The Obituaries Dedicated to Edmund Morel

Edmund Morel, the first engineer-in-chief of the Imperial Railways of Japan, arrived at Yokohama on 9th April, 1870, and died on 5th November, 1871. His devotion to constructing Japan’s railway is to be noted. When he met the Japanese officials on 19th April, he proposed several conditions for its development, such as the establishing of the Department of Public Works and the founding of the Imperial College of Engineering. The former proved to be a systematic and effective method for the Meiji Government for building necessary infra-structures, and the latter contributed to nurturing talented engineers. Because the Government adopted his proposals, Japan’s socio-economic development was rapid and substantial. Therefore, he was much appreciated by Japanese people. In order to clarify his accomplishments in Japan, it is necessary to trace his career in detail. The outline of his life history can be informed by the obituaries found in The Japan Weekly Mail（ JWM） and The Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers（ PICE）. I summarize these articles and compare the differences found between them. PICE obituary presents the details of his career accurately, except his birth-year. In contrast, JWM does not inform with accuracy his practical engineering before he arrived in Japan, though it does not refer to his wife, Harriet. I have attempted to identify the writers of these two obituaries, and also introduce the articles from other sources, such as The Yokohama Mainichi Shimbun and try to shed light on the causes and the origin of these mistaken views held by Japanese concerning to his careers.departmental bulletin pape