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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Canterbury Provincial District]

Old Colonists

Old Colonists.

Mr. Robert Allan, sometime of Timaru, was born in 1830, at Saltcoats, Ayrshire, Scotland, and was brought up as a builder in his native county. He arrived in Victoria in 1854, and shortly afterwards was engaged in the building trade in Melbourne. In 1862 he came to the Otago goldfields, and some time later became a contractor in Dunedin. Mr. Allan carried out several large railway contracts, and finally settled in Timaru and entered into partnership with Mr. George Stumbles, under the style of Allan and Stumbles. The firm became contractors for the breakwater, and also had large railway contracts. Mr. Allan was connected with the Oddfellows' Order, which he had joined in Melbourne. He was married, in Melbourne, in 1857, to a daughter of the late Mr. Alexander Galletly, of Dunedin, and at his death in June, 1892, left two sons and three daughters.

page 1021
The late Mr. R. Allan.

The late Mr. R. Allan.

Mr. John Barratt, who has been a resident in the Timaru district for thirty years, was born in 1828, in Shropshire, England, where he was apprenticed as a coach-builder. He came out to Victoria in 1860, and ten months later arrived in Christchurch, where he worked for a few years at his trade. Mr. Barratt became one of the founders of the well known firm of Moor and Co., in Victoria Street, Christchurch. He removed to Timaru in 1872 and established the large coach-building business which he conducted in Stafford Street for so many years. In 1890 he sold his interest, and has since then been living in retirement. Mr. Barratt is married, and has one daughter.

Ferrier, photo.Mr. J. Barratt.

Ferrier, photo.
Mr. J. Barratt.

Mr. Samuel Alford Bristol, for many years manager of the Kingsdown estate comes of an old Wiltshire family. He was born in 1833, received a private education, and was trained to farming. Mr. Bristol came from England in the old clipper ship “Anglesea,” and after visiting a few friends in Australia, settled in New Zealand in 1863. He was for many years so closely and actively engaged in the management of “Kingsdown” that he had no time to spare to public affairs. He has, however, from the first been a member of the Timaru Agricultural and Pastoral Society and of the South Canterbury Acclimatisation Society; and he took a prominent part in the institution of St. John's, the first Masonic Lodge in Timaru. Mr. Bristol was an enthusiastic cricketer in his native county of Wiltshire and captain of his club, and since setting in Timaru has always identified himself with the game. He has been continuously president of the Timaru Cricket Club, was one of the original promoters of the Amateur Athletic Club, and is a life member of the South Canterbury Jockey Club. Mr. Bristol was married, in 1867, to Miss Woods, a sister of Mrs George Rhodes, of the Levels station, but was left a widower in 1887.

Mr. George Buchanan, of Crofton, Wai-iti Road, Timaru, is one of the early pioneers of South Canterbury, with which he has been identified from its earliest days. He was born in Yorkshire, in 1833, and left England for the Australian diggings in 1852, in the ship “Chandernagore. Mr. Buchanan went with the “rush” to Bendigo, and subsequently to New South Wales. He came to New Zealand in 1853, when he landed at Lyttelton, and travelled overland to Timaru. At that time the Pareora estate was taken up, and Mr. Buchanan worked there for three years. He then went into partnership with Mr Poingdestre, and took up the Bluecliffs run, now owned by Mr. Rhodes. This partnership was dissolved in 1859, when Mr. Buchanan sold his share, and went on a trip to England, where he was married. On returning to the colony with his young wife, he took up the Willow Bridge estate, on which he erected the first flour mill in Canterbury south of Timaru. He remained there till 1872, and subsequently bought a farm at Otaio, which he worked for a few years, when he retired from active life, and took up his residence in Timaru. Mr. Buchanan was a member of the first Waimate Road Board, and one of the first members of the Timaru school committee. He is also a member of the St. John's Lodge of Freemasons, Timaru. His family consists of six sons and two daughters.

