OBITUARY

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLVIII, Issue XLVIII, 25 January 1913, Page 4

OBITUARY

MR. ALEXANDER BROWN.

The death occurred last night, at his residence, The Port of Mr. Alexander Brown, a well-known and highly-vespect-wl resident of the city for many years. For some time the health of Mr. Brown had not been of the best, but up till the end of last year he continued 1 to pay daily visits to the Anchor Shipping and Foundry Coy., Ltd., with which he had been closely identified since its . establishment over 50 years ago. To his ingenuitf and skill the owes much of its success from the time it commenced, operations on,a site at Auckland, Point, subsequently removed' to near the gasworks, and to its present large works. For over 30 years Mr Brown was the ruling power, and at the time of his death he was part owner in. the concern. .

The late Mr. Brown was born at Lark Hall, Lanarkshire/ Scotland, in 1830,4>id learned his trade as a, mechanical, engineer i.n Glasgow, with Mcsti's James Gray and Co.* He then wenr to Millwell. London, and was engaged in, building the Great' Eastern. In 1855,. Mr Brown went to the Crimea- as 2nd engineer of the transport Pioneer ; -btifc afterwards returned to. MUhvaU, and' \va« present at. the launching of : .re Greft: Eastern in 1858. A year later, ih search of adventure, Mr Brown wu.iied on aa engineer in the 43-ton vessel Lytteltc l, which ho had assisted to builJ, fur' th«* .rip to New Zealand, and le.'i England on the 18th August. The little vessel ba<} a very eventful and troublesome voyage from the time she left the Thames, and put in successively at, Cork, Cape do Verde, and Cane Coast Castle, where the captain and crew wok- stricken with fever. Mr Brown, the mote. and. the cab ;. boy alono escaping; On No-, vembor ..23rd,, 1860, after a voyage'. '.'E 462 days, she reached Wellington.' where for some time she had, been giyen up ae lost. After refitting, Mr Brown look her to L-yttelton. He was present at the "rush" to Gabriel's Gully m 1861, and in those days lie ran the. .TVyttelton from Dunedin to Taieri. In 1862 she was bought by a Nelson firm for' tho trade between Nelson and the Wairan, and formed the vucleus of the Ariqhor line of steamers.

On coming to Nelson, Mr Brown served as engineer on tnc s.e.-, Wallaby and Kennedy, of the Anchor line: but in 1666 Tie came ashore to Biincriqteti<l repairs required by these vessel sj ah ji it was in this way that the Anchor "Foundry came into existence. The late Mr Brown leaves a family of three sons—Messrs T., J., and T. Brown. who ore connected with thn Foundry—and; two daughters, Mis* Brown, and Mrs R. Ward, of Christchurc.h.

The flags on the boat?; in port, in addition to those on many business honsr*. are flying half-mast high to-day as a mark of Tesgect. . .