George Troup (architect)

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Sir George Troup
CMG
23rd Mayor of Wellington
In office
1927–1931
DeputyMartin Luckie
Preceded byCharles Norwood
Succeeded byThomas Hislop
Personal details
Born(1863-10-21)21 October 1863
London, England
Died4 October 1941(1941-10-04) (aged 77)
Wellington, New Zealand
Political partyReform
Spouse
Annie Mary Sloan
(m. 1897)

Sir George Alexander Troup

Petone
.

Early life and education

He was born in London, England. His family returned to Edinburgh, Scotland soon after he was born. His widowed mother sent him to Robert Gordon's College, Aberdeen, where he was entitled to free board and tuition as the son of an Aberdeen burgess.

He trained as an architect and engineer under C.E. Calvert in Edinburgh, and in 1882 was employed as a draughtsman by architect J.J.A. Chesser.

Career

The George Troup designed Dunedin Railway Station

He immigrated to New Zealand in 1884. Joining the Survey Department when he arrived in Dunedin, he worked in remote survey gangs. In 1886, he joined the New Zealand Railways Department as an engineering draughtsman, having studied at the Otago School of Mines to qualify for the position. He soon transferred to the Head Office in Wellington, where he spent 37 of his 39 years in the Railways, and was responsible for the design of railway stations, bridges and viaducts, and for Railways housing.

His crowning achievement was the design and construction of

Dunedin Railway Station
, of 1906.

He supported the Presbyterian Church including St. John's in Wellington and the Bible Class movement, the Y.M.C.A., the Wellington Boy's Institute, and the British and Foreign Bible Society. He was also President of the Friesian Cattle Breeders Association, as he farmed his country property at Plimmerton. He was associated with the development of Kelburn, and the Wellington Cable Car.

Standard station designs

When Troup became NZR's architect there were 7 standard station designs, dating from 1874, during Vogel's rail making boom.[1] Under Troup's leadership, a plan book of revised standard station types was produced by 1904:-[2]

  • Class A

Replaced the former class 5 station, 13 ft (3.5 m) wide x 34 – 69 ft (10.4 – 21 m) long, with an enclosed lobby, ladies' waiting room and toilet, plus, at larger stations, an office and luggage room. Surviving examples are Hundalee (now at Waikari),[3] Moana[4] (Trans-Alpine) and Rotowaro.[5]

  • Class B
Te Kuiti described by the Rail Heritage Trust as, "the finest remaining example of a standard class B station"

Gable-roof 17 ft (5.2 m) wide x 44 –103 ft (13.4 - 31.4 m) long, with the same rooms as Class A, plus, at larger stations, ticket office, parcels room, lamp room, stationmaster's office, porters' room, and postal room, mostly with fireplaces at the apex of the roof. e.g., Glenhope,[6] Kaikoura,[7] Kawakawa,[8]

  • Class C

As class B, but 20 ft (6.10 m) wide and up to 108 ft (32.9m) long, e.g. Whangarei[14]

Kaiapoi 'Vintage' type after earthquake
  • Vintage

16 were built between 1900 and 1908 with Tudor-style half-timbering, turrets and towers, large verandahs, tiled roofs and terracotta finials. e.g.

Wingatui island platform type
  • Island-platform

Gable-roofed, with, usually identical, doors, windows and verandahs on each side, often with Vintage details. Access was from an overbridge or a subway. e.g.

  • Parnell Railway Station
    in 2016–17.

Political career

Troup was the 23rd

Troup stood unsuccessfully for the parliamentary seat of

Wellington North as the Reform Party candidate in the 1931 election. In 1935, he was awarded the King George V Silver Jubilee Medal,[29] and in the 1937 New Year Honours, he was appointed a Knight Bachelor, for public services.[30]

Personal life

He married Annie Mary Sloan on 3 March 1897 in Wellington. He died in Wellington, survived by his wife, one son and three daughters.

References

  1. ^ "Rail Heritage Trust of New Zealand - STATIONS & ASSOCIATED BUILDINGS". railheritage.org.nz. 2012. Retrieved 15 April 2022.
  2. ^ "Rail Heritage Trust - Heritage Railway Stations". Archived from the original on 14 June 2017. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  3. ^ "Rail Heritage Trust - Hundalee". Archived from the original on 27 September 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  4. ^ Rail Heritage Trust - Moana
  5. ^ "Rail Heritage Trust - Rotowaro". Archived from the original on 8 April 2022. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  6. ^ "Rail Heritage Trust - Glenhope". Archived from the original on 27 September 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  7. ^ "Rail Heritage Trust - Kaikoura". Archived from the original on 27 September 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  8. ^ "Rail Heritage Trust - Kawakawa". Archived from the original on 27 September 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  9. ^ Heritage NZ listing Ohakune - including photo
  10. ^ Rail Heritage Trust - Otaki Archived 27 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine,
  11. ^ "Rail Heritage Trust - Pukekohe". Archived from the original on 27 September 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  12. ^ "Rail Heritage Trust - Te Kuiti". Archived from the original on 24 October 2019. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  13. ^ "Rail Heritage Trust - Waihi". Archived from the original on 27 September 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  14. ^ "Rail Heritage Trust - Whangarei". Archived from the original on 27 September 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  15. ^ "Rail Heritage Trust -Blenheim". Archived from the original on 27 September 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  16. ^ Rail Heritage Trust - Gisborne
  17. ^ "Rail Heritage Trust - Kaiapoi". Archived from the original on 27 September 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  18. ^ "Rail Heritage Trust - Lower Hutt". Archived from the original on 27 September 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  19. ^ "Rail Heritage Trust - Mataura". Archived from the original on 9 August 2019. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  20. ^ "Rail Heritage Trust - Oamaru". Archived from the original on 27 September 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  21. ^ "Rail Heritage Trust - Picton". Archived from the original on 22 June 2014. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  22. ^ "Rail Heritage Trust - Thames". Archived from the original on 22 June 2014. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  23. ^ "Rail Heritage Trust - Paekakariki". Archived from the original on 27 September 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  24. ^ "Rail Heritage Trust - Plimmerton". Archived from the original on 27 September 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  25. ^ "Rail Heritage Trust - Remuera". Archived from the original on 27 September 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  26. ^ "Rail Heritage Trust - Wingatui". Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  27. ^ "Onehunga unlikely home for old station". Stuff.co.nz. 13 March 2008. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
  28. ^ "No. 33675". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 1931. p. 5.
  29. ^ "Official jubilee medals". The Evening Post. 6 May 1935. p. 4. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  30. ^ "No. 34365". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 February 1937. p. 689.

Further reading

Political offices
Preceded by Mayor of Wellington
1927–1931
Succeeded by

External links

Media related to George Troup (architect) at Wikimedia Commons