DEATH OF MR. G. G. STEAD.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIX, Issue 103, 30 April 1908, Page 6

DEATH OF MR. G. G. STEAD.

INTERESTING CAREER.

(By Telegraph.—Press Association.! CHRISTCHURCH, Wednesday. Mr. Geo. G. Stead died) shortly after four o'clock this afternoon. v Mr. Stead sustained a sudden seizure a few days ago, from the effects of which he never recovered. MR. GEO. G. STEAD. i Mr. George G. Stead was born in Lon- ! don in 1841, and comes from an old Yorkshire family on his father's side, j his grandfather being Mr. Mark Stead, lof Richmond, Yorkshire, and from a I Scotch family on his mother's side, his j grandmother being a Fraser, a direct | descendant of the noted Simon Fraser, | Lord Lovat, the last man beheaded in the Tower of London in the year 1747. ! Mr. Stead, in 1849, accompanied his : parents to South Africa, where he comj pletcd his education at St. Andrew's ; College. In 1865 he returned to England, but. on the recommendation of several friends, he decided to settle in New Zealand, where he arrived in 1866, in which i year he joined the staff of the Union Bank of Australia in Christchurch. Findi ing insufficient scope for his energy and | enterprise in this occupation, in the year '■ 1870 he joined the late Mr. Royse in j business, under the title of Royse," Stead ! and Co., export merchants, which business he controlled, although there were various changes in its personnel, until | he decided, in January, 1903, to retire.

Very soon after his. arrival in the i colony. Mr. Stead identified himself with \ racing, nd frequently wrote on racing . subject,, and as well furnished racing | reports for the "Lyttelton Times." In r 1572 he became a member of the Canter- ( bury Jockey Club, and almost tmmedi--1 ately afterwards was elected Honorary j Treasurer, which position he has continu. ously occupied ever since—surely a longservice record. It was not long "before he j made his presence felt in the counsels : of that body, and a progressive policy j was, followed which he took a large share in formulating. j In 1875, Mr. Stead purchased a half share in Mr. Henry Redwood's racing [ stud, to be raced under his management

and to be trained by E. Cutts. The results were more than successful, and the partnership won numerous races. While still pursuing racing, Mr. Stead was not idle in another direction, and. as a matter of history, had decided upon importing fresh racing material in the shape of some mares and a stallion from England, and in IS7B he landed the Caterer horse Leolinus. and the brood mares Miss Laura, Petroleuse, L'Orient, and Titania, the five costing 3000 guineas. Colts out of Petroleuse and Miss Laura were left in England, where Mr. Stead raced them, but without success. The following year he also imported Pulchra, the maternal ancestress of no end of winners At the same time Crinoline was imported, and in ISSI he imported Cadogan. Locally. Mr. Stead also made extensive purchases, and was always to the fore at yearling sales, purchasing without regard to cost if only he had a fancy. Lure, Naiad, Louis d'Or. and Carlton were yearlings which cost him over 500 guineas each. In 18S1 he revisited England, and formed the Grain Agency Company, of which he was a co-director with Lord George Hamilton, the Eight Hon. G. T. Ritcnic, and the late Messrs. Dv Craz, Wigram, and Temple. During that visit he purchased and imported to New Zealand the French-bred and successful stud horse Apremont, the brood mares Nellie Moore idam of Lochiel), Steppe, Florence Macarthy. Lovebird, Fairyland. Sweet Cicely, Leila, Lady Ravensworth. and Deviation. At the same time as these mares were purchased. Mr. Stead bought a yearling at Doncaster which he called Splendor, and which he left and had raced in England. Splendor ran fourth in the Derby in 18S3, and, in addition to winning a few minor handicaps, won the Payne Stakes of £1200, an important

three-voar-old standard weight race. Mr. Stead was now so deeply immersed in a very large business that he found it impossible to give his breeding stud the attention it required, and consequently he decided to reduce it, with the result that he disposed of flic mares pri-

