William Newsham Blair (1841–91)

Scottish engineer and surveyor. Trained as an engineer in Scotland. Emigrated to New Zealand in 1863. Appointed Otago’s chief engineer of roads, 1863; chief engineer of railways, 1869. Became an authorised surveyor in 1877. Head of the South Island division of the Public Works Department from 1878. Active in several scientifc societies in Otago.