Mr. Thomas Chapman, who has resided in the Timaru district since 1863, was born in Sunderland, Durham, England, in 1837, and went to sea when only thirteen years old. At the age of nineteen he went to Victoria, where he had experience in quartz-reefing and alluvial goldmining. He came to Otago in 1861, and was for about six months at Tuapeka when he enjoyed a trip of a year's duration to the Old Land. On returning to Timaru Mr. Chapman was employed in connection with the surf-boat landing service owned by Messrs Cain and Le Cren, and was practically in charge of the service. He was one of the founders of the Loyal Timaru Lodge of Oddfellows, Manchester Unity, No. 5508, and has been Grand Master of the order. Mr. Chapman was married at the end of 1863, to a daughter of the late Mr. H. Beckingham, merchant, of St. John Street Road, Islington, London, England, and has four sons and two daughters.

Ferrier, photo.Mr. and Mrs T. Chapman.

Ferrier, photo.
Mr. and Mrs T. Chapman.

page 1022

Mr. Fredrick Le Cren, sometime of Timaru, was born in 1836, and at an early age came out to Victoria. He came to Wellington in 1855, and soon afterwards removed to Canterbury, where he occupied a position in the Postal Department at Christchurch and Lyttelton, and was for several years in business as a timber merchant in Christchurch. Mr. Le Cren went to Timaru in the sixties, and commenced on his own account as a merchant. He was associated with the late Captain Cain in connection with the Surf Boat Landing Service. When the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company opened its South Canterbury branch in Timaru Mr. Le Cren became manager, and held the position for over twenty-five years, only retiring in December, 1901, when his health became impaired. He had large interests in a sheep station at Simon's Pass, in the Mackenzie Country, and always took an interest in agricultural and pastoral associations. Mr. Le. Cren was married, in 1857, in Christchurch, to a daughter of the late Mr. J. Mills, of Hobart, and at his death in April, 1902, left two daughters and six sons. One daughter had died previously.

Ferrier, photo.The Late Mr. F. Le Cren.

Ferrier, photo.
The Late Mr. F. Le Cren.

Mr. Henry John Le Cren was one of the pioneer settlers of Canterbury, and one of the first merchants of Timaru. He was born, in 1823, in Scotland, and came out to the colony in the “Barbara Gordon,” to act as agent for the first four ships which brought the Canterbury Pilgrims in 1850. He was subsequently for many years a member of the firm of Longdon and Le Cren, general merchants, in Lyttelton. Very early in the history of the settlement of Timaru, Mr. Le Cren sent the late Captain Cain with a small shipload of goods to open a store in the district. Captain Cain was in charge of this business till about 1856, when Mr. Le Cren removed to Timaru and took over the management. In 1867 the business was sold to Messrs Miles and Co., and Mr. Le Cren went to London, where he and Mr. George Gray Russell entered into business as colonial merchants. The business so established, with the New Zealand firm of Russell, Ritchie and Co., was subsequently disposed of to the National Mortgage and Agency Company. Mr. Le Cren then retired from business and settled in Timaru, where he built a handsome residence known as “Craighead,” which was his home till the time of his death in May, 1895. Mr. Le Cren was a member of the Timaru and Gladstone Board of Works, and of the Levels Road Board. He left three sons and four daughters.

Mr. Friedrich Cullmann, Old Colonist, of Timaru, was born in Dhaun, on a tributary of the river Rhine, in Germany, in 1833. After being educated in his native place he went to London for five years. During the Crimean war he formed one of the crew of the ship “Republic of New York,” while she was engaged in carrying troops to Constantinople. When the war was over he shipped as steward on another vessel, which traded in the East Indies. In 1858 he came to Wellington in the ship “Oliver Laing,” as a passenger. After going round the North Island he removed to Lyttelton, whence he walked overland to Timaru, where he arrived early in 1859. At that time Timaru consisted of only a few shanties, a public house, and a gaol. Mr. Cullman engaged in bullock driving and carting timber from the Waimate Bush to Timaru, before any roads were formed. In 1861, he went to the Lyndhurst goldfields in the Mackenzie Country, but finding the field a failure, he returned to Timaru. Shortly afterwards he went to the Gabriel's Gully field, where he was more successful. He returned again to Timaru in 1868, started there as a baker and confectioner, and conducted his business until 1878, when he retired. For two years Mr. Cullman was a member of the Timaru Borough Council, and has been closely identified with the Oddfellows. Mr. Cullmann was married in New Zealand, and has two sons and three daughters.

