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

Railway Department

Railway Department.

The Oamaru Railway Station is one of the terminal stations of the New Zealand railway system, and from it the districts including Palmerston to Kurow, Ngapara and Tokarahi branches, are supervised by the stationmaster. It contains the stationmaster's room, booking office, ticket lobbies, guards' rcom, parcel office, lamp room, ladies' waiting-room and general waiting-room, refreshment room and bar, and there is also a convenient passenger platform. The station building is new and is situated at the foot of Usk and Ribble Streets, to which it was transferred from Wansbeck Street, in October, 1900. It is one of the best of the modern stations in the colony, and there are docks at the north and south ends of the platform. The goods department is conducted in a separate building, to which there are numerous entrances for the convenience of the business community. From the railway station premises the line is extended to the Oamaru breakwater, with which there is an extensive traffic in wool and grain. The entire staff in connection with the Oamaru railway station numbers thirty-eight, including clerks, guards, porters, watchmen, signalmen and gatekeepers. Mr. P. A. Duncan is stationmaster.

Mr. Peter Couch , Chief Clerk at the Oamaru Railway Station, was born at Deptford, England, in 1855, and educated at Deptford and Greenwich. He was brought up as a school teacher and received a license to teach, under the British denominational and educational system, but owing to a breakdown in his health he came to Lyttelton by the ship “Columbus,” in 1873. Shortly after his arrival he was appointed assistant master of the Christchurch High School, now the West Christchurch School, but was finally compelled to abandon his profession in consequence of the state of his health. Mr. Couch joined the Railway Department in 1878, as clerk in the Lyttelton goods department, where he continued till he was transferred to his present position at Oamaru in 1898. Mr. Couch was married, in 1877, to a daughter of Mr. J. Atkinson, of Lyttelton, and has six sons and three daughters. During his residence in Lyttelton, Mr. Couch was an active member of the Wesleyan Church, and held office as steward and trustee for about eighteen years.

Mr. P. Couch.

Mr. P. Couch.

Mr. James Cooper , Goods Clerk at the Oamaru Railway Station, was born in Mosgiel, Otago, in 1864. He was educated in his native town, and entered the railway service at Gore in 1883. A year later he was transferred to Dunedin, where he performed the duties of clerk for ten years. In 1895 Mr. Cooper was promoted to his present position in Oamaru. As a Freemason he is attached to Lodge Waitaki.

Mr. Ernest John Reid , Parcels Clerk at the Oamaru Railway Station, was born in Peterhead, Scotland, in 1876. He accompanied his parents to Wellington by the ship “Perthshire,” in 1883, and travelled in the ill-fated s.s. “Wairarapa” to Port Chalmers. His father, Mr. John Reid, was headmaster of the Ravensbourne public school for many years. Mr. Ernest Reid became a cadet in the Railway Department at Dunedin in 1893. He was stationed successively at Caversham, Hampden, and Herbert, and was again at Hampden before returning to Dunedin to the Goods Department, in 1897. Two years later Mr. Reid was appointed to his present position in Oamaru. He was married, in 1897, to a daughter of Mr. John Budge, farmer, at Herbert, and has three daughters.

Mahan and Muir, photo. Mr. E. J. Reid.

Mahan and Muir, photo.
Mr. E. J. Reid.

Mr. James Kay , Coaching Foreman, in charge of the staff at the Oamaru Railway Station, was born in August, 1865, at Kircaldy, Fifeshire, Scotland. He attended Mr. Philip's school, and went to sea as an apprentice. For about thirteen years he followed the sea, and after arriving in Olago, in a barque laden with jarrah timber, he decided to remain in the colony. In 1875 Mr. Kay joined the railway service in Oamaru, and two years later was transferred to Dunedin. He became the first guard on the north express from Dunedin, and after seventeen years' of service was stationed at Oamaru in 1898. As a Freemason Mr. Kay is a member of Lodge Oamaru Kilwinning. He was married, in 1875, to a daughter of Mr.
Mahan and Muir, photo. Mr. J. Kay.

Mahan and Muir, photo.
Mr. J. Kay.

page 511 John Hogan, of Ireland, and has had six sons and two daughters; two sons and one daughters are dead. Mr. Kay's eldest son went to South Africa, where he joined the Canadian Scouts. Since the close of the war, he has held a position on one of the South African railways. Mr. Kay's second surviving son was a member of the Tenth Contingent, and returned to the colony after the close of hostilities.

