Wikipedia

Caesar Roose

Caesar Roose (1886–1967) was a New Zealand ship owner and operator, flax and timber miller, businessman, entrepreneur, community leader and philanthropist. He was born in Mercer, Waikato, New Zealand in 1886.[2]

Although there were a few people named 'Mr Roose' in the Auckland area in 1913 (descendants of a Cornish family who arrived in 1859),[1] this image resembles later images of Caesar Roose junior and is also used in a Hamilton Libraries article

Family life

edit

He was born on 29 July 1886 to Mary Ashley (died 16 Nov 1942, aged 82), who moved from Shropshire in 1898,[3] and Ceasar (Caesar) Henry Roose (died 29 July 1925, aged 77), who moved from Germany in the 1880s.[4] Their eldest son, Caesar junior, helped on the 67 acres (27 ha) Tuoro Island (in the Waikato River) family farm[5] until he lost an appeal against military service[6][7] and had to go to Trentham and Featherston military camps in 1918. In 1913, as his shipping business flourished, he had a 5-bedroomed kauri house built on Tuoro Island.[5]

His younger brother, Maurice, who was also qualified as an engineer on small launches,[8] was wounded in World War I[9] and died in 1922.[10]

His sister, Mary, married Eric F. Taylor, of Papatoetoe[11] and lived in Claudelands.[4]

On 3 March 1931 Roose married Australian-born Gladys Ethel Fortescue Wiseman (née Hoare) at Glendale, California;[12] their only child, a daughter,[5] Jeanette Thomas,[13] was born in 1934. He spent his honeymoon observing oil wells and shipping in the United States and Europe. Caesar and Gladys divorced in 1946,[5] a year after her mother died,[14] and on 8 April 1947 he married Fanny Hill (died 1956) in Auckland; there were no children of this marriage. He died in Epsom on 6 July 1967, survived by his daughter. He is buried at Mercer public cemetery.[5]

Shipping

edit

Caesar borrowed £100 to buy his first boat in 1902. In 1904 he ordered the Rawhiti from the shipbuilders Bailey and Lowe,[5] of Auckland.[15] He had a motor launch in 1908.[16]

He earned his river steamer master's certificate in 1909, his engineer's certificate in 1911 and started a regular shipping service between Port Waikato and Cambridge in 1915, but became the representative[17] for a new cooperative,[18] the Waikato Shipping Company (WSC), selling his 2 steamers, 3 launches and 7 barges to them in 1916.[5]

In 1918 he built and launched the Aurora to cater for picnickers, duck-shooters[5] and fishermen.[19]

When WSC went into liquidation in 1922, Roose Shipping Co was formed to buy all the viable assets,[20] including the Huntly coal mine[21] and 6 vessels, which continued regular services on the Waikato and its tributaries.

The largest in the fleet was the 1894[22] 400-passenger steamer, Manuwai, brought from the Whanganui in 1920.[23] In 1924 it ran a Cambridge to Port Waikato excursion 2 or 3 times a year, taking 12 to 14 hours downstream and a few hours longer upstream.[24] Manuwai sank at her moorings in 1938, but was taken to Mercer for repair in 1939,[25] where she was converted to a barge.[26]

In 1924 Caesar visited Glasgow, where he ordered a 400 horsepower (300 kW),[27] 210 feet (64 m) long, 33 feet (10 m) wide, steamer, with a 17 feet (5.2 m) wide stern paddle,[28] also named Rawhiti,[5] assembled at Mercer in 1925.[29] She was able to steam at 11 miles per hour (18 km/h) in still water.[30] Rawhiti and Manuwai carried passengers and goods.[31] In 1926 the Company assembled a steam tug to tow barges.[32]

 
The hulks of former steamers of the Caesar Roose fleet, lie on the Waikato bank opposite Mercer - 2019 photo