Mr. Philip Dale was born in Cheshire, England. He was apprenticed as a cabinetmaker, carpenter, and joiner, and afterwards worked at Laird's shipyards at Birkenhead. In October, 1857, he arrived in Brisbane as carpenter's mate of the ship “Irene,” and came to New Zealand in 1859. For some time he was employed in building work at Lyttelton and throughout the district, and walked overland to Timaru in the year of his arrival. He was engaged in building work for a number of years in various parts of the Timaru district, whence he went to the Wairarapa, in the North Island, where he had over six years' experience in farming 4000 acres. Having sold out his interest, he returned to Timaru and devoted his attention to building, and held positions as clerk of works under the Timaru and Gladstone Board of Works. In 1876 he became foreman of works to the Timaru Borough Council, and also performed the duties of building surveyor and inspector of nuisances till July, 1902. During his long period of service, Mr. Dale supervised the formation of most of the streets in Timaru, including kerbing and channeling, and many other branches of work. He was married, in June, 1864, to a daughter of the late Mr. Robert Warrington, of Glossop, Derbyshire, England, and has had seven daughters and three sons.

Mr. George Gabites was born at Owston-Ferry-on-Trent, Lincolnshire, England, in 1829. He was educated in his native county, and was apprenticed to Mr. G. Bailey, draper, of Bawtrey. In 1852 he was attracted to the Australian gold diggings, and after undergoing numerous experiences, he returned Home in 1861, but in October of the following year he came out to New Zealand, by way of Panama, San Francisco, and British Columbia, in the “Alice Thorndyke.” Shortly afterwards he went to Melbourne, but returned to New Zealand at the time of the Dunstan rush. He became assistant to Mr D. Clarke, and was afterwards with Mr. Pratt, one of the earliest drapers of Christchurch. In 1869 Mr. Gabites was appointed to manage a drapery business for Mr. Clarkson, in Timaru, and afterwards became proprietor of the establishment, which he sold six years and a half later, for reasons connected with his health. Mr. Gabites was a member of the Timaru Borough Council when the waterworks scheme was initiated, and he served for a time in the No. 6 Christchurch Rifles. In 1865 he married Miss Duggan, of Christchurch, and has two sons. The eldest son is Dr G. E. Gabites, Surgeon Superintendent of the Timaru Hospital, and the youngest son is now (1903) studying dentistry at Edinburgh.

page 1023
Ferrier, photo.Mr. G. Gabites.

Ferrier, photo.
Mr. G. Gabites.

Mr. John Shelton Gibson, of Timaru, was born near Melton Mowbray, England, in 1833. He came out to Melbourne in 1851, was goldmining in the Ballarat district for ten years, and was a witness of the burning of Bentley's Hotel, and saw the fight at the Eureka Stockade in 1854. Mr. Gibson was well acquainted with Peter Lawlor, the leader of the insurgents, who was hidden in a tent within a few hundred yards of Mr. Gibson's tent, at a time when £500 was offered as a reward for his arrest. Mr. Gibson removed to Otago in 1861, and took part in the Hartley and Riley rush. With his friend, the late Mr. Colin McKenzie Gordon, he spent five years on the Otago goldfields, and then settled about 1866 in the Timaru district, where he carried on contracting and cropping until he retired about 1878. Mr. Gibson served as a borough councillor for about ten years, at the time when the Timaru waterworks scheme was formulated and carried out. At the first election of members to the Timaru Harbour Board Mr. Gibson was returned at the head of the poll. He retained his seat on the board for a number of years, but lost his popularity in consequence of his views on the shingle question, and for strongly advocating the purchase of the present suction dredge. Mr. Gibson is a life member of the High School Board of Governors, and was for many years a member of the Timaru Main School Committee. He, is also a Master Mason, and has been connected with St. John's Lodge since 1877. Mr. Gibson was married, in 1874; his wife died in June, 1902, leaving no family.

