Session inactive

Your session will expire soon due to inactivity.

Session expired

Your session has expired, please refresh to sign back in again
Sign in
This site uses cookies (see more information)
Accept all cookies (including optional analytics cookies) Only essential cookies
bristol archives
bristol museum and art gallery
British Empire & Commonwealth Collection
  • Skip to menu
  • Skip to content

  • Home
  • Search
  • Browse by category
  • Browse by format
  • Browse by region
  • Saved records ()
  • About
  • Help
    • Help
    • Citations
  • Useful links

Macfarlane collection... Macfarlane collection, 1920s - 1944


Actions
Purchase

  • 1999/135
  • This collection comprises two main series of photographs which depict some of the key projects and infrastructure overseen by Macfarlane in the course of his career. These include Kilindini Harbour with numerous shots of ocean liners and dockside installations and various bridges, railway tracks and viaducts in the Mombasa area. Photographs such as those showing a Manchester-made locomotive being unloaded from a cargo ship in Mombasa provide fascinating detail to themes of engineering and infrastructure development in the Empire. There are also glimpses into the home life and leisure time of a Railways Engineer with photographs of golf matches and the family home. Parlane Macfarlane's career summary was included with the photographs, which provides valuable context to the projects and places depicted in the photographs. This catalogue was produced with support from the National Cataloguing Grants Programme for Archives
  • 1920s - 1944
  • Kenya
  • 0.5 box, 1 file
  • Open
  • None
  • Collection
  • Parlane Macfarlane
  • Parlane Macfarlane was educated at Allan Glens School and the Royal Technical College, Glasgow. He joined the Caledonian Railway as a civil engineer in 1915, but shortly afterwards joined the Royal Engineers with whom he served in Egypt, Palestine and France during WW1. In 1921 he joined the then Uganda Railway as an Assistant Engineer, being promoted to Acting District Engineer, District Engineer, Senior District Engineer and Assistant Chief Engineer over the coming 20 years of service with the Kenya and Uganda Railways and Harbours. In these roles he was responsible for overseeing numerous high profile projects, including parts of the new Kilindini Harbour (deep water berths), the Railway Brickworks and Concrete Factory, reconditioning of the Voi Kahe branch railway, and construction of a pier on Lake Victoria, as well as dozens of bridges, numerous large buildings and hundreds of miles of railway track. Macfarlane lived in Mombasa and later Nairobi and was a keen golfer, instrumental in setting up the Railways Golf Club. He returned to the UK towards the end of WW2 after carrying out a number of wartime projects for the military. Macfarlane was married to Georgie and had 2 children, Ian and Margaret.

Add a contribution

Do you have extra information about this item? You can contribute additional detail to our catalogue using the following form:

You can cite this material using the following reference:
Alternatively, download the citation as:

Metadata

You can download/export the metadata of this catalogue entry
Alternatively:

Digital material

This content is not currently available for download
You can download copies using the following links

About  |  Cookies  |  Privacy  |  Accessibility

Epeχio by Metadatis

Bristol Archives
B Bond Warehouse, Smeaton Road
Bristol BS1 6XN

T: 0117 922 4224
E: archives@bristol.gov.uk
W: www.bristolmuseums.org.uk/bristol-archives
Photographs Parlane Macfarlane Career Summary