A NEW ZEALAND QUENTIN MATSYS.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2154, 24 January 1891, Page 2

A NEW ZEALAND QUENTIN MATSYS.

A man who has been termed the “ New Zealand Quentin Matsys,” Mr Peter Birley, the well-known Auckland blacksmith, is dud. He expired (says the Auckland Star) at his residence at Seafield View at 6 o’clock, after a rather short illness, aged 61; He was suffering from a complication of spinal and brain complaints. Mr Peter Birley might fairly have claimed the title oi the Quentin Matsys of New Zealand, his achievements in iron-working being quite as remarkable as those of the Flemish blacksmith of four centuries ago who became a celebrated artist. Mr Birley was born et Ripondon, Yorkshire, in 1829, and served his apprenticeship in Manchester. He came to Auckland in 1859 in the ship Tornado, and started business in Mechanics* Bay, selling out in 1862 to Messrs Fraser and Davidson, whose business developed into the large concern of Fraser and Tinne. In 1873 Mr Birley took a trip to England. The vessel by which he was a passenger, the barque Anize, was stranded off Lake Takapuaa. Mr Birley swam ashore to the lake and brought tbe news to Auckland. He again commenced business there, and remained in Auckland ever since. From his youth Mr Birley was noted for his clever manipulation in iron-work. In England he made an endless chain, forged, without a weld, which attracted attention at the International Exhibition 1851. His achievements in Auckland since have been even more remarkable. Some years ago be made a pair of smoking pipes, one yard long, of wrought iron, which are now in tbe Auckland Museum. After that he completely staggered the local smiths by producing a steel penknife blade with an unburnt straw embedded in it for its complete length. This was presented to the Wellington Museum by the Hon. Wm. Swanson. Mr Birley’s crowning achievement, however, was the famous iron fuchsia, which obtained first prize for ornamental ironwork at the Sydney Exhibition in 1879. This wonderful piece of work also took first prize at the Melbourne Exhibition of 1881, the Industrial Exhibition at Wellington, and tbe Indian and Colonial Exhibition at London. Mr Birley was without doubt a “ cunning worker” in iron, and if he had lived in the days when the armourer was a person of much importance he would have been a great man indeed.

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