Ferrier, Photo.Mr. J. S. Gibson.

Ferrier, Photo.
Mr. J. S. Gibson.

Mr. John Adam Hansmann was born in Hesse-Cassel, Germany, and arrived in Lyttelton by the ship “Victory” in 1862, when he was about twenty-four years of age. As a colonist he has resided chiefly in Christchurch. For many years he carried on the business of a hotelkeeper in Addington; and was subsequently postmaster at Linwood. Mr. Hansmann and his family have latterly resided at Timaru.

Mr. H. B. Kirk was born in 1842 in the country village of Thorner, in Yorkshire, England. Having lost his father, and his mother having to provide for herself and his younger brother and sister, he, when nine years of age, was adopted by a pitman and his wife, and started at once to work with him in one of the pits or mines belonging to the Farnley Iron Company, at Farnley, near Leeds. His adopted parents proved to be as good and kind to him as they were to their own children. The masters also, Mr. James Armitage and Mr. William Armitage, were two of the best employers of labour who ever lived, and they spent their time and large sums of money in building Sunday and night schools, recreation grounds, and a beautiful church. They each had a class at the Sunday school, and visited the night school once or twice each week. Thanks to their kindness and liberality, Mr. Kirk received a fair amount of education at the night school, and learned to read fairly well on Sundays, under the special charge and care of Mr. James Armitage. Living under good parents and working for good masters, his life was one of great regularity; and he worked ten hours a day in the pit, attending night school constantly, and never missed Sunday school until 1863, when he left England in the ship “Brother's Pride,” and landed in Lyttelton in December of that year. His first work in New Zealand was road making on Porter's Pass under Mr. J. Jebson, for whom he worked afterwards at the Sunnyside Asylum. Then he helped to erect the telegraph line from the Selwyn river to Arthur's Pass, and he also helped Mr. E. G. Wright to finish the Goldney's Saddle part of the West Coast road. After that Mr. Kirk took to brickmaking in Lyttelton, and while there he made the bricks for the vault of the late Mr. G. Rhodes, of Timaru. He then removed to Christchurch, and with the Messrs Austin opened brickworks on the Ferry Road, near to the site of the present Heathcote Road Board offices. They made bricks at Prebbleton for the house of the late Mr. J. S. Buxton. He and his partners then worked the brickworks of Mr. Joseph Bailey, builder, Christchurch, until his death, when they leased the works for four years. At that time the Provincial page 1024 Government offered a bonus of £500 for the first £1000 worth of salt-glazed goods manufactured and sold in Canterbury. Clay for that class of goods had then to be carted from the Malvern Hills, but Messrs Kirk and Austin commenced business at once, and received the bonus. About the same time they commenced the works known as the Farnley Brick and Pottery Works in the Port Hills, south of Christchurch, and his partners having retired from the business, Mr. Kirk carried the work on by himself for ten years. At the end of 1898, he turned the whole business over to Mr. T. N. Horsley, and bought the old-established Steam Brick Works at Timaru, where he and his family are now settled. He has extended the works by laying down plant for field pipes for the farmers, and sanitary pipes for the Timaru Borough Council and other public bodies; stench traps, syphons, tapers, junctions and bends, air-bricks, chimney pots, vases and flower-pots, etc. During the forty years of his residence in New Zealand, Mr. Kirk has always been busy, and what money he has made has been spent in the colony. As an employer of labour, he has had no quarrels with his employees, and he and they have always been able to settle their disputes themselves. Mr. Kirk was an Oddfellow for ten years, and has been an active member of the Masonic body for over twenty-one years, but on account of a bad memory he has never accepted office. He was a member of the Heathcote Road Board for ten years, and for a term its chairman. During that term the whole of the members were asked to resign at an indignation meeting, and he was the only member to accept the requisition; but he contested his seat again and went in with flying colours. During his long residence in the colony Mr. Kirk has been connected with many associations, and since the inception of the Industrial Association of Canterbury in 1879, he has been a member of the committee, and has also been treasurer, vice-president, and four times its president; and he is a life member—the highest honour in the gift of the association. Up to the time when he left Christchurch Mr. Kirk was one of the Governors of the Canterbury College, vice-president of the Canterbury York shire Society, and president of the Christchurch Liberty League; and he has been a member of the court of directors of the Royal Humane Society of New Zealand since its formation. In politics Mr. Kirk has always been a pronounced Liberal since the time the late Sir George Grey became Premier of New Zealand. During this long period he has fought many good battles, both as committeeman and chairman, for a great many Liberal candidates, but always in a way that did not make enemies.

