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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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