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New Plymouth District Council.

Taranaki Stories 
Transport - Rail relief - New Plymouth's first railway  
Once upon a time - a little railway storyThe Snail Rail - Stratford Main Trunk Railway, a tale of 32 yearsThe Railway and Puke Ariki - the disappearance of a paCharles Brown goes down in historyBack to list
Charles Brown Jnr

Charles Brown

By Sorrel Hoskin

 

Charles Brown came to the infant settlement of New Plymouth in 1841 to set up business with his father, Charles Armitage Brown, a friend of the poet Keats. Charles Brown senior died soon after, but his 21-year-old son remained and became a well-liked and respected member of the community.


At 33 he was elected the Provincial Government's first superintendent in 1853. In 1859 he helped establish the Taranaki News, becoming its owner. At the outbreak of the Land Wars in 1860, he found himself a soldier, eventually rising to the rank of major. Parliamentary honours followed and in 1901, at the age of 81 he was still serving the community as a Maori interpreter.


The day he was hit by the train, Brown had been walking to the horse-drawn bus for Fitzroy when he noticed the fishmonger had set up his stall on the Huatoki Bridge. He turned back to buy some fish and then absentmindedly crossed the railway line a second time. The train whistled but it was too late and he died under the wheels of the Hawera-bound afternoon train.

 

A train crossing Devon Street

A train crossing Devon Street where the Kings Building now stands.  This photo was take in 1899 or 1900.

 

Brown's death, seen by many on the busy main street deeply shocked the community and was a catalyst to eventually removing the railway line from the middle of the town.



 




Published 21 January 2005

 

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LIBRARY RESOURCES

Scanlan, A.B, Taranaki's First Railway, A. Scanlan, New Plymouth

 

Habershon, Richard Gratton, Stratford District Centenary 1878 - 1978, (1978) Stratford District Centennial Committee of the Stratford Borough Council, Stratford

 

ARCHIVES
Papers:  An official copy of a letter, dated 1875, from C B Knorrp, Engineer, Wellington to the Engineer in Chief, (New Plymouth?) regarding the construction of the railway line between Waitara and Wanganui. Also a report by the same engineer on the railway line to be built from Waitara to Wanganui.
(Ref: 2001-6)

 

A collection of items on the development and opening fo the Taranaki Main trunk railway in 1932.

(Ref: 2004-149)

 

WEBLINKS

Puke Ariki is not responsible for the content of these external websites.


Railway Enthusiast Links - Links to everything you could possibly want to know about New Zealand railways and trains, from the longest and shortest tunnels in the country to the history of railways in New Zealand.
 

Federation of Rail Organisations of New Zealand – co-ordinates the heritage and tourist rail industry in New Zealand.

 

RELATED TARANAKI STORIES

Caroline "Queenie" Perrett - a white Maori

 

PLACES TO VISIT

Waitara Railway Preservation Society

Enjoy a ride on the newly reinstated Waitara Railway Branch Line with the Waitara Railway Preservation Society.

 

Ride the train from Waitara to Lepperton and return (55 mins). 7 km of trak and a 1 in 40 gradient (the steepest gradient in NZ). Crosses a river bridge, State Highway 3 underpass. On board commentary. Operating the first and third Sunday of each month (weather permitting).

 

Additional trips will be advertised in the Taranaki Daily News. Boarding venue: West Quay, Waitara (just follow the main street into Waitara and turn down Queen Street at the roundabout and turn right at New World Supermarket).

 

Departure times: 1000 hours, 1115 hours, 1230 hours, 1345 hours and 1500 hours.

 

$10 adults, $5 children, under four years free, family concessions available. For further information phone/fax 06 757 3343.

 

MAPS

The development of Taranaki's rail network.

 

TreasureLink
A weekly resource for teachers based on a Taranaki Story. Activities, ideas for more study and links to Puke Ariki's treasures.



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