Trade on the river was also helped by improvements to Hamilton wharf, by Northern Steamship starting a Port Waikato-Onehunga route in 1926 and by Holm Shipping linking to Lyttelton in 1923.[33][34][35] Services were disrupted in 1927 by low river levels, partly caused by filling Arapuni.[36][37] Whilst on honeymoon in Germany in 1931, Caesar bought the Argus (later the Holmglen - not the later ship which sank, MV Holmglen) on behalf of Holm Shipping, in which he was a major shareholder, until Union Steam Ship took control of it.[38] He began a ferry at Mercer in 1932.[5] By 1939 there were 4 ships and a dozen barges.[39] The timetabled services ended in 1946[40] and the Rawhiti was converted to a barge.[41]

In 1947 an American tank-landing ship[42] became the third of Caesar's ships to be named Rawhiti. It could carry 3,000 tons of cargo[5] to Australia[43] and the Pacific islands and Roose liked its roll on/roll off capability as a means of avoiding the cost of unionised stevedores.[44] In 1948 he founded C. Roose (Fiji) Ltd, but, after the 1951 waterfront dispute, sold the Rawhiti.[5]

Several of the old steamers remain under, or beside the river,[45] including the Manuwai,[46] 1925 Rawhiti[47] and Freetrader, on the west bank just south of Mercer.[48]

Other businesses

edit

Caesar took several photos for the Auckland Weekly News between 1905 and 1908.[49][2] In 1906 he bought a flax mill on the Waikato.[5] By 1922 he had a timber mill at Mercer[50] and also Katikati, later supplying a box factory in Tauranga with kahikatea. In 1933 he patented the Roose–Atkins Grab, used for coaling ships, loading and unloading barges, and salvage work; Roose Shipping Co manufactured the grabs in a workshop on Tuoro Island. The Roose Shipping Co bought a coal mine in 1922, started an open-cast one in 1945, built Fairfield Bridge (1937), helped to build Ngāruawāhia bridge (1956) and formed a trucking fleet.[5]

Public life

edit

He unsuccessfully stood for election to Mercer Town Board in 1914.[51] His lifelong association with Te Puea Herangi began at Mercer School[5] and, in 1921, he helped transport her and about 170 of her people from Mangatāwhiri to Tūrangawaewae.[52] In 1924 Caesar was appointed to a provisional board to control the river.[53] During the 1960s he campaigned vigorously for the dredging of the Waikato, in 1939 campaigned for a dam at Lake Taupō[54] and always supported building a Waiuku–Waikato canal.[5]

