PATERSON, THOMAS (1832-69) was the son of a merchant at Leith, Scotland. He was educated at the High School in Edinburgh and articled as a civil engineer to Grainger and Miller, railway contractors, with whom he became managing assistant. In 1863 he was appointed railway and road engineer in Otago. In this position he surveyed and prepared parliamentary plans for the Dunedin-Clutha line and the light line northward from Dunedin, supervised the construction of the Bluff-Invercargill line for the Southland government, and reconstructed the Oreti line. He made investigations for the Lyttelton tunnel, constructed the bridge over the Rakaia and designed that over the Rangitata. Paterson was drowned in a coach mishap in the Kakanui river on 15 Dec 1869.

Otago P.C. Proc.; Timaru Herald, 18 Dec 1869.

Reference: Volume 2, page 79

🌳 Further sources