Alfred Atkins

Alfred Atkins (1850-1919) was born in Birmingham, England. He trained primarily as a civil engineer in England and, on his arrival in New Zealand in 1875, worked on railway construction in the Wanganui district. He was elected an Associate Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1886 and two years later became a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects. He set up practice in Wanganui in both professions and, during the 1880’s, was in partnership with Frederick de Jersey Clere. 

When Atkins moved to Wellington in 1907, Roger Bacon (?-1959) joined him in practice and the firm of Atkins and Bacon was established. The practice later became Atkins & Mitchell, later Mitchell & Mitchell and then Gooch Mitchell Macdiarmid.

Image: The Cyclopedia of New Zealand, Vol.1, Wellington Provincial District, 1897, p1408

Sources: 

Fill, Barbara. “C. H. Mitchell, Architect, 1891-1949”, NZHPT 
Dictionary of Scottish Architects
F.W. Furkert, “Early New Zealand Engineers”, Reed, 1953
NZHPT Glossary
WCC Heritage Inventory 2001