Engineer and Master Ship Builder of Moulmein
"Scots in Burma" by Alister McCrae
"Old Moulmein" by R.R. Langham-Carter
"A History of Rangoon" by B.R. Pearne
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"Scots in Burma"The little paddle steamer “Diana” has another place in the history of Tenasserim, for she left in Burma her Chief Engineer, John Darwood. Darwood had trained as an Engineer in his native England, John was twenty-six years of age when he joined the Indian Navy (then known as the Bombay Marine) and was appointed to the “Diana.” In one of the actions of the war in 1824, the assault on Martaban, he was severely wounded, lost a leg as a result and in due course was awarded a pension of 150 rupees a month. He decided to settle in Moulmein and married the daughter of a British sailing ship owner, Capt. William Snowball, a well known character in the Bay of Bengal ports and an early settler in Moulmein before the annexation. John Darwood founded a family business that was never absent through-out the British years in Burma. In the post-war Moulmein of 1826 he was one of the first to set up a sawmill and shipyard and to engage in teak extraction from the Ataran forests. The number of British licencees permitted to extract teak during these years was no more than six or seven but shipbuilding attracted many more, including other Europeans, an existing record showing some twenty names of shipbuilders in 1841. The Moulmein foreshore was occupied for over a mile with this busy industry, which grew unabated until the 1850’s when iron and later steel hulls and steam, began to displace the teak sailing ship. While shipbuilding continued on a reducing scale, extractions of teak for export increased in the second half of the century and Moulmein remained the focal point in British Burma until it began to be superseded by Rangoon in the 1890’s. Darwood prospered and was building barques and brigs of two hundred to five hundred tons burthen in his Moulmein yard; he is on record as having engaged in a contract to build a larger vessel for the East India Company, which in the end ruined him. After he died in 1850 the Commissioner of Tenasserim received a memorial from his widow which he forwarded to the Government. The Commissioner’s letter tells much of Darwood and of the misfortune which had by then fallen upon his widow. “To the Secretary of the Govt. of Bengal, Fort William, dated Moulmein, 11th July 1850 I have the honour to transmit for the favourable consideration of the Honourable, the Deputy Governor of Bengal a memorial presented to me by Mrs Darwood of Moulmein, widow of the late John Darwood, formerly Engineer of the “Diana” and who having lost a leg in action with the Burmese, enjoyed until his recent death a pension of 150 Rs. per month. The memorialist prays that this pension may be continued to her. She and the family of the deceased having been left wholly destitute. The late Mr Darwood came to India as Chief Engineer of the “Diana” when Engineers were men of great and importance in this country and the small vessel called the “Diana” was the only steamer belonging to the Honourable Company. During the Burmese war she proved exceedingly useful on the Irrawaddy and in the zealous and faithful execution of his duty on board this vessel Mr Darwood lost a limb. Being afterwards pensioned he was one of the first settlers at this place, here he set up a dockyard with sawmill and other appurtenances previously unknown in this locality and he appears to have prospered very satisfactorily for some years but having unfortunately contracted with Government to build the Honourable Company’s steamer “Tenasserim” for a sum which owing to the numerous difficulties of so great an undertaking at a time when they could neither be well foreseen nor easily overcome, proved to be quite inadequate, the result was that at his death he had nothing whatever to leave to his family consisting of a wife, a daughter and two sons who are consequently in most distressed circumstances.
