Fiftieth Anniversary Of Brown Bros.

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28700, 25 September 1958, Page 10

Fiftieth Anniversary Of Brown Bros.

■piFTY years of engineering service to Christchurch and New Zealand is the record of the firm of Brown Bros. (Engineers) Ltd., which is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary this year. The firm was founded in 1908 by Alfred Evelyn .Brown and his younger brother Philip Brown, both young men in their twenties.

Alfred Evelyn Brown was just 16 when he was apprenticed with a leading Christchurch engineering firm in 1895—a time when an apprentice paid £5O for the privilege of learning the trade and received no wages during the probationary period of his articles.

Early in 1900 Mr Brown began business on his ow«i account as an electrical contractor, one of the first in Christchurch, taking MUth him his younger brother Philip as an apprentice. In 1908 they formed the partnership of Brown Bros., the forerunner of the firm today.

Electricity, as a source of light and industrial power, was in its infanc/ when the young Brown brothers set up business as electrical engineers. It was then the fashion to refer to hydro-elec-tricity as “white coal from the hills.” Among the earliest suppliers of electric power in Christchurch were Wardell Brothers and the “Lyttelton Times,” which generated light and power, not only for themselves, but also to assist consumers in their locality. Later, a third generating unit was installed in Christchurch by Brown Brothers—a steam driven 230-volt direct current power plant, at the premises of Smith and Smith, sawmillers, of Tuam street, where Gold Band Taxis now are. This sawmill plant also provided power fo the businesses of J. Ballantyne and Company, Ltd., J. Bates and Company, Ltd., Edward Reece, Ltd., and Mason, Struthers and Company, Ltd., as well as several other smaller businesses.

Underground Mains It was then regarded as a major installation and was a matter of pride to the two brothers who were by then well established as practical and working consultants. Of particular interest, in view of the present-day trend to eliminate unsightly overhead wiring, is the fact that underground supply mains were used in this early installation between Tuam street and Lichfield street. Other and larger power plants were gradually installed as private enterprises, before the opening of the State Hydro-electric stations. The most memorable of these was at the 1906 Internationa] Exhibition held in Hagley Park, Christchurch, where power was developed and obtained from 230volt direct current generators

driven by three steam engines at the site of the exhibition itself, aided by an auxiliary 500-volt direct current- supply from -the Cnristchutch Tramway Board’s private plant. Both brothers assisted with the installation of the Hagley Park Exhibition plant, and Mr A. E. Brown later installed this Exhibition generating plant for the Timaru Borough Council. Another notable early installation was the electrification of the opening and closing of the Heathcote bridge to allow small steamers to ply upstream as far as the Heathcote wharf. Power for this purpose was also supplied from the Tramway’s private service, which, at that early stage, was the biggest electrical generating station in the gas-lighted city. Early-day Christchurch electricity uses were of great public interest and comment. The first attempt at “floodlighting” the Cathedral was made about the end of last century when the west door entrance was lit by one of tne earlier types of arc lamp, the power being obtained by a traction engine-driven generator. At that time, exterior Tighting under verandas was accomplished by arc lamps, some using white flame, while others depended on yellow flame carbons. These lamps had to be trimmed frequently, as the carbon lasted only eight to 16 hours. State Station

Private electrical installations continued until the opening of the State hydro-electric station at Lake Coleridge in 1915, by which time many Christchurch mills and factories had their own electric light plants with voltages ranging from 65 to 110 volt direct current. Brown Brothers partnership carried out many of these early private installations.

After 1915, when the Lake Coleridge power scheme was completed, the peed for private generating plants- #«•» confined largely to rembte country homesteads Or isolated mines, such as the Blackwater Mine at Reefton, for which a 400 h.p. pelton wheel was designed and installed. Pelton wheels were also installed on the Chatham Islands. From this time the nature of the partnership business changed. Combining their electrical experience (Mr A. E. Brown was a life member of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers) with a specialised knowledge of pumping machinery lhey soon acquired a Dominion-wide reputation in the power-pumping field.

Partnership Dissolved In 1943 the partnership was dissolved on the death of the senior partner, Mr A. E. BroWn. Mr P. H. W. Brown then formed the business into a private company which has continued to operate and to expand under his active leadership as governing-director, so that today Mr Brown can look back over 50 years of unbroken service to th£ business and farming community of New Zealand. Born at Waimate in 1883, Mr Brown attended Mr Cook’s Warwick House School and Christ’s College. His commercial career actually started as office boy with Messrs OHiVier Brothers, public accountants—at 5s per week. Starting business in a little wooden shed in a right-of-way near Smith and Smith’s sawmill, the partnership moved twice in Colombo street before becoming established in 1924 in its present building, 590 Colombo street. As its pump business expanded, embracing farm, irrigation, household and industrial services, the'

company regularly outgrew its factory premises until, in 19SS, a large new brick factory wss erected in Wordsworth street with up-to-date machinery and testing facilities enabling it to take care of its ever-increasing output. •*. I Though the company has no branches it is perhaps as wellknown as any other engineering company in New Zealand.. Those who may not know it for pump- < ing machinery know Brown ; Brothers as the New Zealand j agents for the world-famous Briggs and Stratton petrol engines. This agency was secured ■ when one of the partners, browsing through an American trade; journal in the 1920’5, saw an jsngine illustrated and wrote for particulars as he "thought it might be rather interesting.” Typical Users Typical users in and around Christchurch include: St. Helen’s Hospital, Cashmere Hospital, Ovaltine Factory, Star-Sun (new building), Kaiapoi Borough Council (sewage scheme), Christchurch Railway Station (new building), Davis Gelatine Company, Birds Eye Foods (N.Z.), Ltd., Sanitarium Health Food Company, Fropax (N.Z.), Ltd., as well as bulk petrol pumps for every oil company in New Zealand. Today, electricity is accepted aS a commonplace; methods of ptoduction and designs of pumps and engines have changed; but th* tradition of service and personal responsibility remains, and is still the guiding principle in this busi- ' ness.