vately for 6000 guineas to the Auckland Stud and Pedigree Stock Company, whilst Leolinus found his way to Mr. Redwood's stud at Spring Creek, Blenheim, and Cadogan to that of Dr. Prins at Russley, Christchurch. Although he parted with his breeding stud, Mr Stead retained his racing establishment, and, amongst others, the colts Russley, Lochiel, and Ravenscraig. from the imported mares Steppe, Nellie Moore, and Lady Ravensworth respectively, all of which he raced with considerable success. In ISB7. when Lochiel won the New Zealand Cup for Mr. Stead, that horse's victory broke the New Zealand ring, when, curiously enough, his owner did not back the horse. The history of that race is often recalled. Mr. Stead did not race on quite such an extensive scale prior to R. J. Mason becoming his private trainer, but ever since that period the boxes at Yaldhurst have always been filled by horses bred or purchased; while as fast as they were tried and found to be below the required standard, or as they succumbed to the exigencies of training, they have been sold privately and by auction from time to time, to make room for others. Mr. Stead's policy has been to breed the best, and always to buy those to his liking in any studs offering yearlings for sale, and no man's presence at the ringside has been more courted than his. He has always been a good buyer, and the sums paid for, and for which he has sold his horses, would run into big figures. Mr. Stead has won nearly all the leading races in the colony, and no owner , has anything approaching Mr. Stead's records, and, with the increasing ownership list, no owner, so long as racing exists, may ever again achieve like results. Mr. Stead's has, indeed, been a history in itself, marvellously instructive as showing the judgment, pluck, and enterprise of an owner, and the cleverness, thoroughness, and ability of his trainers, and the selection of riders. Mr. Stead has been a voluminous writer in support of the totalisator, and his opinions in that connection have been largely quoted in the Australian papers It was mainly due to his advocacy that the totalisator was introduced on New Zealand courses, and it is a matter of fact that it was on the Canterbury Jockey Club's course in 18S0 that it was first used in this colony. A Mr. Francs exhibited a model pari mutual, and submitted it to Mr. Stead, who at once saw its advantages, and got his club to give it a trial, and it is interesting to note that the net profit from its use in that year to the C -J.C. was £ 130. The start-ing-gate, likewise, was first used on the Riccarton racecourse iv 1894.

Mr. Stead took a leading part in the raising of a Canterbury contingent during the Boer War, and subscribed £500 towards the fund.

In addition to holding the position of Chairman and Honorary Treasurer of the CJ.C., Mr. Stead also held the following appointments:—Chairman of Directors of the "Christchurch Press" Company, Chairman of Directors of Manning and ; Co., Chairman of Directors of the Christ- . church Gas Company, Chairman of Directors of Warners, Ltd., Chairman of Direc. tors of the Blackball Coal Company, Deputy Chairman Alliance Assurance Co., Director of Mason Struthers, Ltd , Director of the New Zealand Shipping Co. He filled the position of President of the Christchurch Chamber of Commerce in 18S0, ISBS, 18S6. He was one of the Governors of the Canterbury College from 1891 to 1899. when he resigned, Mr. Stead initiated in 1872 the movement which resulted in the formation of the Canterbury Club, one of the most successful residential clubs in New Zealand. He was elected to the Tramway Board in 1903. In 1900 the Government appointed him Chairman of the Royal Commission of Canterbury to receive Their Royal Highnesses the Duke, -and Duchess of York. In the maritime strike in August. 1890. Mr. Stead organised a party of free labourers, whom he personally controlled, and with whom he remained in Lyttelton and kept open I the port for some eight days, in the teeth of the opposition of the strikers. In a pamphlet on labour troubles published in London, the writer stated: ''The arrangements for keeping the port of Lyttelton open were undertaken by a leading merchant, Mr. Geo. G. Stead, to whom the colony owes a heavy debt of gratitude."'