>Trappist the monk at 16:25, 31 December 2021

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{{for|the Anglo-Irish politician|Francis Spring (Irish MP)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2013}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2013}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|honorific-prefix = [[The Honourable]]
|name = Sir Francis Spring
|honorific-suffix = [[Order of the Indian Empire|KCIE]]
|image = FrancisSpring.jpg
|office1 = [[Imperial Legislative Council|Member of the Imperial Legislative Council]]
|primeminister1 =
|term_start1 = 1910
|term_end1 = 1913
|predecessor1 =
|successor1 =
|office2 = [[Madras Legislative Council (1891–1909)|Member of the Madras Legislative Council]]
|primeminister2 =
|term_start2 = 1900
|term_end2 = 1901
|predecessor2 =
|successor2 =
|birth_name=Francis Joseph Edward Spring
|birth_date = {{birth date|1849|1|20|df=y}}
|birth_place = [[Baltimore, County Cork|Baltimore]],<br />[[County Cork]],<br />[[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland]]
|death_date = {{death date and age|1933|8|25|1849|1|20|df=y}}
|death_place = [[Saint Aubin, Jersey]],<br />[[United Kingdom]]
|alma_mater = [[Trinity College, Dublin]]
}}

'''Sir Francis Joseph Edward Spring''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KCIE|FIMechE}} (20 January 1849 – 25 August 1933) was an [[Anglo-Irish]] civil engineer and member of the [[Imperial Legislative Council]]<ref name="whoswhop1968">{{cite book|title=Who's who, Volume 60|page=1968|authors=Douglas Brooke, Wheelton Sladen|publisher=A. C. Black|year=1914}}</ref> who played a pioneering role in development of the [[Indian Railways]]. Spring is largely remembered today for championing the cause of the [[Indian people|Indian]] [[mathematician]] [[Srinivasa Ramanujan]].

==Early life and education==
Spring was born in [[Baltimore, County Cork|Baltimore]], [[County Cork]], [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland]] on 20 January 1849<ref>"Transactions of American Society of Civil Engineers: Volume 99" (1934), p. 1523.</ref> to Rev. [[Edward Spring (priest)|Edward Spring]] and his wife Matilda.<ref name="ramanujanp13">{{cite book|title=Ramanujan: letters and commentary|page=13|authors=Bruce C. Berndt, Robert Alexander Rankin|publisher=American Mathematical Society|year=1995|isbn=0821804707}}</ref> He was a descendant of the [[Spring family]] of [[County Kerry]] and a relation of [[Baron Monteagle of Brandon]]. Spring was educated at [[Midleton College]] and [[Trinity College, Dublin]].<ref name="ramanujanp13" /><ref>{{cite book|author1=Denis Larionov |author2=Alexander Zhulin |url=http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/edward-walford/the-county-families-of-the-united-kingdom-or-royal-manual-of-the-titled-and-un-fla/page-336-the-county-families-of-the-united-kingdom-or-royal-manual-of-the-titled-and-un-fla.shtml |title=Read the eBook The county families of the United Kingdom; or, Royal manual of the titled and untitled aristocracy of England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland .. |volume=59 |date=1919 |page=336 |website=Ebooksread.com |access-date=2017-07-01}}</ref>

==Career==
Upon graduating from [[Trinity College Dublin]] Spring entered the Indian [[Indian Civil Service (British India)|Imperial Civil Service]]'s engineering section in 1870. He served as Consulting Engineer to the [[British Raj|Government of India]] and played a pivotal role in the development of railways in [[East India]].<ref name="ramanujanp13" /> He is credited with the construction of an acclaimed railway bridge across the [[Godavari River]].<ref name="infinityp95">{{cite book|title=The Man Who Knew Infinity: a Life of the Genius Ramanujan|url=https://archive.org/details/manwhoknewinfini1991kani|url-access=limited|author=Robert Kanigel|place=New York|publisher=[[Charles Scribner's Sons]]|year=1991|isbn=0-684-19259-4|page=[https://archive.org/details/manwhoknewinfini1991kani/page/95 95]}}</ref> He served as the Deputy Secretary to the Government of India, Under Secretary to the [[Bengal Presidency|Government of Bengal]] and as the manager of the extensive East Coast Railway. He was also Secretary to the [[Madras Presidency|Government of Madras]] with responsibility for railways in the region. Spring was a regular contributor to engineering and India-focused journals throughout his career.<ref>Ponnuswamy, ''Bridge Engineering'' (Tata McGraw-Hill Education, 2008), 354.</ref>

Upon leaving the civil service in 1904, Spring was appointed Chairman of the [[Chennai Port|Madras Port Trust]] and served in that position until 1919.<ref name="ramanujanp13" /> In this role, Spring redesigned and modernised the harbour at Madras, greatly increasing its capacity and improving the port's defences against cyclone damage.<ref name="icevirtuallibrary.com">[http://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/docserver/fulltext/imotp.1934.15360.pdf?expires=1385208668&id=id&accname=guest&checksum=F8AF2DF1F02980C57E3EF45711810F34 ]{{dead link|date=July 2017}}</ref> He was a member of the [[Madras Legislative Council (1891–1909)|Madras Legislative Council]] between 1900 and 1901, and was a [[fellow]] of the [[University of Madras]] and the [[University of Calcutta]].<ref name="whoswhop1968"/> Between 1910 and 1913, he was a member of the [[Imperial Legislative Council]] of India.

