Newspaper Article 1961 – Mr George Nelson 90 tomorrow

Mr George Nelson 90 tomorrow

A prominent figure in Hawke’s Bay, Mr George Nelson, Havelock North, will be 90 tomorrow.

He was born at The Lawn, Clive, on September 30, 1871, the son of Mr William Nelson who founded the Tomoana freezing works.

Mr Nelson is still in quite good health and takes a keen interest in current affairs. He will celebrate his birthday quietly at home among friends.

Mr George Nelson, who is a Member of the Institute of Civil Engineers (MICE) and the Institute of Mechanical Engineers London, (MIME) has been a central figure in harbour and rivers control controversies in Hawke’s Bay.

He was educated at a preparatory school in England, the Heretaunga School, Hastings and Christ’s College, Christchurch.

Mr Nelson took a great interest in harbour and rivers control in Hawke’s Bay.

He was a strong advocate of the construction of an inner harbour at Napier and took a leading part in the controversy that was waged for many years over the Napier harbour.

He made a life study of the rivers in Hawke’s Bay and has been a keen critic of the Hawke’s Bay Catchment Board’s rivers control scheme.

He was engaged by various local bodies throughout the country to report upon different rivers control schemes, one of the most important being that of the Waimakariri River in North Canterbury.

He helped to supervise the reclamation of Napier South in the early days. George’s Drive was named after him, as was Nelson Park, Napier. Nelson Park, Hastings, was named after his father.

He was a partner in the firm of J.J. Niven and Co. for many years.

Some years ago he visited Europe and the USA studying flood control and accumulated a remarkable fund of data and historical records.

Mr Nelson was one of the original directors of the Hawke’s Bay Tribune when it was founded in 1912 and has been on the board of directors of this newspaper ever since.

Photo caption – Mr Nelson