Birthday Honours.