The steeple-chaser
Professor Robert Julian Scott was one of the most influential figures in New Zealand yachting in the period 1890-1910, both as a skilled yachtsman and as an engineer with ideas on how to get the most out of yachts, ahead of his time. He was a man of strong personality and impressive bulk, a friend of the Premier, Richard John Seddon, a similar type of man.
He was born in Plymouth, Devon, in 1861, the product of a family of senior Royal Navy and Royal Engineers officers. His father was Rear-Admiral R.A.E. Scott. His first cousin was Captain Robert Falcon Scott, the hero of the Antarctic.
He was educated at King’s College in London and at the Royal School of Mines, but became drawn to locomotive engineering. His first employment was with the London, Brighton and South Coast
