Morel - Edmund Morel

British railway engineer and foreign employee. Born near Piccadilly in London. In 1865, he was recommended as a member of the British Institution of Civil Engineers. In April 1870 (Meiji 3), he was invited by the Japanese government, which was then planning to establish a railway, to be its first chief architect (chief engineer), on the recommendation of British Minister to Japan, Parkes, and immediately presided over the construction of the Shinbashi-Yokohama and Osaka-Kobe railways. He also recommended the procurement of domestic construction materials, in order to reduce costs and speed up the construction. He also recommended the establishment of a Ministry of Public Works, and within this ministry, the need for an engineering dormitory, a technical college, and a training school for technical engineers. However, halfway through the construction, his chronic lung disease worsened due to overwork, and he died on November 5, 1871, just over a year and a half after the opening. His wife also died suddenly half a day later, exhausted from nursing. The couple were buried in the Yokohama Foreign Cemetery, but in 1934 (Showa 9), a tombstone was erected by a benefactor, and when the place was designated a railway monument in 1962, a commemorative monument was erected inscribed with their outstanding contributions to the founding of the railway.

[Shoji Matsuzawa August 21, 2018]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

イギリスの鉄道技師、お雇い外国人。ロンドンのピカデリー付近に生まれる。1865年イギリス土木学会員に推薦された。1870年（明治3）4月、イギリス公使パークスの推薦により、当時鉄道創業計画中の日本政府に初代建築師長（技師長）として招かれ、ただちに新橋―横浜間および大阪―神戸間の鉄道建設を主宰した。建設資材もつとめて国産品の調達を勧め、経費の節約と工事の速成を図った。また政府に工部省の設置、同省内に工学寮、工部大学、工技生養成所などの必要性を建言した。しかし、工事なかばにして過労のため持病の肺疾患が悪化し、わずか1年半あまりで、開業を迎えることなく1871年11月5日客死した。夫人も看護の疲れから半日後に後を追うように急死した。夫妻は横浜の外国人墓地に埋葬されたが、1934年（昭和9）になって篤志家により墓石が建立され、さらに1962年に鉄道記念物に指定された際、鉄道創業に優れた功績を残した旨を刻んだ顕彰碑が建立された。

［松澤正二　2018年8月21日］

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例