John BRADSHAW Obituary

Condolences to the Bradshaw family from the Chinn family. John was a well-known and respected geologist and lecturer at Canterbury university and taught some us. John´s work on the central Southern Alps structure was a significant scientific contribution among many others. We knew the Bradshaw´s well in the 1970s in Christchurch, particularly through (my father) Trevor´s work in the Antarctic. Our sympathies to Margaret, Julia and Erik at this time.

John was my supervisor at Canterbury University when I was preparing an honours thesis on the Amuri Limestone in 1972. As Bruce says, he was a giant of NZ geology; a man of huge intellect and energy. He could always be relied on for sage advice. As well as being outstanding academically (hence a great teacher), he was a great field geologist......he will be remembered, amongst other things for his work on Antarctic geology and his elucidation of the structure and genesis of the mountainous greywacke terrain of the South Island via the use of innovative mapping techniques. In those days, the CU Geology Department was headed by Prof Max Gage and had a great staff complement including John, David Shelley, Doug Lewis, Jocelyn Campbell, David Jenkins, Wally Oldershaw and Alexa Cameron. NZ Geological Survey staff - the likes of Peter Andrews, Gerrit van der Lingen, Guy Warren, Malcolm Laird and Gerald Lensen - had their offices just along the corridor and there was much interaction between the two sets of staff and students, a real collegial atmosphere. I pursued a career away from geology but I have fond memories of all these people, particularly of John, my inspirational supervisor. My condolences to Margaret and the family.

So sad to hear of John's passing. I dearly remember him and Margaret so kindly leading one of our Auckland Geoclub trips down the west coast and the rogue wave that knocked them both over and tried to drag them off to Australia. It was a great shock to us all to see this bedraggled soaked pair come into view as they rounded the end of the beach. Apparently this was not the first time he had been distracted by the rocks and turned his back on the Tasman Sea and its rogue waves. John was one of the giants of New Zealand geology for five decades and we in Auckland always respected his great wisdom and insightfulness. My thoughts are with you Margaret and the family.