Stationary Engines from the collection of the Marlborough Vintage Farm Machinery Society Inc
Engine

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Record 30/139
Copyright Marlborough Vintage Farm Machinery Society Inc
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Collection VFM (unaccessioned) General
Date 1860
Description Ransome & Sims Engineers Steam Engine 1852. Serial number 454 - patent number 3323, registered 7 July 1852 (see image 2), and manufactured at Ipswich, England in 1860 (see image 5). It was recovered by Norm Brayshaw, known to the owner Tom Close, from the Hira area (on the way to Nelson) on 12 February 1969 (*see notes). It is believed to be the oldest Ransome & Sims engine in the world.

The following information was prepared by Steve Austin, Chief Executive, Marlborough Museum and Marlborough Historical Society Inc, 2009.
It was used for milling forest in the area partly now known as The Brook, in Nelson, at the base of Dun Mountain. Other milled areas may have also included what was once known as The Wood in Nelson.

The steam engine belonged to my namesake, Great Great Grandfather Stephen Close. He arrived with his wife, Anne Jane, in Nelson, on the Mary Anne, in 1842. They are buried at Wakapuaka Cemetery, Nelson.

Like his father, Stephen Close was also a sawyer, by the mid 1850s he had made enough money to buy a farm at Hira. This is still farmed by my family.

Stephen Close had four daughters, Thomas Austin married one daughter, Anne Jane Close (b. 1852), an early photograph of her is in the Brown Collection of negatives at Nelson Provincial Museum.

Thomas Austin's sons, Edward Harold Austin (Ned), and Norman Campbell Austin were the Head Shepherds (one succeeded the other) at Kekerengu Station, at the outbreak of World War 1. Edward Harold Austin later became the manager of The Bolton, a remote station in the Awatere. My Grandfather (Lewis George Austin), and his brothers (Edward Harold and Norman Campbell), also worked, mustering at Molesworth Station. Stephen Close's legacy has special Marlborough connections.

Owned by Marlborough Vintage Farm Machinery Society and one day they hope to restore it.

Image 8 is of Stephen Close the original owner of the steam engine [taken from a photocopy belonging to Steve Austin].

Object ID VFM0.800.0149
Object Name Engine
Other # VFM500
People Brayshaw, Norman Henry
Close, Tom
Austin, Stephen Barry (Steve)
Close, Stephen
Close, Ann Jane
Austin, Thomas
Close, Anne Jane (later Austin)
Austin, Anne Jane (nee Close)
Austin, Edward Harold (Ned)
Austin, Norman Campbell
Austin, Lewis George
When using this image please quote "Image courtesy of Marlborough Vintage Farm Machinery Society Inc"

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Last modified on: December 15, 2014