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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Otago & Southland Provincial Districts]

Captain Francis Turpie

Captain Francis Turpie , J.P., who settled in the “Retreat,” Newborough, in 1882, has had a large seafaring experience. He was born in 1833, at Ceres, Fifeshire, Scotland, and educated at Arbroath, Forfarshire; went to sea at the age of thirteen, and became mate in 1857 and master in the following year. In 1860 he married a daughter of the late Mr. James Bain, of Arbroath, and he and Mrs. Turpie went to Mauritius, where for two years he had charge of the s s. “Neptune.” Subsequently he was captain of the barque “Genevieve,” in which he made two voyages to Ceylon, and was introduced to New Zealand on the 17th of January, 1862, by being shipwrecked at the page 555 entrance to the Otago Heads, where his vessel became a total wreck. Captain Turpie was placed in charge of the barque, “Mary E. Rae,” and took returning diggers back to Victoria. Afterwards he returned to Mauritius, and after being again in charge of the s.s. “Neptune for a short time, he joined the Government Pilot Service, in which he remained for nearly twenty years, when he retired on a pension. The climate of New Zealand being to his taste, he returned to Lyttelton, by the ship “Alexia,” and arrived on the 22nd of March, 1882. Captain Turpie has been a Justice of the Peace since 1895, and is a member of the Oamaru licensing committee. He is a member of the committee of the Oamaru Bowling Club, and has taken part in interprovincial matches.

Captain F. Turpie.

Captain F. Turpie.