===Mentorship of Ramanujan===
Indian mathematician [[Srinivasa Ramanujan]] worked as a Grade III Class IV clerk from 1912 to 1914 at the Madras Port Trust under Spring's chairmanship. Ramanujan's mathematical talents were brought to the notice of Francis Spring by his chief accountant S. Narayana Iyer. Soon, Spring developed an interest in him and lobbied for government support and sponsorship of his research studies in England. In part, this was achieved through regular correspondence with [[Alfred Gibbs Bourne|Sir Alfred Bourne]].<ref name="ramanujanp13" />

==Personal life and later years==
In 1873, Spring married Charlotte, the daughter of Mr Samuel Townsend [[Justice of the Peace|JP]]. She died in 1930.<ref name="icevirtuallibrary.com"/> Spring founded the [[Royal Madras Yacht Club]] in 1911, which still exists as the premier sailing club in India. He retired in 1919, shortly after his seventieth birthday. He left India and moved to [[Jersey]] in the [[Channel Islands]], where he lived for the last fourteen years of his life. With a considerable personal fortune, he gave a large amount of money for restoration work on [[St Peter and St Paul's Church, Lavenham]], his family's ancestral church, where he has a memorial.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/rd/e4ed0b72-2839-4751-be51-f49b39c56815 |title=Sir Francis Spring Bequest (£1000 to the church, the first £100 to be spent on a memorial tablet) | The National Archives |website=Discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk |access-date=2017-07-01}}</ref> Spring died at [[Saint Aubin, Jersey|Saint Aubin]] on 25 August 1933 at the age of 84.<ref name="civilengineerobit">{{cite web|title=Civil Engineer Obituaries - S|url=http://www.nzsghamilton.co.nz/obits-v.htm|publisher=New Zealand Society of Genealogists-Hamilton Branch|access-date=10 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110226195757/http://www.nzsghamilton.co.nz/obits-v.htm|archive-date=26 February 2011|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref name="journalp99">{{cite book|title=Journal - Society of Engineers|publisher=Society of Engineers|year=1933|page=99}}</ref>

==Honours==
For his accomplishments, Spring was made a [[Order of the Indian Empire|Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire]] in 1894<ref name="whoswhop1725">{{cite book|title=Who's who, Volume 60|page=1725|authors=Douglas Brooke, Wheelton Sladen|publisher=A. C. Black|year=1908}}</ref> and appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire in 1911.<ref name="ramanujanp13" /> He was a member of the Institute of Civil Engineers, Institute of Mechanical Engineers and American Society of Civil Engineers.<ref name="whoswhop1725" /> In December 1901 he received the [[honorary degree]] [[Master of Engineering]] from [[Dublin University]].<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=University intelligence |date=20 December 1901 |page=8 |issue=36643}}</ref> Spring was also the first person in Madras city to own a registered automobile. He was an honorary major in the South India Railway Volunteer Rifles.<ref name="whoswhop1968"/><ref name="CityFromTheSea">{{cite news
| title = City from the sea
| newspaper = The Times of India
| location = Chennai
| publisher = The Times Group
| date = 5 September 2011
| url = http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/City-from-the-sea/articleshow/9865209.cms
| access-date = 24 Nov 2011}}</ref>

A tug boat operating in Madras harbour is named ''Sir Francis Spring'', as is the main road leading to the port, and the marina of the Royal Madras Yacht Club is called ''Springhaven''.

==Cultural references==
Spring was portrayed by [[Stephen Fry]] in the 2015 British biographical film ''[[The Man Who Knew Infinity (film)|The Man Who Knew Infinity]]'', which recounts the story of Ramanujan's adult life and his career at Cambridge University.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.screendaily.com/reviews/the-man-who-knew-infinity-review/5093140.article | title= 'The Man Who Knew Infinity': Review | date= 15 September 2015 |access-date = 26 February 2016 | author=Allan Hunter | website=Screen Daily}}</ref> Spring was portrayed by [[Richard Walsh (actor)|Richard Walsh]] in the 2014 film ''[[Ramanujan (film)|Ramanujan]]''.

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* {{cite TIWW |article=Spring, Sir Francis Edward |page=237 }}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spring, Francis}}
[[Category:1849 births]]
[[Category:1933 deaths]]
[[Category:Irish civil engineers]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire]]
[[Category:19th-century Anglo-Irish people]]
[[Category:20th-century Anglo-Irish people]]
[[Category:Spring family|Francis]]
[[Category:Members of the Madras Legislative Council]]
[[Category:Railway officers in British India]]
[[Category:Members of the Imperial Legislative Council of India]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers]]
[[Category:People educated at Midleton College]]
[[Category:People from Baltimore, County Cork]]

Francis Spring - Revision history

>Trappist the monk at 16:25, 31 December 2021