History of the Parsis : including their manners, customs, religion and present position : with coloured and other illustrations : in two volumes

CHAP. 11] A FAMILY OF MASTER-BUILDERS. 71

been employed as assistant master- builders in the Government dockyard to make themselves acquainted with the latest changes and improvements. These were Messrs. Jehangir Naorozji and Hirjibhai Mervanji. They returned from Europe after a stay there of two years, with the high testimony of the Court of Directors as to their professional acquirements.? But the fame of Layji’s descendants was not confined to the shipbuildmg line. Several of them who did not follow that profession made themselves famous by their commercial enterprise, and the judicious and benevolent use to which they turned the wealth they acquired. lLavji Wadia’s grandsons, Pestanji Bamanji Wadia and Hormasji Bamanji Wadia, were not only well known for their large commercial operations, but also for their public spirit and great liberality. Pestanji Bamanji, besides being a partner in one of the English firms of Bombay,

carried on a very extensive trade with Europe, China,

1 Mr, Jamshedji Dhanjibhai is the last of a long line of distinguished builders, and being about to retire from the service, the post of master-builder will, it is believed, be abolished. Mr. Jamshedji has during his tenure of office superintended the construction of forty-two vessels. For his valuable services the title of Khan Bahadur was conferred upon him by the Government of India in the year 1877. He received the thanks of Government for the admirable arrangements made by him in the dockyard on the occasion of the landing in Bombay of His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh and His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, and also for the efficient manner in which the transports were fitted out for the Abyssinian, Malta, and Egyptian expeditions.