Other formats

    TEI XML file   ePub eBook file  

Connect

    mail icontwitter iconBlogspot iconrss icon

The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Taranaki, Hawke's Bay & Wellington Provincial Districts]

Lands and Survey Department

Lands and Survey Department.

The Taranaki Lands and Survey Department is domiciled on the first floor of the Government Buildings, in Devon Street, New Plymouth. The district under control extends from the Mokau river in the north, to the mouth of the Putea river in the south. From the sea coast it runs inland to a point on the Wanganui river, a little north of Pipiriki, and at the northern end of the district, inland to the Ongaruhe river. The land district is divided into thirty-seven survey districts, each with its own distinctive name—generally in Maori. Mr. F. Simpson is Commissioner of Crown Lands and Chief Surveyor; Mr. W. H. Skinner, Chief Draughtsman; Mr. H. M. Bannister, Chief Clerk; Mr. C. Cook, Land Transfer Draughtsman; and Mr. F. A. Cullin, Receiver of Land Revenue. There are also three district surveyors—Messrs H. M. Skeet, G. H. Bullard, and W. T. Morpeth, besides six assistant surveyors and six clerks. The members of the Land Board for the district are Messrs F. Simpson (chairman). Hislop, Rattenbury, Connett and McCluggage.

Mr. Francis Simpson, Commissioner of Crown Lands and Chief Surveyor for Taranaki, was born in the year 1846, in Lancaster, England. In 1853, he arrived in Auckland with his parents, and was educated at Wesley College, and at the Church of England Grammar School. During the Waikato war, Mr. Simpson held a commission in the 2nd Waikato Regiment, and saw service. He afterwards entered the service of the Auckland Provincial Government, and was subsequently transferred to that of the General Government. In 1875, he joined the Survey Department at Gisborne, and ultimately became a district surveyor. After serving in that capacity till 1892, he was appointed chief draug htsman at Napier, whence he was transferred to New Plymouth, where he was promoted, in June, 1904, to his present position.

Mr. John Strauchon, formerly Chief Surveyor and Commissioner of Crown Lands for the Taranaki district, was born in Scotland and edurated page 64 at Edinburgh. He came to New Zealand with his father and brother, in 1861, by the ship “Pladda,” and landed at Port Chalmers. For a short time he was engaged on the staff of the “Otago Daily Times,” but in 1862, he received a Government appointment as timekeeper at Oamaru, and was afterwards moved to Hampden. In 1865, he joined the Survey Department, and after passing his surveyors' examination in 1868, was transferred to the head office at Dunedin, where he remained until the beginning of 1870, when he was appointed to take charge of the Martin's Bay Special Settlement. He received the appointment of district surveyor at Mataura in 1871, and held the position for twenty years. From May to December, 1877, he occupied the position of acting surveyor at Nelson, during Mr. Browning's absence in Australia, on sick leave. In 1892, he was appointed Commissioner of Crown Lands and Chief Surveyor for the Westland district, and two years later was transferred to Taranaki. Mr. Strauchon, who is a member for the New Zealand Institute of Surveyors, is married, and has two sons and four daughters. He is now (1906) Chief Surveyor and Commissioner of Crown Lands for the Wellington district, to which he was transferred in 1902.