Henry William Young (1840-1903)
Henry William Young (1840-1903)
1904 Obituary [1]
HENRY WILLIAM YOUNG died at his residence, Cowper Street, Greymouth, New Zealand, on the 4th August, 1903.
Born at Camberwell, London, on the 31st October, 1840, he went to New Zealand in 1863, and to the West Coast in 1865 to join his brother Mr. R. A. Young, now of Westport, who had arrived a few months earlier. The brothers remained on the goldfields until 1873, when they settled in Greymouth, the partnership lasting for about eight years, during which time they acted as engineers for many important works for the Government and for various local bodies. As architects they also designed the Greymouth, Hokitika, and other large public schools and ecclesiastical buildings, including Trinity Church, Greymouth.
In 1878 the firm were appointed engineers to the Westport collieries, and in that capacity designed and carried out the railway and the famous Denniston incline, at the time a new departure in engineering work. The firm were also associated with Napier Bell in the construction of the Cape Foulwind Railway and of portion of the Westport Harbour Works, of which Mr. R. A. Young is now engineer.
For a couple of years Mr. H. W. Young was in Wanganui, and in 1886 he accepted the appointment of Chief Assistant Engineer in the colony for the Midland Railway Company, being directly under Mr. Napier Bell, and subsequently under the late Mr. Robert Wilson, acting as Engineer-in-Chief during Mr. Wilson’s absence from the colony.
Mr. Young’s appointment was of ten years’ duration, lapsing only with the cessation of operations by the Company. Since 1896 he was in private practice as engineer and architect, and in both capacities was associated with nearly every important work or building on the coast.
In social life his genial, kindly and hospitable disposition made him popular with all.
Mr. Young was elected an Associate Member of the Institution on the 5th March, 1889.