Mr. Philip Bouvrie Luxmoore was well known in the early days, in South Canterbury. He was born, in 1834, at Marchwell, Wales, England, and was educated at Eton and Cambridge. In 1856 he came out to Lyttelton with the Rev. J. C. Andrew, and continued with that gentleman till 1859, when he removed to a large run near Hakataramea, which he worked till about 1876. Mr. Luxmoore bought 397 acres near Timaru, in 1864, and settled on that property, where he resided, until his death in July, 1882. He served as a member of the Timaru and Gladstone Board of Works, of which he was chairman for a number of years. Mr. Luxmoore was always interested in the Timaru Agricultural and Pastoral Association, and was at one time its president. He married, in 1860, the youngest daughter of the late Rev. H. Fendall, of Timaru, and had one son, who died in infaney.

Mr. George Daniel Marsh is the eldest son of the late Mr. George Marsh, of Hampshire, who came to the Colony in 1851 by the ship “Canterbury” (which foundered on her next voyage). The subject of this notice was born on the eve of the ship's sailing from England. Mr. Marsh, senior, settled at Fendalton, and at first was manager for the late Mr. S. Hewlings, government surveyor. He removed to Templeton, where he carried on farming for thirty years till his death, in 1887, his widow surviving him until 1893. Mr. G. D. Marsh assisted his father for some years, then spent some time in Christchurch, learning the blacksmith's trade. He removed in 1894 to South Canterbury, and now resides in Timaru. While at Templeton he took an active interest in local affairs, and was chairman and member of the Templeton and Lincoln Road Boards, member of Christchurch Fire Brigade, was a trooper in the Canterbury Yeomanry Cavalry, and member of the Christchurch City Guards. He has been an Oddfellow for many years, and was a member of the Claremont school committee, while he was farming “Kingsborough” in that district. Mr. Marsh married a daughter of Mr. Charles Jeff, one of the Canterbury pilgrims, and has ten children.

Ferrier, photo.Mr. and Mrs G. D. Marsh.

Ferrier, photo.
Mr. and Mrs G. D. Marsh.

Mr. Robert Millar was born in the North of Ireland, in 1840, and was apprenticed to the hat and cap manufacturing business in Belfast. He also had experience of country life on his father's farm, “Banview,” on the River Ban, and he was afterwards a clerk for some time, until coming out to Melbourne in April, 1861, by the ship “Shalmar.” He joined the volunteers in Melbourne, and enlisted under Colonel Pitt to serve in the Maori war in the Waikato. After two years' service, he went to the West Coast goldfields, and six months later walked overland to Canterbury, meeting with many experiences on the way. Mr. Millar was for ten years book-keeper and traveller for the sawmills conducted by Messrs Webb and Benny, at Geraldine and Woodbury. In 1875, he removed to Timaru, and was employed for seven years by Mr. J. Jackson. After two years' experience in Christchurch, he returned to Timaru, and in 1897 bought a coal and firewood yard. Mr. Millar conducted this business till 1902, when he sold his interest to Mr. Marsh. He was married in May, 1895, to Miss Orr, of County Donegal, Ireland, and has three sons and two daughters.

