LONG AND ACTIVE LIFE IN GISBORNE: MR. J. E. GARDNER

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23350, 5 September 1950, Page 6

LONG AND ACTIVE LIFE IN GISBORNE: MR. J. E. GARDNER

The many friends of Mr. James Edmond Gardner, surveyor, civil engineer and businessman, will regret to learn of his death whic hoccurred on Sunday in a private hospital in Gisborne. The late Mr. Gardner was 70 years of age, and few citizens of advanced years

have recorded more intensive activity on behalf of a community without seeking public office. Born at Reefton in 1880. Mr. Gardner grew up on the West Coast and received a liberal education from his contacts with survivors of the mining rush which populated that area with rovers from many parts of the world. He came to Gisborne in his early twenties to take a cadetship under the iate Mr. George Grant, widely-known as a civil engineer and surveyor, and with Mr. Grant’s encouragement qualified in quick time in both engineering and survey work. He later became a partner in the firm with Mr. A. C. Cooke, and was recognised as one of the nios, energetic and knowledgeable surtejots in the district. Original Surveys There was no part of the district which he did not cover in his long association with surveying and engineerin" work, in connection with which his ablitv to secure the confidence and co-operation of Maori land-owners proved most valuable, fie did many' of the original surveys of the more remote blocks on the East Coast and in the Gisborne hinterland, and his rugged physique served him well during his long sojourns on hill-country jobs. In his middle years he became associated closely with the campaign to consolidate Maori land titles on the East Coast, and in this work he scored signal success in finding solutions to difficulties which arose among Maori owners over the disposition of their interests. The progress made with the scheme owed much to his handling of these problems, in which his interest went far beyond the activities normally expected of a surveyor. Public affairs comprised another of his many interests, and his views on any public topic were expressed with an independence which marked his whole attitude to life. He took part in long-sustained endeavours to find a satisfactory solution to Gisborne s harbour troubles in the early twenties, and with Mr. A. C. Cooke produced a sciierne for diversion of the Waimata River’s floodwaters which gained many adherents.

Of all iiis public activities, however, none was more important or far-reach-ing in its effects than his work to justify, on engineering and economic grounds, the completion of the NapierGisborne section of the East Coast main trunk railway. Construction of the line was abandoned in 1930 when New Zealand was in the deepest throes of the depression, and Mr. Gardner became a leader in a campaign to convince the Government of its error.

Engineering Review

His own contribution to the campaign apart from several convincing contributions to debates on the subject, included tlie compilation of an engineering review of the work remaining to be done to linking Gisborne with the North Island railway system, and an economic report in which he compared the potential wealth and actual production of the Gisborne-East Coast area with other portions of New Zealand already served by rail. He prepared plans and maps which, together with his written material. were believed to have had a major influence upon the decision of the Labour Government in 1936 to re-institute construction on the Gisborne line.

In 1933. while the depression still affected business conditions generally, Mr. Gardner became a partner with the late Mr. Thomas Adair in founding the Gisborne Box Company, Limited, in which he was in late years the senior partner. His detailed knowledge of the district was highly valuable in tracing sources of supply for the mill, and there was no patch of bush within 100 miles of Gisborne which he had not prospected.

The late Mr. Gardner was an honorary member of the Gisborne 30,000 Club, a member of the Chamber of Commerce, a vice-president of the Old Boys Rugby Football Club and of the Gisborne Defence Rifle Club and the Miniature Rifle Club—the latter in continuation of a keen interest taken in marksmanship from his youth. He is survived by his wife, formerly Miss Jessie Elizabeth Dunbar, whom he married a few years after settling in Gisborne, and by one daughter, Mrs. W. Glover, Gisborne, and three sons, Messrs, William, Frank and Allan Gardner. Mr. Frank Gardner lives in Taneatua. There arc 11 grand-children. Two surviving brothers of the deceased are Mr. W. Gardner, Ashburton, and Mr. E. Gardner. Gisborne: and a surviving sister is Mrs. E. Dunbar, Gisborne. The burial took olace at Taruheru Cemetery today, following a service at Cochrane's private chapel at 11 a.m.