Samuel Henry Drew

Samuel Henry Drew was born in Maidenhead, Berkshire, England 17-11-1844, the son of a watchmaker and jeweller. Soon after Samuel's birth the family moved to Ventnor on the Isle of Wight. In the early 1850s they emigrated to Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) where he was educated at the Launceston Grammer School. After completing his education he was sent to London to serve his apprenticeship to the watchmaking trade. After Samuel's return to Tasmania, the family emigrated to Nelson, NZ, where they arrived on the Lallah Rookh on 12-08-1860. Henry Drew practised his trade in Trafalgar Street, and it is likely that his son worked with him until August 1870, when Samuel moved to Wanganui. He started his jewellery and watchmakeing business in Taupo Quay. He returned to Nelson in 1872, and married Catherine Alice Beatson, daughter of William Beatson. They established their home in Wanganui, where they raised a family of 4 boys and 4 girls. A daughter died in infancy. He became successful in his profession, but was better known for his interest in natural history and geology. His family helped to collect & classify his specimens of molluscs, birds beetles and other fauna, as well as Maori artifacts. His activities extended as far as Kapiti Island, where he became something of an authority on the local birds and fish. He supplied specimens to collections throughout NZ. He exchanged specimens with Julius von Haast, and on two visits in 1886 & 88, Andreas Reischek helped to classify his collections. Reischek also trained his son Harry as a taxidermist. He published several articles on natural history in the Transaction of the NZ Institute, and was made a fellow of the Linnean Society of London in 1897. As the fame of Drew's collections grew, an increasing number of visitors were drawn to what, since 1880, had become an extensive museum established in the family home. By 1890 the problem of space - both for the collections and Drew's family had become so acute that Drew proposed selling the collection on condition that it become the nucleus of a public museum. It was valued at 1,186 pounds and 12s., but he sold it for about half this amount. Prisoners from the local gaol were used to prepare the site for the museum building at Queens Park. He acted as honorary curator, and the task of transferring and arranging the collection occupied six months.The Wanganui Museum was opened on 24th March 1895.Full with future plans and busy in his work, SH Drew died from a sudden heart attack at his shop on 18-12-1901; Catherine Drew died in 1925. Drew had made a significant contribution to the life of Wanganui. He was a member of the Harmonic Society and the president of the Wanganui Orchestral Club, and also belonged to the Wanganui Rowing Club, and the Wanganui Male Choir. He was known as a ready conversationalist, and a man of determined character with 'a genial & humorous temperament' He is commemorated in a marble bust and memorial tablet in the Wanganui Regional Museum.