Mr. Charles Reginald Shaw, who has been over forty years in New Zealand, was born in Cheshire, England, in 1829. At the age of twenty-four, he left the Old Country for the Australian goldfields, and worked at Bendigo and Ballarat for four years. In 1857, he came to New Zealand and was appointed surveyor for Banks' Peninsula by the Provincial Government of Canterbury. Four years later he removed to Timaru, where he was district surveyor till 1877, when he sought a change of life, and started farming in Totara Valley, where he had bought 500 acres of Government land in its native state, at £2 per acre. This property he farmed successfully until 1898,
Mr. C. R. Shaw.

Mr. C. R. Shaw.

page 1025 when he sold it at £15 per acre, and retired from active life. Mr. Shaw has been a member of the Levels Road Board, and he was chairman of the Totara school committee for six years. He has been twice married, and has a family of five sons and nine daughters.
“Belfield,” Waimataitai.

“Belfield,” Waimataitai.

Mr. Alfred Pigeon, sometime of Timaru, was one of the pioneers of Canterbury, and came out in the ship “Royal Heart,” in 1849. He had a farm at Hallswell, and afterwards at Addington, where the Addington show grounds now stand. After some years he bought a farm, named “Meadowbank,” in Upper Otaio, and worked it with success. In later years Mr. Pigeon retired to his private residence, “Belfield,” at Waimataitai, near Timaru. He died in 1896, leaving a wife, one son and a daughter.

Mr. David Stuart, Old Colonist, J.P., Timaru. In the beginning of 1863, Mr. Stuart arrived in Dunedin from Moreton Bay, Queensland. During that year he visited Lake Wakatipu, and went to Milford Sound in 1865. He accompanied Mr. Thomas Pringle on the first photographic excursion made to the Franz Josef Glacier, and some of the views taken are to be seen in Von Haast's “Geology of Canterbury and Westland.” Mr. Stuart made a holiday exploring trip to the head waters of the Buller river, in Nelson, and to the head of the Wilberforce in Canterbury. He was a promoter of the Hokitika fire brigade and literary society, and a colour-sergeant of the Second Westland Rifles. For six years he was book-keeper for Messrs Anderson and Mowat, in Invercargill and Hokitika, until the firm relinquished business. He was legal manager of several quartz gold mining companies in the pioneering days of the Lyell, and had the carries quarters at the head of the navigable part of the Inangahua river. At the end of 1875 he removed from the Lyell to Timaru, where he has ever since been engaged in the grain trade and shipping agency business. He has been a Justice of the Peace and member of the licensing committee for many years, a member of the Board of Reviewers under the land tax, a member of the Chamber of Commerce, and is one of the original office-bearers of the South Canterbury Caledonian Society. Mr. Stuart is a recognised authority throughout the Colony on old-fashioned sports, especially wrestling, quoiting, leaping, jumping, putting the stone, throwing the hammer and tossing the caber. In June, 1891, Mr. Stuart publicly protested against the proposal of the Commissioners and Harbour Board to commence removing the shingle from the weatherside of the breakwater. He organised the opposition and advocated the benefits of the natural reclamation, got up petitions and public meetings, and did the self-imposed secretarial work of the party. He was chairman of the Harbour Board in 1893 and 1894, and considers that the “sheltered” breakwater is a good object lesson on his policy. Mr. Stuart is also the father of the Reclamation Bill, which gives the Board power to reclaim about 100 acres in Caroline Bay and seven acres in the inner harbour. In a Quixotic way he started a “working bee,” and the terrace at the background of the bay is the outcome of the work commenced by a few Timaru carriers on the 16th of June, 1897. The work was afterwards assisted by subscriptions, and Mr. George Stumbles acted as its honorary inspector.

