Thomas Gore Sole (1858-1936) was born in New Plymouth, the son of an early settler who arrived at New Plymouth on the Oriental in 1841. He joined the Provincial Survey Department in 1874 and became a qualified surveyor in 1879. One of his first tasks was to assist Joseph Bird to cut the meridian line from Huirangi southwards to the coast. This line, and lines perpendicular to it, mark Survey District block boundaries that were used as an alternative to triangulation for the control of bearings in cadastral surveys. In 1881 Mr Sole resigned to join Thomas Kingwell Skinner in partnership in private practice. He was a foundation member of the New Zealand Institute of Surveyors.
