Other formats

    TEI XML file   ePub eBook file  

Connect

    mail icontwitter iconBlogspot iconrss icon

The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Wellington Provincial District]

Rangitikei County Council

Rangitikei County Council.

The Rangitikei County Council consists of nine councillors, of whom Mr. J. W. Marshall is chairman, the other members being:—Messrs. R. Aldworth, Silverhope; Thomas Holden, Hunterville; R. E. Beckett, Marton; F. H. Haselden, Hunterville; J. T. Dalrymple, Bulls; A. McGregor, Hunterville; E. Newman, Makohau, Turakina; and R. K. Simpson, Marton. The officers are:—Mr. H. H. Richardson, clerk and rate collector; Mr. Alex. R. Mackay, engineer; Mr. A. Thoms, road inspector; and Mr. D. C. Tennent, returning officer. The rateable value of property in the county is £1,440,258. There are 1000 ratepayers in the county, exclusive of boroughs. The number of rateable properties is 1264, and the rates are three farthings in the pound. The loans raised amount to £25,000. The Council has assets valued at £4748. Numerous public works have recently been carried out in the county, and some splendid bridges have been erected.

Councillor John Willoughby Marshall, the Chairman of the Rangitikei County Council, who has occupied that position since 1886, is a son of the late Major Marshall, paymaster of the 65th Regiment, which landed in Wellington in 1846. In all matters affecting the welfare of the district Mr. Marshall takes a keen interest. He resides on his station, known as “Tututotara,” which consists of 2500 acres of fine land, part of which was a natural clearing. The estate, which is in an advanced state of cultivation, is ten miles from Marton, and but one mile from the Porewa Railway Station, on the Hunterville Branch Line.

Councillor Robert Aldworth, J.P., of the Rangitikei County Council, who was born at Frilford, Abingdon, Berkshire, and educated at Marlborough College, came out to New Zealand in 1882 to manage the Silverhope Estate, owned by Mr. Silver. The property is 6400 acres, and at the time of purchase was all bush. There are now 4000 acres cleared, grassed, fenced, and subdivided, carrying 10,000 sheep and 350 head of cattle. In felling the bush, patches for shelter have been reserved in every Councillor Robert Aldworth paddock, and the best of grasses only have been laid down. Mr. Aldworth, who has at all times taken great interest in every movement for the advancement of the district, was the first Justice of the Peace appointed there, and is president of the Marton Racing Club and of the Rangitikei Hunt Club. He was the prime mover in applying for the Silverhope school, and is a lay-reader in the Church of England at Silverhope, Tututotara, and Hunterville. Mr. Aldworth was married in England to the only daughter of Captain Wright, and has two sons and one daughter living.

Councillor R. E. Beckett, who has been a member of the Rangitikei County Council for several years, was born in 1855 in London, and was educated at the London University School. Mr. Beckett arrived in the Colony in 1873, and commenced business in Marton two years later as an auctioneer and general merchant. He has ever taken the keenest interest in matters effecting the town and district, and in local government has been specially prominent. For three years he was mayor of the borough; and he is also honorary secretary of the Marton Jockey Club.

page 1310

Councillor Thomas Holden, who was elected to the Rangitikei County Council in 1896, has a fine estate of 5500 acres in the Paraekaretu District. His first experience in colonial life was gained in Victoria in 1869, where he remained for twelve months. The next ten years he spent in Northern Queensland, Councillor Thomas Holden where he worked in the Flinders River District, cattle-droving, mining, exploring, and prospecting. Mr. Holden took out the first mob of cattle to the Palmer River. He came to New Zealand in 1880, and finally settled down on his present estate, “Braemore.” Mr. Holden married Miss McGregor, and has two sons and three daughters.

Councillor Robert Kirkpatrick Simpson entered the original Highway Board of the Rangitikei District in 1863, and has represented the same section of ratepayers in the Council since the Board was abolished. He was born in Argyllshire, Scotland, in 1837, and educated privately at Morven. Upon leaving school he joined his father in sheepfarming. In 1859 he came to New Zealand in the ship “Queen of the Avon,” landing in Wellington. He immediately resumed sheepfarming as managing partner in the firm of Cameron and Simpson, who had acquired about 20,000 acres of native land at Turakina. Building a stockade, Mr. Simpson, with the assistance of friendly natives, lived there and kept his property intact through all the Maori troubles. In 1862 he married, and the next year he purchased the Closeburn Estate of 450 acres, and went to live on it. Since then Mr. Simpson has acquired the following estates, which he still holds:—Patikipapa, 1500 acres; Glenmorvan, 2200 acres; and Dalvey, 1170 acres. Mr. Simpson was Inspector of Sheep for Rangitikei and the West Coast for twenty-six-and-a-half years, and retired on compensation when the Seddon Ministry took office, being senior inspector in the Colony at the time. His connection with public bodies has extended over thirty-three years, most of which time he has been county treasurer. He has served the public in many capacities. He has eight sons and two daughters.

Mr. A. R. Mackay, the County Engineer to the Rangitikei County Council, was appointed to his present position in 1891. During Mr. Mackay's term of office several important works have been carried out in the way of new bridges and roads.

Mr. Harold H. Richardson, Clerk and Rate Collector to the Rangitikei County Council, was born in New Zealand, and was educated at the Wanganui College. On leaving school he turned his attention to general official work, and was for some years assistant in the offices of the Rangitikei County Council, and Marton Borough Council, under the late clerk Mr. Harris. Having gained a large experience in connection with these offices, he succeeded to the positions on Mr. Harris's death, about 1892, but resigned the Borough Council clerkship, and has continued to hold the other office ever since. Mr. Richardson is a member of the local chess club, in which he takes considerable interest. In musical matters he is a member of the orchestra connected with the Wesleyan Church.

