Theodore Heinrich Watermeyer, civil and electrical engineer,
was the son of Christiaan Johannes Watermeyer*, a farmer on Colonies Plaats in the Graaff-Reinet district, and his wife Caroline Agnes Maria de Graaff. He was educated at Graaff-Reinet College and the Stellenbosch
Gymnasium and from 1893 continued his studies in England. After completing his schooling at Bath College he qualified in civil
and electrical engineering at Mason College, Birmingham (which became part of
the new University of Birmingham in 1900). After practical training for two years with a
consulting engineering firm specialising in railway work he returned to South Africa
and in 1903 was appointed as an assistant engineer in the Cape Government
Railways.
He was initially stationed in Port Elizabeth and Humansdorp,
working on the Port Elizabeth-Avontuur railway (1905-1906). This was followed by various projects in the Eastern Cape. During 1910-1913 he
supervised the difficult construction of the railway from George to Oudtshoorn,
through the Montagu Pass, probably the most important engineering achievement
of his career. By 1914 he was a resident engineer in the South African Railways
and Harbours and around 1916 designed a track-laying machine. From 1918 to 1920
he was assistant superintendent in Pietermaritzburg, but in 1921 was
transferred to Johannesburg as assistant chief civil engineer. The next year he
represented South Africa at the International Railway Conference in Rome. From
1925 to 1928 he was an assistant general manager, first at Bloemfontein and then
in Cape Town, where he supervised the electrification of the suburban railway
system. Returning to Johannesburg he acted as general manager from 30 May to 12
September 1931, in the absence of Mr J.R. More. He succeeded More as general
manager of the South African Railways and Harbours in February 1933 - becoming the first locally born engineer to achieve this position - and served until his retirement in February 1941. He was an able administrator and during
his career was responsible for many expansions and improvements in the South
African railway system, including electrification, the expansion of road motor
transport, and the establishment of South African Airways.
Watermeyer was a Fellow of the Geological Society of London (FGS)
and an associate member of both the (British) Institution of Civil Engineers and
the Institution of Electrical Engineers. He was an early member of the Cape
Society of Civil Engineers (from 1903) and of its successor, the South African
Institution of Civil Engineers (from 1910), serving as its president in 1926. In addition to his engineering achievements he was also known for his extensive knowledge of plants.
In 1909 Watermeyer married Jessie Kerr Batchelor, with whom
he had a son (who became a civil engineer) and two daughters. After her death in 1939 he married Edith
Winifred Lomas in 1945.
