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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Auckland Provincial District]

Mr. Daniel Cook Wilson

Mr. Daniel Cook Wilson, Engineer of the Whangarei County Council, was born in County Tyrone, Ireland, in January 1841, and came out to Australia when twelve years of age. After four years' residence in Geelong and Ballarat he came to Auckland in 1857 and studied land surveying with his brother, Mr. J. I. Wilson, and has since been continuously engaged in that occupation and in road engineering for over forty years Mr. Wilson has resided in the county of Whangarei since 1858, and in the early days experienced all the hardships incidental to a surveyor's life, when it was customary to camp in rough country for months at a time with no better provisions than wild pork, black tea, and “damper.” Mr. Wilson was appointed to his present position in 1883 and during the eighteen years he has been in office the county roads have increased from 150 miles to 550 miles in length, of which over fifty miles are permanently metalled.

page 545

On these roads five tons of timber is quite a common load. There is no more familiar face to the residents of the county than that of their engineer, who though he has borne the beat and burden of the day, still seems in the prime of life and good for another quarter of a century.