SCOTT, ROBERT JULIAN (1861-1930) was born in Plymouth, a son of Rear-Admiral R. A. G. Scott, R.N., and a cousin of Captain R. F. Scott, the Antarctic explorer. Educated at the Abbey School, Beckenham, Kent, and at the Royal School of Mines, he had railway engineering experience in England, and in 1881 joined the New Zealand railway service as locomotive draftsman and manager of the Addington workshops. He designed and operated several new types of locomotives and wagons. The first locomotive to be made in the Dominion was called the Prairie, or Scott.

When the Canterbury University College school of engineering was founded, Scott was appointed lecturer in engineering (1888). He became lecturer in charge (1890), and professor in charge (1894), and until he retired in 1923 he was the dominating influence in the school. He was a member of the New Zealand University senate (1903-23) and acted as chairman of the royal commissions on railway rolling stock, on tramway brakes, on the Addington workshops, and on munitions. He published a number of papers on engineering subjects, as well as official reports. Scott was an enthusiastic yachtsman; designed and raced his own vessels, and was a founder of the Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club. (M.I.M.E.; M.I.C.E.; F.A.I.E.E.; M.N.Z.Soc.C.E.) He died on 8 Nov 1930, surviving by many years his wife (Gertrude, daughter of Sir Charles Bowen).

Who's Who N.Z., 1908, 1924; Hight and Candy; The Press, 9 Nov 1930.

Reference: Volume 2, page 142

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