Charles Gordon O'Neill

Charles O’Neill was born in Glasgow in 1828. He studied civil engineering at the University of Glasgow, and was employed by the city on public work projects after graduating. O’Neill left Scotland for New Zealand in 1863, reaching Otago in January 1864. Within the year he was employed as district engineer for the southern district and surveyor for the Otago provincial government. During this time O’Nell was responsible for laying out the town of Milton. In 1868 he moved to Thames, where he was employed as a mining surveyor for the Thames goldfield and engineer-in-chief of railways, tramways and wharves. By 1869 he had risen to the position of provincial engineer and chief surveyor of the goldfield.

O’Neill was also involved in local politics. Between 1866 and 1870 he was the Member of the House of Representatives for Goldfields Otago, and from 1871 to 1875 he was elected to represent Thames. He moved to Wellington in 1876 and two years later he helped form a company which opened the first steam street-rail tramway system in Wellington. This was believed to be the first such construction in the southern hemisphere.

While in Wellington O’Neill was given the opportunity to practice his skills as an architect. In 1879 he designed the Kaiwharawhara Powder Magazine, and a year later was commissioned to build an extension to the gallery of St Mary’s Cathedral. He is also credited with designing the magazine at Mount Eden. Interestingly, at about the same time that he was involved in the building of the stone magazines, O’Neill attended a conference in Australia to advocate the setting up of a New Zealand flagstone industry. In 1880 O’Neill was elected to the British Society of Civil Engineers. He moved to Australia in 1881, and died in Sydney in November 1900.

Image: Wrigglesworth, James Dacie, 1836-1906. Wrigglesworth, James Dacie, 1836-1906 : Portrait of Charles O'Neill. Ref: PA2-1971. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. http://natlib.govt.nz/records/23176499 

Sources:
Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, Vol 2, 1870-1900.
WCC Heritage Inventory 2001