John Samuel Browning

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John Samuel Browning (1831-24 July 1909), also known as John Spence Browning, was a British-born pioneer surveyor in the South Island of New Zealand.

Life[edit]

John Browning was born in Norfolk, England in 1831. His family held shipping interests which lead to him travelling to the East Indies in September 1844 as a sailor.^[1] As captain of the whaling vessel Susan, Browning navigated the Pacific from 1855- 1856, finally arriving to trade in New Zealand from Australia.^[2]

In 1857, Browning entered the New Zealand Government Service as an assistant surveyor and draughtsman with the Canterbury Public Works Department. In 1862, on closure of the afore-mentioned department, he became Assistant Surveyor with the newly formed Lands and Survey Department and was employed in exploring the mountain passes between Canterbury and the West Coast.^[1] He later became District and Mining Surveyor, and set up the Survey Department in Hokitika. In 1876 he was appointed Chief Surveyor at Nelson, as well as being appointed Commissioner of Crown Lands in 1891 a position he held until his retirement on October 1, 1896.^[3]

Wilberforce Expedition[edit]

In 1864-65, at the commencement of the gold rush era on the West Coast, John Browning and others were sent to explore the passes over the Main Divide in the Southern Alps, with the object of finding a practicable route for a road. Browning was part of an exploring party along with Richard James Strachan Harman (after whom Harman Pass is named), and J. J. Johnstone,^[4] who in April 1865 negotiated the pass on the basis of information supplied by an elderly Maori man living in Kaiapoi.^[3] This pass (Maori: Nōti Raureka) was subsequently named Browning Pass and the small lake at the pass given the name Lake Browning (Maori Whakarewa). One of the peaks overlooking the pass was called Mt Harman (Maori: Kaniere, 1,900 m (6,200 ft)) after party member Richard Harman.^[4]

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