Dictionary of Indian Biography/Cautley, Sir Proby Thomas
CAUTLEY, SIR PROBY THOMAS (1802–1871)
Colonel : son of the Rev. Thomas Cautley : born Jan. 3, 1802 : educated at Charterhouse and Addiscombe : entered the Bengal Artillery, 1819 : was assistant to Colonel Robert Smith in reconstructing the old irrigation channel of the Doab Canal from 1824–30, but was at the siege of Bhartpur in 1826 : held charge of the above canal, 1831–43 : framed the project of the Ganges Canal, sanctioned by the Court of Directors in 1841, and constructed between 1843 and 1854. He left India in 1854, Lord Dalhousie ordering a salute to be fired in his honour : and his bust was placed in the Calcutta Town Hall : K.C.B. : from 1858–68, Member of the Council of India. He had a controversy with Sir Arthur Cotton (q.v.) on the engineering of the Ganges Canal, in which further work and improvement were found to be required. He explored largely in the Sivalik range of hills in India, and acquired many fossils of scientific value, which he presented to the British Museum : contributed many papers to the Asiatic Society of Bengal and to the Geological Society, chiefly on fossils : died Jan. 25, 1871.