Sir Samuel Swinton Jacob, KCIE,CVO (14 January 1841 – 4 December 1917), known as Sir Swinton Jacob,[1] was a
British Army officer and colonial engineer, architect and writer, best known for the numerous Indian public buildings he designed in the
Indo-Saracenic style.
Early life and education
Jacob was born in 1841 to Colonel William Jacob[1] (of the
Bombay Artillery and a member of a distinguished military family) and Jane Swinton, granddaughter of Captain Samuel Swinton
RN, who was the inspiration for the story of The Scarlet Pimpernel. He was educated at
Cheam School and then at the
East India Company Military College at
Addiscombe where he was one of the last cohort of graduates in 1858 before the college was taken over by the government.[2][3]
Career
Jacob was commissioned into the
Bombay Artillery in 1858, qualifying five years later as a surveyor and engineer. After initial service with the Bombay Staff Corps in the Public Works Department, and a brief spell with the Aden Field Force in 1865–6, he was appointed in 1867 as chief engineer of the state of
Jaipur in Rajasthan, India.[4] He was to spend the remainder of his working life in this position until he retired at the age of 71.[1]
At the time he became chief engineer and took charge of the public works department of the Jaipur it had only been in existence for seven years, having been founded in 1860.
He was promoted to lieutenant-colonel on 6 February 1885,[5] and to colonel on 26 February 1889.[6] During the summer of 1902, he accompanied the Maharaja of Jaipur as a political officer during a visit to the United Kingdom to attend the
Coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra. The coronation was originally scheduled for late June, but was postponed until 16 August 1902 when the King fell ill, prolonging their stay in London.[7]
He had no sooner retired to England in 1911 then he was recruited by the secretary of state for India to assist
Edwin Lutyens and
Herbert Baker in the design of New Delhi. Failing health soon forced him to withdraw from the assignment.[1]
He was married to Mary Brown (daughter of Robert Brown of Edinburgh) from 1874 until his death.[1]
Style
Jacob's department was responsible for the construction of everything in the state of Jaipur ranging from walls, outhouses, guard houses, roads, canals to major public buildings.
Compared with many British officials in India he was noted for his respect for local building traditions and skills, which led to his incorporating many Indian architectural features into his building designs. As a result, he became – with F. S. Growse,
Robert Fellowes Chisholm, Charles Mant,
Henry Irwin,
William Emerson,
George Wittet and
Frederick Stevens – a pioneer of the
Indo-Saracenic style of architecture.
For the benefit of other contemporary architects, Jacob published from 1890 to 1913 the Jeypore Portfolio of Architectural Details, containing numerous drawings, in 12 volumes.[12]
Notable buildings
All Saint's Church,
Jaipur. Designed by Jacob and opened for worship at Christmas 1876.
Jaipur Gate, 1886 (with
Thomas Holbein Hendley). The "exotic" structure of Indian teak was carved in
Shekhawati and transported to London for an exhibition. In 1926 it was moved to
Hove, East Sussex, where it still stands outside
Hove Museum of Creativity.[13]
The Delhi State Election Commission's Office on Lothian Road near
Kashmiri Gate in Delhi. Built 1890 to 1891, two-storey building housed
St. Stephen's College, Delhi from 1891 till 1941, when it shifted to its present campus.[15][16]
Bikaner House,
Mount Abu. Built 1893 as a summer residence for the Maharaja of
Bikaner. It has now been converted into the Palace Hotel.
^Antram, Nicholas; Morrice, Richard (2008). Brighton and Hove. Pevsner Architectural Guides. London: Yale University Press. p. 197.
ISBN978-0-300-12661-7.
^Vibuti Sachdev &
Giles Tillotson, "Building-Jaipur-the-Making-of-an-Indian-City" p. 118 s.]