The dead tell tales
George Murdo Fraser ? - 1923
George Fraser “the builder of bridges” is commemorated in Hamilton with a massive structure, the Hamilton Traffic Bridge. Fraser was the builder of the bridge, erected in 1908-10 to the design of engineer James Fulton.
The council started deliberating the building of a new bridge in 1905. Funding was an issue, and neighbouring Frankton Town Board, and Waipa and Waikato County Councils contributed as they would also benefit. A substantial loan was applied for.
The Traffic Bridge replaced the wooden Union Bridge (named as the union of the two townships Hamilton East and Hamilton West) – the Union Bridge was unsound and could not cope with the sheep and cattle driven across it. The piles of the Union Bridge remain, just upstream from the Traffic Bridge and visible at low water. They are some of the oldest archaeological remains in Hamilton, other than pre-1864 Maori sites.
Engineer James Fulton had worked on many other bridge and railway projects. The sandy river bed had caused problems with the construction of the Union Bridge and the railway bridge, so to avoid this issue Fulton chose a single-span arch reaching across the river to its banks. The bridge was manufactured by the Cleveland Bridge Company in England, using British steel. Tenders for construction were accepted in May 1908 and Fraser made a start on the foundations by October 1908.
There was no official opening, but on September 10, 1910, the bridge was thrown open for traffic – the first to drive across was Father Darby, accompanied by George Fraser. The bridge was known as the traffic bridge or road bridge, in contrast to the only other bridge over the Waikato in Hamilton at that time, the rail bridge.
Fraser died in 1923 aged 83. By then he had gone into partnership with his son as G.M. Fraser and Son and when he died, at Dargaville, they were building a bridge over the Northern Wairoa River. He was reportedly the oldest bridge building contractor in the country, the builder of all the principal bridges, as many as 70. His work included “seven miles [11 km] of the Catlin River railway in 1872, the Silverstream water race, Wallsend-Taylorville bridge, Arahura railway bridge, Taieri railway bridge, Kaponga traffic bridge, Manureku Nos 1 and 2 combined traffic and railway bridge, Skippers and Clifton suspension bridges” (Auckland Star
June 13, 1923). He also built the high bridge in Cambridge (the Victoria Bridge), others at Huntly and Ngaruawahia, and the Waiau road-rail bridge. Some of these projects were described as “the highest” or “the longest” in New Zealand and the project costs were very high. Fraser also built wharves, railway lines, tunnels, freezing works and gasworks. Clearly, George Fraser was a major player in the development of New Zealand’s infrastructure.
Fraser’s wife Louisa died in 1911 and was buried in Hamilton East Cemetery. Louisa was Fraser’s second wife, Jane being the first and the mother of his children. Her death notice in the has the standard “beloved wife of” phrasing, but barely four weeks after Louisa died, Fraser married again. His third wife, Ellen Thompson, outlived him.
One of Ann McEwan’s recent Memory Boxes listed places whose names have changed – to those can be added that of the Traffic Bridge: it is often referred to as Victoria Bridge – erroneously – but now the more-accepted version just by repetition. It was only known as the Traffic Bridge up to at least 1950. The bridge is registered as a Category 1 Historic Place by Heritage New Zealand (No. 772) and is listed on the Hamilton City Council’s Heritage Schedule (H8).
Fraser’s age at death is given variously as 78, 80 and 83 – whichever, it was still old to be building bridges. His body was taken by steamer from Dargaville to Huntly for interment. His grave has no headstone, but the Traffic Bridge in Hamilton serves as a monument to his memory.