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Cass

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NameCassDescriptionThe township of Cass on the Midland Line is named after Thomas Cass (1817–1895) a pioneer surveyor. From January 1851 until March 1867, he was Chief Surveyor in Canterbury. The Encyclopedia of New Zealand describes him as playing 'a prominent part in the life of the young community'. In 1853 with Sewell and the Rev. R. B. Paul, he fixed the site of Christ's College. He was one of the members of the first Provincial Council of 1857. He was in the Executive Council under Moorhouse and again under Bealey. For 10 years he was a member of the Canterbury Waste Lands Board, and served on various commissions connected with the development of communications in the province. From 1910 until 1914, Cass was the end of the line on the eastern side. From there as a newspaper reporter of the day wrote: 'At Cass, seventy miles from the starting-point, passengers tumble out to find their seats on the well-horsed, strongly equipped leather-sprung coaches, which cover the twenty-eight miles between Cass and Otira.' In July of 1914, the railway station was transferred from Cass to the Bealey Flat, and later to Arthur's Pass. Cass station is now best known from the iconic painting of the solitary small red building and equally solitary passenger painted by Rita Angus in 1936. Pamela Gray of Rolleston identifies the man at the station as her late father, Percy Harold Morey. He was District Engineer for Railways from 1924 - 1945, in Dunedin, the West Coast and Canterbury. He travelled the lines inspecting washouts and slips, and frequently stayed at the Railway House at Cass. Cass station had dining rooms and a large kerosene lamp outside. The station had various signs advertising such products as Manning's Ales, Winifred Cigarettes, Amber Tips Tea and Van Houten Cocoa. Geolocation

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CollectionRailwaysMidland RailwayPersonCharles ChiltonPrivate John Albert HewittPlaceBroken RiverMore Informationhttps://teara.govt.nz/en/english/pa.....cyclopedia of New Zealand

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Cass