Ardaseer Cursetjee facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ardaseer Cursetjee Wadia
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Cursetjee Wadia on a stamp of India, 1969
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| Born | 6 October 1808 Maratha Confederacy present-day Surat
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| Died | 16 November 1877 (aged 69) Richmond, United Kingdom
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| Occupation | Engineer |
Ardaseer Cursetjee Wadia (born October 6, 1808 – died November 16, 1877) was an amazing Indian shipbuilder and engineer. He belonged to the famous Wadia family, known for building ships.
He made history by becoming the first Indian person to be chosen as a Fellow of the Royal Society. This is a very important scientific group in the United Kingdom. Ardaseer also brought many new technologies to the city of Bombay (now Mumbai). These included gas lighting, the sewing machine, and steam pumps for watering crops. He was also likely the first Parsi person to visit America in 1851.
Biography
Ardaseer Cursetjee was the son of Cursetjee Rustomjee. His father was a shipbuilder at the Bombay Dockyard, which is now Mumbai's Naval Dockyard. In 1822, when Ardaseer was 14, he started working with his father. He was very interested in steam engines.
In 1833, at age 25, he designed and launched a small ocean-going ship. It was called the Indus and weighed 60 tons. This ship was even mentioned when he was nominated for the Royal Society. In 1834, he used gas lighting to light up his house and gardens in Mazgaon. The Governor of Bombay was there to see it. Ardaseer married a Parsi girl named Avabai. They had several children who later became important members of the Wadia business family in India.
In 1837, Ardaseer became a member of the Royal Asiatic Society. In 1839, when he was 31, he traveled to England. He went there to study more about steam power for ships. He was doing this for the East India Company. He wrote a book about his journey called The Diary of an Overland Journey from Bombay to England. It was published in London in 1840. While in England, he built a steam engine. He then sent it to India to be put on his ship, the Indus.
On May 27, 1841, Ardaseer Cursetjee was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. The President of the Society, Spencer Compton, nominated him. He described Ardaseer as a "gentleman well versed in the theory and practice of naval architecture and devoted to scientific pursuits." He was praised for bringing gas lighting to Bombay. He was also recognized for building the Indus and adding a steam engine to it. In 1855, he was chosen as a Justice of the Peace.
Ardaseer Cursetjee worked as the Chief Engineer at the Bombay Docks until August 1, 1857. After that, he retired and moved to England. He decided to live there permanently.
In England, Ardaseer started a family with an English woman named Marian Barber. They had children together, and their family continues to live in the United Kingdom today. One of his descendants, Blair Southerden, has written books about his family history. Ardaseer Cursetjee Wadia passed away on November 16, 1877, in Richmond, London. He was 69 years old.
Family
Ardaseer had a wife in India, Avabai, and children there. When he moved to the UK, he started a family with Marian Barber. Their first child, Lowjee Annie, was born in Bombay in December 1853. Their second child, Gustasp Ardaseer, was born in Bombay in 1856. The family later moved back to the UK.
Ardaseer's family line continued in both India and the United Kingdom. For example, his grandson from India, Cursetjee Rustomjee (1855–1941), went to England to study. He stayed with Ardaseer in Richmond. He later married Lowjee Annie, who was Ardaseer's daughter with Marian. They had three children who were born in India.
Commemoration
Ardaseer Cursetjee Wadia's contributions were remembered in India. On May 27, 1969, the Indian Postal Service released a special stamp. It honored him as a "pioneer and innovator."
His children in the UK also carried on his name. In 1879, his son Gustasp Ardaseer married Florence Neal in Surrey. On May 19, 2021, a blue plaque was put up in his honor. This plaque is at 55 Sheen Road in Richmond, London. It marks the house where he lived with Marian Barber and their family for the last ten years of his life. He named the house Lowgee House, after his family's ancestral name.
