Charles Rous-Marten (1842–1908) was a New Zealand journalist and British railway writer and recorder. He was born in England. At the age of 16 his family emigrated to New Zealand, settling in Southland. In 1864 he was appointed Meteorological Director of

Southland Province The Southland Province was a province of New Zealand from March 1861, when it split from Otago Province, until 1870, when it rejoined Otago. History Following the passage of the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 by the British Parliament, New ...

, a position he held until 1870. He was employed as a journalist with '' The Evening Post'' in Wellington about 1876 and was later editor, resigning in 1884. He was editor of ''

The New Zealand Times ''The New Zealand Times'' was a New Zealand daily newspaper published in Wellington from 1874 to 1927. Background The newspaper was founded by Julius Vogel, who had had involvement with newspapers as an editor or owner since his goldfield days ...

'', also in Wellington, from 1885 to 1890. In that year he was appointed London correspondent for a number of leading New Zealand newspapers in the New Zealand Associated Press, which he continued to do until shortly before he died. He took a close interest in railways over many years and in 1884 and 1885 he did a thorough study of the British rail network, involving around 40,000 miles of travel. In 1887 the results were embodied in a report to the New Zealand Minister of Public Works entitle
on the Railways of Great Britain''
which received favourable reviews. He is chiefly known for recording a speed of 102.3 mph on the 'Ocean Mail' special from Plymouth to London hauled by GWR locomotive

3440 City of Truro Great Western Railway, GWR GWR 3700 Class, 3700 Class 3440 ''City of Truro'' is a 4-4-0 steam locomotive built in 1903 for the Great Western Railway (GWR) at Swindon Works to a design by George Jackson Churchward. It was partially rebuilt in ...

on 9 May 1904, the first time that a steam locomotive was recorded to have achieved 100 mph. Between the years of 1902 and 1908 he wrote a series of articles for ''

The Railway Magazine ''The Railway Magazine'' is a monthly United Kingdom, British railway magazine, aimed at the Railfan, railway enthusiast market, that has been published in London since July 1897. it was, for three years running, the railway magazine with the ...

'' on British locomotive practice and performance. In 1990, these were collated and reprinted in book form. He married Miss Emily Jane Hickson in 1876; there were no children.

References

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External links

* Charles Rous-Martin at WorldCa
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* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rous-Marten, Charles 1842 births 1908 deaths Deaths from influenza British male journalists British rail transport writers 19th-century British journalists 19th-century New Zealand writers 19th-century male writers 20th-century British journalists 19th-century New Zealand journalists