Mr. John Devere Marmion, Second Engineer of the Northern Company's s.s. “Ngapuhi,” was born at Richmond, New Brunswick, in 1871, and served his apprenticeship at Vancouver, British Columbia, he went to sea on the Hudson Bay Company's p.s. “Beaver,” celebrated as the first steamer to turn a wheel in the Pacific waters. Mr. Marmion was on board when she was totally wrecked on Liwash [sic: Siwash] Rock at the entrance to the Vancouver Harbour, fortunately with no loss of life. He was afterwards third engineer in the service of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, then trading to South America, and remained with that company fourteen months, when he joined the Union Company's steamer “Kutch” [sic: "Cutch"] which was running in the British Columbia trade. Mr. Marmion then went to Scotland and passed his examinations in Glasgow, where he joined the “Craigendorran” trading in the Mediterranean. On the completion of the Northern Company's p.s. steamer “Wakatere,” he joined her as fourth engineer and arrived in Auckland in 1896. He was for some time second engineer on the “Wellington,” from which he was transferred to his present position.