Mr. Louis Cohen, M.A., Solicitor to the Rangitikei County Council, was born in 1863 at Cooma, New South Wales, and came to New Zealand with his parents at an early age. He was educated at the West Christchurch Public School, and at Christ's and Canterbury Colleges, gaining junior and senior scholarships at the New Zealand University examinations, and becoming exhibitioner of his college. In 1882 Mr. Cohen graduated B.A., taking his M.A. with double honours in the following year. Articled to Mr. T. I. Joynt, of Christchurch, he was admitted to the bar in 1886, and after practising for several years in the “City of the Plains” he removed to Marton in 1893, and became a member of the firm of Cash and Cohen. He has acted as solicitor to the Council since settling in the district. As a member of the Masonic fraternity, Mr. Mr. Louis Cohen page 1311 Cohen is attached to Lodge Canterbury, 1048, E.C., of which he is a Past Master. For three years he was president of the Boards of General Purposes and of Benevolence of the District Grand Lodge of Canterbury. In educational matters he has taken a deep interest, and has acted as examiner for the New Zealand University for two years. In this capacity Mr. Cohen has conducted examinations at Christ's College and the High Schools in Christchurch, Timaru High School, Wellington Girls' High School, and Wanganui Girls' College and Collegiate School. He was the first graduate of Canterbury College who was elected to a seat on the Board of Governors of that institution. Mr. Cohen has long been prominent in athletics, having been captain of the Canterbury Province at cricket in 1891, and for some years of the Midland Cricket Club in Christchurch. He also acted as a selector of teams in the Rugby Union at Christchurch. As a cyclist, Mr. Cohen is Consul at Marton for the New Zealand Touring Club.

Mr. Arthur Thoms, Road Inspector to the Rangitikei County Council, was born in 1869 in the Rangitikei District, where he received his education. For a few years he followed farming pursuits, but in 1890 he was appointed assistant to his father—the late Mr. Chas. Thoms—who was road inspector and engineer, first to the Rangitikei Highway Board, and then to the Rangitikei County Council, from 1865 up to his death in 1891. The subject of this sketch was appointed to his present position in January, 1890. In addition to being road inspector, he is also inspector of slaughter-houses for the County. Mr. Thoms was married in 1894 to Miss Aitken, and has one son.

Mr. James Allison, who was a member of the Rangitikei County Council for six years, is a son of the late Dr. J. Allison. Born in 1863 in Wanganui, where he was educated, soon after leaving school he took up his present property at Ongo, three miles from Hunterville. The farm of 1450 acres is highly improved, and possesses a fine homestead with a large orchard. Besides having represented his riding in the County Council, Mr. Allison has been a member of the Ongo School Committee for three years. In 1885 he was married to Miss Towgood, and has four sons and two daughters.

Mr. Charles M. Galpin, who was a member of the Rangitikei County Council for nine years, was born in 1839 on the ship “Adelaide,” on the passage from Liverpool to Wellington. Amongst the passengers on the ship were Colonel Wakefield, Captain Daniells, Dr. Evans, and the principal officers of the New Zealand Company. Coming with his parents to the Rangitikei in 1856, Mr. Galpin worked on his father's farm for some years. He joined the Volunteers in 1863, became lieutenant in 1865, and captain in 1869, resigning from the corps in 1881. Mr. Galpin has always taken a keen interest in local politics, and was at one time a member of the four local bodies. Upon the death of his brother Alfred, Mr. Galpin found he had enough to look after on the farm; he therefore resigned his public positions. In conjunction with his brother William, he introduced the first reaper and binder into the district, and he now has the latest and most complete outfit of agricultural implements in the Rangitikei, including one of McLaren's horse-power traction engines. What is now known as Sedgcombe Farm, on which Mr. Galpin resides, was originally in the possession of his father. In 1863 Mr. Galpin was married to Miss Small, and has three sons and three daughters.

Rangitikei Royal Rifles, which claims to be the oldest corps in the Colony, has a membership of between fifty and sixty.

Captain Joseph Sutcliffe, of the Rangitikei Royal Rifles, Marton, was born at Heaton Norris, near Stockport, Cheshire, England. Educated locally till about thirteen years of age, he went into the employ of Mr. John F. Hindley, of Ashton-underline. In 1854 he enlisted in the Queen's Own 4th Light Dragoons, and went out to the Crimea, where he landed on the 15th of June, 1855. At the close of the war he returned to England, receiving the Crimean and Turkish medals, with the clasp of Sebastopol. On the reduction of the army he obtained his discharge, and entered the Manchester Police Force, from which he retired after twelve months' service, and went to live in Droylsden, where he joined the 70th Lancashire Rifle Volunteers. He was appointed colour-sergeant, and served four years in the corps. Captain Sutcliffe was married in 1858, at Oldham, Lancashire, to the second daughter of Mr. John Harrison, surveyor, of Fairfield, and has two sons residing in the Rangitikei District. He left England for Queensland in 1863, and whilst there had experience with bushrangers. He served as camp sergeant in the native police force on the McKenzie River, and was with the mounted police escort on the Peak Downs. The subject of this notice came to New Zealand in 1870; he started business in Marton, and in 1876 opened a general store, retiring in 1888. He joined the Rangitikei Royal Rifles in 1875, and was appointed lieutenant in 1881. In 1893 he was elected captain of the company, and in January, 1897, was awarded the New Zealand Medal for long and efficient service. In the early days he served on the local school committee for many years, and was also a member of the Borough Council from 1888 to 1891.

page 1312
Photo by Billens. Captain J. Sutcliffe.

Photo by Billens.
Captain J. Sutcliffe
.