Garvie arrived at Port Chalmers in the “BLUNDELL” on 1st September, 184, among the first of the Otago settlers. In the new settlement he was at first engaged as a builder and carpenter and later turned to surveying and was an AssistantSurveyor under Peter Proudfoot, q.v. He later was Assistant Surveyor under J. T. Thomson and carried out vast topographical surveys in central Otago. He commenced the Provincial Triangulation Survey in 1857 when he laid down the base line on the Taieri Plains. In 1859 he laid out the town of Blue Skin, later renamed Waitati. His death occurred soon afterwards. Garvie was trained as a surveyor by C. H. Kettle.
Date of Birth1820Date of Death1859OccupationSurveyor
