Page:History of Adelaide and vicinity.djvu/598

 0/- ADELAIDE AND VICINITY The late Mr. Nicholas Wallis Trudgen THE good works of a man live after him. The truth of that time-honored aphorism is frequently exemplified in everyday life, and whether a man is a founder of dynasties, an initiator in commerce, or a quiet, unobtrusive mover in the humbler spheres of life, his contemporaries and those who come after him remember him according to his good deeds. South Aus- tralia from her earliest days has been the possessor of many worthy men, who, though they may not have left any inefface- able marks on the pages of history proper, have fought the good fight of colonisation and subsequent citizenship, and left to their fellows the memory of a life of honest purpose, good service, and praiseworthy effort. The late Mr. Nicholas Wallis Trudgen was a man of this stamp. In a life of busy organisation and commercial undertaking he found some time to set apart for the good of his fellow colonists, and when he died on May 16, 1892, general regret was expressed, for he was on all occasions regarded as a man of undoubted upright- ness, strict integrity, and unblemished reputation. He was born in 1840, in Cornwall. The early part of his life was spent Hammer & Co., Photo ^ London ; he was educated at Westminster College, and at the age of 13 was made a pupil teacher in that school. He came to .South Au.stralia in 1855, and, resolving to follow the trade of a builder, it was not long befon; he made headway in the calling. The years 186 1-2 he spent on the X'ictorian and New .South Wales diggings, ])rincipally in the Snowy Mountains and Bathurst districts, where he travelled hundreds of miles on foot. Upon his return he again became associated with the building trade, and was appointed foreman over the works of the late Mr. Henry Codd. Not many years after this Mr. Trudgen determined to start on his own account as a builder and contractor. In a few vears' time he was one of the leading men in the industry in .South Australia. Many of the most important