The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Otago & Southland Provincial Districts]
Printers, Stationers, Paper Merchants, Etc
Printers, Stationers, Paper Merchants, Etc.
Mr. J. Braithwaite.
Swan and Co. (John Swan and James Swan), Engravers, Die-sinkers, and Engineers, Bath Street, Dunedin; Telephone 892; Bankers: Bank of New Zealand. The present firm was established in 1889 at the above address, where it carries on one of the leading die-sinking and engraving establishments in the South Island. The business also extends to the North Island, thus enhancing the success which has attended its very excellent productions. Messrs Swan and Co are also the inventors and makers of the Swanholm Gas and Oil engine (see the “Otago Daily Times” on the 8th of October, 1897.) Mr. John Swan, the senior partner, who was born in Dunedin in 1869, is the third son of the late Mr. Robert Swan, and was educated at the Albany Street school. He was apprenticed to Mr. S. Reading, formerly proprietor of the establishment, and after completing his term, became part proprietor along with his brother, Mr. James Swan. Messrs Swan have been associated with the Dunedin Amateur boating club, of which the late Mr. Swan was one of the vice-presidents. Mr. J. Swan is a comic amateur vocalist of great ability, and his talents are much appreciated by Dunedin audiences.
Sligo, Alexander , J.P., Bookseller, Stationer and Bookbinder, 42 George Street, Dunedin. Telephone, 410. Bankers, National Bank of New Zealand. Established 1871. Mr. Sligo is an importer of all classes of stationery and books. He acts generally as a news agent, and conducts a considerable business as a bookbinder and paper ruler. Mr. Sligo is further referred to as a former member of Parliament.
Wilkie and Co., Limited , Wholesale and Retail Manufacturing Stationers, 92 Princes Street, Dunedin. This firm was founded by the late Mr. James Wilkie in the early seventies as booksellers and stationers, and began in premises situated in what was then known as the Princes Street Cutting. In 1885 it was decided to drop the bookselling department and take up the manufacture of stationery, for which purpose the firm took new premises at 92 Princes Street. These premises had to be enlarged at various times to accommodate the steadily increasing business, and in 1892 it was found necessary to secure new premises for the manufacturing departments. The factory is a large two-storey building opposite the Union Steamship Company's office, Water Street, with frontages also to Vogel and Cumberland Streets. The factory is replete with the very latest machinery in all the various branches, and the firm is well known throughout the colony for its high class lithographic work. From 1894 to 1902 the business was carried on under the same style, by Messrs W. G. Sommerville, P. L. Clarke, and T. Sommerville, and in 1902 the business was turned into a private Limited Liability Company, under the same management as formerly.
Mr. James Horsburgh was born in Edinburgh in 1851, and was apprenticed to the wholesale stationery business in his native city. In 1875, he came out to the Colony of New South Wales to take the management of a large paper mill, and after three and a half years crossed the Tasman Sea to Dunedin and established an extensive bookselling and stationery business, which he carried on at 97 George Street. During his residence in Dunedin Mr. Horsburgh was always ready to assist any movement for the public good of Otago. For six or seven years he was a member of the Mornington borough council, and occupied the mayoral chair for one year. In 1896, he was elected a member of the Dunedin licensing committee, on which he long held a seat; for many years he was chairman of the Mornington school committee, and took a prominent part in promoting the erection of the new school premises in that suburb. Mr. Horsburgh also took a keen interest in the establishment of the Dunedin retailers' association, of which he was a vice-president. Some time ago his business was bought out by Messrs Whitcombe and Tombs Limited, and he is now (1904), a buyer in England for that firm.