edit

Photos -

References

edit
  1. ^ "Port of Auckland". NEW ZEALANDER. 19 March 1859. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  2. ^ a b Thomas, Jeanette. "Caesar Roose". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  3. ^ "Deaths". AUCKLAND STAR. 17 November 1942. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  4. ^ a b "Obituary". NEW ZEALAND HERALD. 30 July 1925. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Taonga, New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu. "Roose, Caesar". teara.govt.nz. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  6. ^ "Reservist's Case Reviewed". NEW ZEALAND HERALD. 14 May 1918. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  7. ^ "Service Board Verdicts". NEW ZEALAND HERALD. 10 August 1918. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  8. ^ "Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives — 1912 Session II — H-15 MARINE DEPARTMENT: ANNUAL REPORT FOR 1911-12". atojs.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
  9. ^ "The Roll of Honour". OTAGO DAILY TIMES. 7 May 1918. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  10. ^ "Deaths". AUCKLAND STAR. 29 July 1922. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  11. ^ "Mercer". PUKEKOHE & WAIUKU TIMES. 2 June 1922. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  12. ^ "Weddings". NEW ZEALAND HERALD. 31 March 1931. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  13. ^ "Caesar Roose Spectrum". Radio New Zealand. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  14. ^ "Deaths". NEW ZEALAND HERALD. 31 July 1945. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  15. ^ "Bailey And Lowe". nzetc.victoria.ac.nz. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  16. ^ "Accidents and Fatalities". WAIKATO ARGUS. 22 January 1908. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  17. ^ "Waikato Steamer Service". WAIKATO TIMES. 7 May 1915. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  18. ^ "Waikato Shipping Co". WAIKATO INDEPENDENT. 24 May 1919. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  19. ^ "Local and General News". NEW ZEALAND HERALD. 5 January 1922. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  20. ^ "River Trade". PUKEKOHE & WAIUKU TIMES. 3 November 1922. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
  21. ^ "Unfortunate Shipping Venture". AUCKLAND STAR. 20 July 1923. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  22. ^ "Our River Tourist Traffic". Wanganui Herald. 17 September 1894. p. 2. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  23. ^ "Waikato Tourist Steamer". Waikato Times. 15 June 1920. p. 5. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  24. ^ "Scenic River Trip". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. New Zealand Herald. 19 February 1925. p. 9.
  25. ^ "Craft Refloated". New Zealand Herald. 1939. p. 10. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  26. ^ "Waikato – the royal river". New Zealand Geographic. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  27. ^ "Waikato Navigation". NEW ZEALAND HERALD. 8 August 1924. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  28. ^ "Waikato River Boat". NEW ZEALAND HERALD. 31 October 1925. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  29. ^ "Waikato River Trade". NEW ZEALAND HERALD. 13 August 1925. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  30. ^ "River Traffic". WAIKATO INDEPENDENT. 3 November 1925. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  31. ^ "Page 10 Advertisements Column 2". NEW ZEALAND HERALD. 23 December 1925. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  32. ^ "Waikato River Service". NEW ZEALAND HERALD. 19 November 1925. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  33. ^ "Shipping to Waikato". BAY OF PLENTY TIMES. 10 October 1923. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  34. ^ "Waikato River Trade". NEW ZEALAND HERALD. 31 March 1926. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  35. ^ "Steamer Strikes Bar". AUCKLAND STAR. 27 September 1927. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  36. ^ "Local and General News". NEW ZEALAND HERALD. 30 December 1927. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  37. ^ "River Vessel Aground". NEW ZEALAND HERALD. 31 December 1927. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  38. ^ "New Zealand Coastal Shipping - Holm Shipping Company". www.nzcoastalshipping.com. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  39. ^ "New Barge". WAIKATO INDEPENDENT. 11 February 1939. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  40. ^ "News of the Day". OTAGO DAILY TIMES. 1 February 1946. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  41. ^ "Old Ship on Barge". GISBORNE HERALD. 26 August 1947. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  42. ^ "Crew to Bring Ship to Auckland". BAY OF PLENTY TIMES. 12 November 1947. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  43. ^ "Report Denied". OTAGO DAILY TIMES. 3 July 1950. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  44. ^ "Tank Landing Ship May Be Useful on the Dominion Coast". OTAGO DAILY TIMES. 14 February 1948. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  45. ^ "Waikato's Steamers - Relics of the past". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. New Zealand Herald. 1 April 1932. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  46. ^ "Bates, Arthur P :Photograph of the wreck of the 'Manuwai'". natlib.govt.nz. 1 January 1985. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  47. ^ "WAIKATO RIVER BOAT. (New Zealand Herald, 1925-10-31)". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. National Library of New Zealand. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
  48. ^ "Waikato River Commercial Shipping". New Zealand Ship and Marine Society. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  49. ^ "11 records - C. Roose Auckland Weekly News". www.aucklandcity.govt.nz. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  50. ^ "The Courts". PRESS. 26 May 1922. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  51. ^ "Mercer Town District". PUKEKOHE & WAIUKU TIMES. 24 November 1914. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  52. ^ Rollo, Te Manaaroha Pirihira (2014). "TITO WAIATA - TITO PŪORO" (PDF).
  53. ^ "Inland Waterways". WAIKATO INDEPENDENT. 24 January 1924. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  54. ^ "Bad Outlook". AUCKLAND STAR. 13 April 1939. Retrieved 13 December 2018.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Caesar_Roose&oldid=1174231934"