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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Otago & Southland Provincial Districts]

Macarthur, Alexander Wallace

Macarthur, Alexander Wallace , Watchmaker and Jeweller, 5 High Street, Dunedin; Private residence, Russell Street. Mr. Macarthur established his business in 1883 in premises comprising the ground floor of a brick building opposite the Grand Hotel in High Street. The stock includes watches and jewellery of every description, together with optical instruments and requisites. Mr. Macarthur makes a specialty of the business of opthalmic optician, in which he is an expert, and possesses the necessary machinery for grinding and fitting lenses of all kinds. Adjoining the shop are the sight-testing room and work-room, both adequately furnished for the needs of the business. Mr. Macarthur was born in Dunfermline, Scotland, in 1844, and served his apprenticeship in Edinburgh; after arriving in New Zealand in 1871 he learned the business of optician with Mr. A. Beverley, of Dunedin. He was subsequently foreman to Mr. George Young for five years, and afterwards to Mr. John Hislop for seven years. During his period of service with the latter, Mr. Macarthur made page 366 the specifications for the Town Hall clock and bells, which he subsequently fitted up and also composed the chimes. As an exhibitor at the New Zealand and South Seas Exhibition of 1889–90, he gained two first certificates for scientific instruments and an astronomical clock. As a musician, he is an old member of the Dunedin Choral Society, and has composed several pieces of music. Mr. Macarthur was married in 1869 to a daughter of the late Mr. James Smith, farmer of Haughhead, Peebles-shire, Scotland, and has two sons and two daughters.