The “Tenasserim” was not altogether a faithfully finished ship and I believe a good deal had to be done to her after she went up to Calcutta but the plan was much altered whilst she was on the stocks and extra work had to be paid for. Still I have a perfect recollection of once hearing an influential officer connected with the Marine Department say that notwithstanding all the trouble and extra work that had to be expended on her she cost the Government less money, by a considerable sum, than had she been built by any of the Docking Companies then in Calcutta and there is I imagine no doubt from the work she had performed since she was launched and the manner in which she had done it, that she is a very strong and valuable ship. Had she not been so the accident she met with a few years ago on the Sunken Reef must have proved fatal to her. The terms under which Mr Darwood and his partners contracted to build the “Tenasserim” seem to have been peculiarly unfavourable, the contract was in August 1839 but the first instalment was not paid until January 1840, as it was agreed that no payments were to be made until they had collected about 50,000 Rupees work of timber on the spot, to do this they had to borrow money at a very high interest, say 30% to 36%, a person was then placed over them as Superintendent of the works who had himself tendered for the contract but had been refused it and it is believed that he caused to be rejected three times the quantity of timber actually required for the ships construction, no vessel of such a size had even then been built here and the construction of steamers was not then so well understood. The builders had, I am informed, great difficulties to content with but ultimately a fine vessel which will probably last a long time was completed. Advertising to all the circumstances and more especially to the excellent services rendered by Mr Darwood when Chief Engineer of the only steamer on the Irrawaddy I respectfully beg to recommend that two-thirds of the pension granted to him may be confirmed to his widow for life, or at least as long as she remains a widow, which from her age, is likely to be the same thing, by which means the children may be educated and a very respectable family rescued from great distress. I have the honour to be Sir, A. Bogle, Commissioner, Tenasserim Province.” It is an astonishing fact that the East India Company Court, sitting comfortably in London, to whom the memorial was sent for decision, turned it down on the grounds that Darwood had left the service of the Company before he married. The men in Burma and India, through whose hands it had passed, do not seem to have considered that factor relevant. But it soon ceased to matter for John Darwood’s eldest son rectified the financial problems of the family with a bold move into the royal domain of Upper Burma. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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"Old Moulmein"1875-1880 Printed in 1947.Capt. John Darwood was extracting timber by 1841 and was shipbuilding in partnership with Mr Bentley. His wife Margaret Joan (or Jane) 1807 - 1873 (or 74) [daughter of John Snowball, died 1824,] the photo below is of her grandfather Capt. William Snowball. Sir John Darwood of the Rangoon Electric Tramways Co. was their son. Sir John's brother Charles W. Darwood married Victoria, an aunt of J.F.B. Sutherland in 1867 and was Port Office at Port Blair, Andaman Islands. One of his sons, Charles William, born here n 1870 was in Foucar's, another, Arthur John Darwood was Public Prosecutor at Moulmein early 1900's and became a High Court Judge. One of C.W. Darwood's daughters married E.C. Foucar. The Darwood's owed house No. 3 Salween Park and also the southern end of the Ridge where the Civil Station now stands. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"A History of Rangoon"published 1938.In 1885 a fresh development took place in the firm of Darwood; Mr Goldenberg had retired in 1881 and had been succeeded as partner by John Macgregor, once in the employ of Messrs. Todd Findlay and latterly an assistant of Darwood and Goldenberg and in 1885, the new partnership having been dessolved, Mr Macgregor carried on the timber business as Macgregor & Co. Tramway A year later another line was run from China Street westwards along Dalhousie Street to the junction of that street with the Strand Road and eastwards from China Street along Dalhousie Street, up Sule Pagoda Road, and along Montgomerie Street to Pazundaung; while in 1886 the western line was extended to Williams Street and a further line was established from Sule Pagoda along Dalhousie Street and down Judah Ezekiel Street to the Strand. In 1887 the western line was extended as far as College Street. The tramway was tenant of the municipality and paid a rental of Rs. 3,000 a mile in respect of its double tracks and Rs. 2,000 a mile for the single tracks, paying in all Rs. 13,000 a year. In 1889 the undertaking was sold to the Steam Tramway Company of Calcutta, with Messrs. Gillanders Arbuthnot as agents. In 1902 Messrs. J.W. Darwood re-purchased the tramway system and in the following year their tender for lighting (street lighting of Rangoon) and transport was accepted by the Municipal Committee. On the 15th December 1906 the first electric tramcar ran, under the auspices of the new Rangoon Electric Tramway and Supply Company, from the Surati Bazaar Road at Kemmendine to the Surati Bazaar in the town and during the following year the system of electric tramways as it now exists (1938) was almost completed. In 1907 electric street lighting commenced. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Capt. William Snowball
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