Abraham Rupert Neelands

(1884.08.26 - 1971.10.19)
SLS, DLS
Commission #057
(1913.09.15)

Born August 16, 1882 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Sometimes he used Abram as his first name and other times he used Rupert. He received a B.A. from the University of Manitoba in 1904 and then attended the University of Toronto and received a diploma in Mining Engineering in 1906. He received his DLS Commission in 1912 and his SLS Commission in 1913. He started working with Topographic Surveys Branch, Department of the Interior in February 1910. He performed a lot of Township surveys in Saskatchewan 1913-1915.

Abram enlisted into active duty in WW1 and was assigned to the Canadian Engineers. He was discharged in 1919 and had reached the rank of Captain.

Somewhere along the line, Abram met Kathleen Victoria Agnew (daughter of John Alexander Agnew who “was  New Zealand mining engineer who worked with future United States president Herbert Hoover and later became chairman of Consolidated Gold Fields”) and ended up marrying her May 7, 1919.

The story continues as such; “Agnew was a board member of the Cementation Company, and asked his son-in-law Abram Rupert Neelands, a Canadian mining engineer to look over the company and report its prospects. The shareholders were impressed with a report by Rupert, and asked if he could commit to the company. The offer was accepted on the basis Rupert had ‘full charge and complete control’, and he took over management of the business in 1921”.  “1941 The company was renamed The Cementation Company. During World War II it undertook the grouting of 15 runways and in the 1950s it undertook grouting for several major dams including the Kariba Dam on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe and the Dukan Dam in Iraq. 1960 Advert for reinforced concrete underground. 1967 Acquired Cleveland Bridge and Engineering Co. 1970 The Cementation Company was acquired by Trafalgar House.”

Neelands was responsible for many patents developed while working with these industrial companies.

The Neelands had a daughter, Kathleen J., in 1922. Kathleen Victoria died February 14, 1941 and Abram passed away in Chelsea, London, UK on October 19, 1971.

The above picture of an older Abram is part of a collection at the National Portrait Gallery in England.

Prepared by M. L. J. Waschuk, SLS, P. Surv., 2018

Sources: Library & Archives Canada; ISC; NRCan; University of Toronto Publications; SLSA; Dept. of Interior Publications; Wikipedia.