Mr. William Arthur Verey , Railway Carpenter at Oamaru, was born at Handforth, Cheshire, England, in 1845. He attended school in his native place. His father was master of the first National School in the district; he was also the local postmaster for twenty years. Mr. Verey came out to Victoria in 1864, and learned his trade partly in that colony and partly in New Zealand. In 1876 he arrived in Dunedin, and joined the Railway Department as a carpenter in 1880. After three and a half years of service, he was appointed Inspector of Bridges at Invercargill, and held the position for three years and seven months. In October, 1887, Mr. Verey was transferred to Oamaru as carpenter in charge. He is a prominent member of the Railway Employees' Benefit Society, and of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants, of which he has been chairman at Oamaru, and has been secretary for five years. Mr. Verey was elected delegate to represent the Oamaru district at the conference held in Invercargill in 1902. He has been a deacon of the Baptist Church for a number of years. Mr. Verey was married, in 1881, to a daughter of the late Mr. Robert Stevenson, of Dunedin, and has two sons and one daughter.

Mahan and muir, photo. Mr. W. A. Verey.

Mahan and muir, photo.
Mr. W. A. Verey.

Mr. George Broad , Engine Driver on the Oamaru section of the New Zealand railways, was born at West Maling, Kent, on the 27th of April, 1840. After serving for a short time on the London and Chatham railway, he came to the Bluff on the 28th of May, 1865, by the ship “Jessie Gilbert,” and joined the New Zealand railways in 1866. Mr. Broad became fireman on the first engine that travelled on the Dunedin and Abbotsford line. He was made driver in 1875, and has been continuously employed on the middle section since its opening. He is a member of the Endeavour Lodge, U.A.O.D., and has taken an active part in connection with railway sick benefit societies. Mr. Broad was married to a daughter of the late Mr Oliver Sutton, of Manchester, and has five sons and three daughters.

Mr. G. Broad.

Mr. G. Broad.

Mr. John George Brooker , Engine Driver on the Oamaru section of the New Zealand railways, was born in 1856, in Maidstone, Kent, where he was educated. He arrived in Port Chalmers in 1873, by the ship “James Nicol Fleming,” settled in Oamaru, and in 1874 he joined the railway service as a cleaner. Two years later he was promoted to the position of fireman, and became driver in 1877. He is a Forester, and is attached to Court Pride of Oamaru. Mr. Brooker was married on the 23rd of October, 1877, to a daughter of Mr. Thomas Colleram, of Galway, Ireland, and has four sons and seven daughters.

Mr. John Brown , Engine Driver on the Hurunui-Bluff section of the New Zealand railways, was born in Liverpool, England, in 1856. He was educated at Workington, Cumberland, and served his time as a paper maker at the Derwent Paper Mills, Workington. Subsequently he was employed as a puddler by the West Cumberland Iron and Steel Company of the same place. He afterwards became engine driver for the Derwent Hematite Iron Works, since known as the Ironfield Steel Works. At Christmas, 1879, Mr. Brown arrived in Port Chalmers by the ship “Taranaki,” and after a general experience extending over two or three years, he obtained employment at the Hillside Railway Workshops, Dunedin. Shortly afterwards he became cleaner, and was subsequently appointed fireman, and continued in that position till May, 1886, when he was appointed night foreman of cleaners. He was appointed driver in November, 1889. Mr. Brown is connected with the Masonic Order, having been initiated into Lodge Celtic No. 477, S.C., Dunedin, on the 17th of March, 1887. While stationed at
Mr. J. Brown.

Mr. J. Brown.

page 512 Waimate, he joined Lodge St. Augustine, and worked his way up to the junior warden's chair. He is an elder, Sunday school teacher, and choirmaster in connection with the Columba Presbyterian Church, Oamaru. Mr. Brown studied the tonic sol-fa notation under Mr. Braik, Dunedin. He is a total abstainer of twenty-five years' standing, and is an earnest advocate of prohibition. Mr. Brown was married, in 1886, to a daughter of the late Mr. John Little, of Dunedin, and has five sons and one daughter.