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

Mr. James Paterson

Mr. James Paterson , Master of No. 1 Dredge, is also Managing Director of the Company. He was born in Lesmahagow, Lanarkshire, Scotland, and arrived at the Bluff by the ship “Sir William Eyre,” in 1863. When thirteen years of age he went gold digging at the Shotover, and between 1875 and 1883 was in the railway service, occupying various positions up to that of Inspector of Permanent Way. In 1883, Mr Paterson bought a farm of 815 acres in the Waikaka district, where he has since resided, and where he carries on mixed farming. He was one of the pioneers of the dredging industry in the district, and on one occasion went to British Columbia to report on the Fraser river for a Dunedin syndicate. Mr Paterson was a member of the Waikaka school committee for about ten years. He has been twice married, his first wife leaving him six children; and his second wife, who is a daughter of Mr T. J. Robinson, J.P., of Rotorua, has also borne a family of six.

No 2 Dredge (Paterson's Freehold Gold Dredging Company, Limited, proprietors), Waikaka. This dredge is working on an area of 150 acres about two miles from Waikaka. It was started in August 1903, and was formerly the old Golden Mile dredge, Beaumont. The power is derived from a Roby sixteen horse-power engine, with a twenty horse-power boiler, and the winches are operated by a vertical Marshall engine of six horse-power. There is a twenty-five feet ladder, and the buckets have a capacity of four and aquarter feet.