PIONEER OTAGO COUPLE

Dominion, Volume 23, Issue 55, 28 November 1929, Page 10

PIONEER OTAGO COUPLE

SIXTY-FIFTH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY Dominion Special Service. Dunedin, November 27. Married on November 28, 1864, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Sparrow will celebrate to-morrow the sixty-fifth anniversary of their marriage. Two members of the fast diminishing band of pioneers, they have been actively associated with the development and growth of Otago. Mr. Sparrow was born in Dumbartonshire, Scotland, in 1842, and received his education in his native village. After he had left school he decided to become an engineer, and with that object in view served an apprenticeship in the Leven Ship Works belonging to the well-known firm of Messrs. Denny and Co. He then spent a year in Glasgow, after which he went to Newcastle-on-Tyne, where he remained for five years in the service of Messrs. Mitchell, Armstrong and Mitchell. Mr. and Mrs. Sparrow came out to New Zealand in the ship William Davey in 1869, landing at Port Chalmers and then coming on to Dunedin. Three years later the engineering firm now known as Messrs. Joseph Sparrow and Sons Ltd. was established. Mr. Sparrow came out to this country equipped with expert knowledge which was extremely valuable, especially at a time when a great deal of work required to be done in developing the country, demanding enterprise, business courage and foresight. At one time the building of dredges formed an important part of the firm’s operations, and a large number of machines were designed and constructed for work in New Zealand and even as far away as Siam. Burma, the Philippines, and other countries. After the decline of the dredging industry the firm carried on general and marine engineering with a large measure of success, building up an extensive business. In his younger days Mr. Sparrow took an netive part in local affairs, and was a member of several public bodies. Mr. Sparrow is now in his eighty-eighth year, while Mrs. Sparrow is eighty-four.