Mr. James Strachan was born at Cupar, Fyfe, Scotland, on the 31st of July. 1842, and went to sea before he was fourteen. After two years he ran away from the ship “Strathallan” at Port Chalmers, travelled to the Mackenzie Country, where he took what employment he could get, and gradually worked his way as far north as Auckland. There he joined the colonial sloop “Victoria,” during the Taranaki war of 1860–61, but left after fourteen months, and worked his way to Otago. He was for a time on the goldfields at Gabriel's Gully, Nokomai, Arrow, Shotover, and Cromwell, in Otago, and also visited the West Coast. Mr. Strachan abandoned the goldfields, however, and found employment in wire-fencing at the Level's station. In 1868 he went to Scotland as a steward, and on his return kept a store at Pleasant Point for about eight years. About five years later, Mr. Strachan took a contract for the erection of forty miles of rabbit fencing, in the Mackenzie Country. In 1892 he started the bathing machines, at Carofine Bay, which he still owns; and he afterwards established bathing machines at Sumner and New Brighton. Mr. Strachan was married, in 1868, to a Miss McLennan, of Ross-shire, Scotland, and has had five daughters and four sons. One son has died.

Ferrier, photo.Mr. J. Strachan.

Ferrier, photo.
Mr. J. Strachan.

Mr. Charles Holland Thullier Sterndale, Wai-iti Read, Timaru, was born in India, in 1853, and, when four years of age, at the time of the Indian Mutiny, was sent to England to be educated. At the age of nineteen he went to Colorado, America, and was surveying in the Rocky Mountains for five years; at the end of which he returned to India, and was for twelve years tea planting in Assam. In 1888 Mr. Sterndale came to New Zealand, and for some time lived at Port Molyneaux, near Balclutha. He has been resident in Timaru since 1895. He served as a volunteer in India, and held rank as private, lieutenant, and captain in the Sebsagor Mounted Infantry for four years. page 1026 Mr. Sterndale is an amateur artist, and paints both in water colours and oils. He was married, in 1885, to a daughter of Mr. A. S. Begg, of Port Molyneaux, and niece of Dr Begg, founder of the firm of Begg, Dunlop and Co., Calcutta. He has a family of one daughter and two sons.

Ferrier, photoMr. C. H. T. Sterndale.

Ferrier, photo
Mr. C. H. T. Sterndale.

Mr. Edward Percy Sealy was born in England in August, 1839, and was educated at Clifton near Bristol. He arrived at Lyttelton by the ship “Clontarf,” in January, 1859, and joined a relative on a run now known as Patoka station, about thirty miles from Napier. Two years later Mr. Sealy entered the survey department in Hawke's Bay, and after four years came to Canterbury, as district surveyor. He was first stationed in Ashburton and afterwards in North Canterbury. Since 1873 Mr. Sealy has been a resident of the Timaru district, where he has carried on extensive farming operations, and held at that time 2000 acres of land in the neighbourhood. He bought the Rockwood estate in the Tengawai district, and farmed it for about five years, and also acquired the Ellerslie estate, near Geraldine. During his term as district surveyor he did a good deal of exploration work in the Southern Alps, which, at that time had been visited only by Sir Julius (then Dr) Von Haast, who named Mount Sealy in his honour. Mr. Sealy took some of the first photographs of the Southern Alps, and a large assortment of these views, now (1903) nearly forty years old, has been preserved in excellent condition. Mr. Sealy travelled over the West Coast Road in 1868, when it was in course of construction, and a selection of the photographs he took were exhibited at the Vienna Exhibition, at which he was awarded the only gold medal for New Zealand photographs. He also presented a large number of views of glacial formation to the Royal Geographical Society. During his residence in the Ashburton district, Mr. Sealy made two expeditions to the Rangitata and Ashburton glaciers. Before leaving England, and during his residence in New Zealand, Mr. Sealy devoted his leisure to the study of Natural History, and has given special attention to the ornithology of Great Britain and New Zealand, and also to the investigation of tropical Lepidoptera. His collection of the largest and most brilliant examples of tropical butterflies from India, China, Japan, the islands of the Malay Archipelago, and South America, is probably the finest south of the Line. He has also formed wonderfully complete and well preserved collections of British, Australian, and New Zealand birds' eggs; the latter being probably the most complete collection extant of New Zealand species. Mr. Sealy was one of the early promoters of co-operation in South Canterbury, and has been a director, of the Farmers' Co-operative Association, on which he has occupied the position of vicechairman and member of the Finance Commitee for more than twenty years. He was married, in 1873, to a daughter of Mr. T. Sanderson, a well known North Canterbury runholder, and has five daughters and one son.

