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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Canterbury Provincial District]

Levels County Council

Levels County Council.

The Levels County Council consists of seven members, namely, Messrs C. N. Orbell (chairman), Waimata-iti; W. Cunningham, Seadown; G. Butler, Point; —. —, Glen-iti; D. McLaren, Otipua; A. C. Pringle, Claremont; and R. Campbell Tengewai. The jurisdiction of the council extends over an area bounded on the north by the Opihi river, on the west by the Tengawai river, and Pareora and Cave roads, on the east by the sea, and on the south by the Pareora river. Roads made and unmade cover an area of 450 miles, and the ratable value of the district is £1,419,565, exclusive of Crown and Native lands; the annual income at March, 1902, was £8,500, and the loans on water-races amount to £3,750. There is an estimated population in the district of 5,500, with 1700 ratepayers, who contribute a rate of one penny in the pound. The council meets on the first Wednesday in each month at its offices, Church Street, Timaru. The council chambers, originally the printing office of the South Canterbury Times, were bought from Mr. E. G. Kerr in 1895. The building is of brick, two stories in height, with the council offices on the ground floor, and the next floor let to tenants.

Councillor Charles Newman Orbell, Chairman of Levels County Council, was born in 1840 in Essex, England, where he was educated. He came in 1863 to Lyttelton by the ship “Metropolis,” and soon afterwards entered into farming pursuits in the Timaru district. Mr. Orbell is identified with the New Zealand and Australian Land Company, as manager of the Levels estate of 50,000 acres. He has always taken a great interest in the Timaru Agricultural and Pastoral Association, of which he is a prominent member; he is also judge for the South Canterbury Jockey Club, and has been a member of the Geraldine County Council and of the Levels Road Board. Mr. Orbell was married in 1879 to Miss Fergusson, cousin of Sir James Fergusson, formerly Governor of New Zealand, and has five children.

Councillor George Butler, who represents Pleasant Point on the Levels County Council, hails from Warwickshire, England, where he was born in 1837. Educated near Atherstone, he was brought up to coalmining, which he followed till 1863, when he came out by the ship “Lancashire Witch” to Timaru. A fortnight before leaving his native land, he was married to Miss Hall, of Atherstone. On arrival in the Colony he purchased some land at Timaru, where he resided for some years. Removing to Pleasant Point in 1874, he purchased a compact farm of 300 acres, which he has since occupied. When in Timaru he was for seven or eight years superintendent of the Wesleyan Sunday School and has always taken a great interest in furthering the cause of that body. He was elected chairman of the local school committee soon after settling in the district, and resigned after ten years' service, when he took a trip to the Old Country in 1888. Mr. Butler has been a member of the Pleasant Point Domain and Cemetery Boards for many years. On the formation of the Levels County Council, he was elected to represent Pleasant Point riding. Mr. Butler has always been a most energetic worker for the advancement of the district, and his services are in constant demand in all social and denominational affairs. His family consists of two sons and four daughters, all of whom are grown up.

Mr. G. Butler.

Mr. G. Butler.

Mr. Frank Edmund Whitehead, County Clerk and Treasurer of the Levels County, was born in 1868, in Kent, England, where he was educated. He arrived in Tasmania in 1888, studied as a surveyor, and after two years' pxeerience, came to New Zealand, where he joined the service of the New Zealand and Australian Land Company with which he continued until August, 1901, when he received his present appointment. Mr. Whitehead served at the Edendale, Totara, and Levels stations.

Mr. James King, formerly member of Levels County Council, was born in Banffshire, Scotland, in 1842, and arrived at Lyttelton in 1863, by the ship “Ivanhoe.” After spending some three years in the country, he went to Timaru, where he established himself in business in 1871, and bought the well-known livery and bait stables in Stafford Street. On the Levels Road Board being merged into the Levels County Council, Mr. King was elected a member and sat in the council for four years. He is a member of the Timaru Agricultural and Pastoral Association, and was formerly a very prominent member of the South Canterbury Jockey Club. Mr. King is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and also a Forester. He owns two farms—one at Pareora and the other about two miles from Timaru, which are managed by his sons—and is known as a breeder of thoroughbred horses. Mr. King is further referred to in connection with his business at Timaru.