This photo shows several members of the Stewart family outside their family home. The date is unknown. John Tiffin Stewart (back middle) was a Scotsman, born on the Isle of Bute. He trained as a civil engineer in Glasgow, and then spent some time in Melbourne surveying goldfields. In 1855 he came to New Zealand and was immediately appointed to the government engineering staff. He surveyed the land in the Waitotara and Manawatu areas, and supervised the subdivision of this land. He also devised the plans for the Manawatu Gorge Road, and saw its completion.
In 1865 he married Frances Ann Carkeek, and went on to have five daughters and five sons. He died in Whanganui on April 19, 1913.