G. P. Brown

Gavin Brown was born in Christchurch and educated at the Christchurch Boys' High School. At Lincoln he took the Diploma course in 1929-30, gaining the Diploma award together with several class prizes. In 1936 he joined the Lands Department at Gisborne and later went to Napier. He enlisted in 1940 and had very considerable active war service with the N.Z.E.F. in the Middle East. In 1945 he resumed with the Lands Dept. at Napier but in 1948 was transferred to Rotorua as senior field officer. In 1950 he became superintendent of land development and took charge of the gigantic land development scheme. He retired from the Department in March 1957 and farmed on his own account at Tokoroa in the heart of the pumice country which he has helped so notably to develop.

The Bledisloe Medal, which is awarded to a former student who has made an outstanding contribution to agriculture, was presented to Mr Gavin Brown, of Tokoroa, at the graduation ceremony at Canterbury Agricultural College, Lincoln in May of this year. The presentation was made by the Chancellor of the University of New Zealand (Sir David Smith) .

The citation with the medal recalled that between 1948 and 1957, Mr Brown had been first senior field officer and then supervisor for land development in the Rotorua district for the Lands Department. He had been responsible for the development and establishment of about 20,000 acres of new grass annually. This had been a huge undertaking, carrying with it the problems of fencing, water supply, housing, roading, telephone and electric power reticulation. In his last year in the service of the department he had been responsible for the farming of 120,000 acres carrying almost 100,000 breeding ewes, 41,000 dry sheep and 33,000 run cattle.

On his retirement last year, the then Minister of Lands (Mr Corbett) had written to him: "I have nothing but admiration for the manner in which you have managed the district and the way in which you have budgeted for the future in your development and livestock control. Your name will always be linked with the great work that has been done in the Rotorua-Taupo locality, and I congratulate you on your achievement."

The former Governor-General of New Zealand (Lord Bledisloe) said in a letter that Mr Brown's record was an interesting and worthy one. "Indeed, I have never heard of one more meritorious or more deserving of high commendation from the standpoint of initial development or land development," said Lord Bledisloe.

Gavin Brown was born in Christchurch and educated at the Christchurch Boys' High School. At Lincoln he took the Diploma course in 1929-30, gaining the Diploma award together with several class prizes. In 1936 he joined the Lands Department at Gisborne and later went to Napier. He enlisted in 1940 and had very considerable active war service with the N.Z.E.F. in the Middle East. In 1945 he resumed with the Lands Dept. at Napier but in 1948 was transferred to Rotorua as senior field officer. In 1950 he became superintendent of land development and took charge of the gigantic land development scheme.

He retired from the Department in March 1957 and was farming on his own account at Tokoroa in the heart of the pumice country which he has helped so notably to develop. Source: 1958 Canterbury Agricultural College Magazine P100-101.