Mr. James Shepherd was born at Yarmouth, Norfolk, England, in 1837, and after some experience in mercantile life went to sea for six years. On landing at Port Chalmers, in 1858, he walked overland from Dunedin to Timaru, before any roads were formed and engaged in business for many years as a general storekeeper in Stafford Street. He was a member of the Timaru Borough Council from 1878 to 1882. Mr. Shepherd was married, in 1860, to Miss Irvine, of County Fermanagh, Ireland, and has had three sons and two daughters.

Captain Belfield Woollcombe was one of the earliest and best known settlers of Timaru. He was born in 1816 in the parish of Pellerton, on the borders of Devon and Cornwall, England, where his father, the Rev. Henry Woollcombe, was rector. His father dying, he was brought up by his grandmother, Lady Louis, and when he was thirteen years of age he entered the Royal Navy as a midshipman on board the “Thunderer.” He was with his ship in the West Indies in 1830, and could recall the mourning for the death of George the Fourth and the rejoicings at the accession of William the Fourth. In 1839–42 he took part in the “Opium War” with China, and received a medal for his services. His naval career was closed in 1850, when he retired with a pension after seeing twenty-one years of service. For some time before his retirement he had been staff-lieutenant, at Plymouth, under his uncle, Admiral Sir John Louis. He was afterwards ranked as commander, and later still as post-captain. Mr. Woollcombe arrived in New Zealand in 1852, and entered into partnership with Messrs Lee, Mallock, and Lance in the New Zealand Wool Growing Company, which had a large property at Mount Parnassus. Five years later he settled at Timaru, where he had been preceded by only one or two pioneers, though even at that early period the outlying country was being rapidly taken up in sheep runs. Mr. Woollcombe, in the true colonial spirit, built a whare for himself with his own hands, and entered at once on the duties of the position to which he had been appointed—that of Government Agent at Timaru. In carrying on his official work he had to be by turn Resident Magistrate, Imigration Agent, Postmaster, Customs Officer, Harbourmaster, Beachmaster, Pilot, Registrar of Births, Marriages and Deaths, and Health
Ferrier, photoCaptain B. Woollcombe.

Ferrier, photo
Captain B. Woollcombe.

page 1027 Officer. His experience as a naval officer enabled him to survey the harbour of Timaru, and the work was done with scientific thoroughness and accuracy. In the course of time, after the increase of population, Captain Woollcombe resigned most of his public offices, but he continued to fill those of Resident Magistrate and Returning Officer until September, 1878. He still continued to act as a Justice of the Peace, and to the very last he took an intelligently active Interest in the harbour, public affairs generally, and especially in work connected with St. Mary's Anglican church and congregation. On retiring from the bench he entered into partnership with Mr. Clulee, and did his share of the work of the firm up till the very day of his death, which took place on the 22nd of July, 1891. Captain Woollcombe married a daughter of the Rev. Mr. Fendall, of Fendalton, Christchurch, and was survived by Mrs Woollcombe, one son and five daughters. As a private gentleman, pioneer colonist, and public servant Captain Woollcombe bore a character, lived a life, and did work entitling him to be held in long and honourable remembrance.