Mr. Edwin Cuthbert, M. Inst. C.E., who is a son of the late Rev. W. S. Cuthbert, M.A., Rector of Edenderry, near Omagh, was born in 1845 in County Tyrone, Ireland, and educated at various schools in England and Ireland. He was articled to Mr. G. W. Hemens, of London and Dublin, as a civil engineer, and became member of the Institution of Civil Engineers on the 3rd of April, 1883. Arriving in Wellington, via Panama, in 1868, Mr. Cuthbert settled in Invercargill, where he became chief draughtsman in the Land Transfer Office, holding also the post of town surveyor, by permission of the Government. He was afterwards assistant-engineer under the Public Works Department, and subsequently engaged in the survey of the Wellington-Masterton and other railways. Mr. Cuthbert was stationed in Canterbury from 1873 to 1875, in charge of branch railways, and from 1875 to 1877 as District Engineer. He was for some time in charge of the Christchurch section of working railways from 1873 to 1880, leaving the service in 1880 at the time of the retrenchment. In the following year he joined the Drainage Board as assistant engineer, under Mr. C. Napler Bell, on whose retirement in 1882 he was appointed engineer. In the year 1885 the board's staff was re-constituted and Mr. Cuthbert was appointed engineer, secretary and treasurer, which posts he holds at the present time. In conjunction with Mr. Ferguson of the Wellington Harbour Board, Mr. Cuthbert reported on the drainage of Wellington, and the scheme propounded by them has been since adopted. Mr. Cuthbert has since been employed by the Corporation of Dunedin. In conjunction with Messrs. C. N. Bell and Robert Hay, to advise on the competitive designs for a complete system of drainage for that city, and has been consulted by various local bodies on matters pertaining to drainage.