Edmund Morel was the first Engineer-in-Chief hired by the Meiji government to oversee railroad construction.
Born and raised in England, Morel was brought to Japan in 1870. While testing out local conditions and mood, he oversaw the planning and construction of the first railroads, as well as training Japanese to serve as engineers, etc. He fell ill the following year, possibly in connection with exhaustion from over-working, and died without seeing the railroad completed. Morel is buried in the Yokohama Foreign Cemetery.
References
- Plaques at Sakuragicho Station, Yokohama.[1]