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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Wellington Provincial District]

Mr. Thomas Mullan

Mr. Thomas Mullan, Inspector of Permanent Way for the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company, has had a large experience in railway construction and maintenance. Born in 1841 in Dungannon, County Tyrone, Ireland, where also he was educated, Mr. Mullan came out to the colonies at the age of fourteen. For some years he followed the diggings in Victoria, and ultimately entered the service as timekeeper on the Victorian railways at Woodend. He was again lured by “the gold fever,” and crossed over to Otago at the time of the rush to Switzer's. Later on, Mr. Mullan went over the ranges to the West Coast goldfields. At Westport he joined the public service, and was engaged on surveys, page 353 and afterwards on the construction of the line to Waimangaroa. On the completion of this section he went to Marlborough, where he set off the line between Para and Blenheim stations. Mr. Mullan was next engaged on the Central Railway between Hyde and Naseby, but left the Government service to work under Mr. Higginson, who was constructing the Waimea Plains Railway. After a trip to Melbourne, Mr. Mullan joined his brother in a contract on the Buller road, but left in June, 1883, to assist Mr. Higginson in the wconstruction of the Wellington and Manawatu Railway. He first took charge of the Paremata bridge construction, and afterwards laid the permanent way between Pukerua and Waikanae. In 1886, Mr. Mullan was promoted to the position now held by him. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, though presently unattached. Having been initiated under the Scotch Constitution, he afterwards affiliated with the English, taking the Mark Master and Red Cross degrees. Mr. Mullan was married in 1878 to Miss FitzGerald, of Melbourne, and has two daughtors and two sons.