OBITUARY

Evening Star, Issue 21580, 28 November 1933, Page 7

OBITUARY

MR ISAAC GREEN Memories of the days when Dunedin was rising to commercial influence are recalled by the announcement of tho death of Mr Isaac Green, who was for many years a very prominent and useful resident here, but for a while of late had been living with his daughter at Christchurch. Mr Green was born at Hayes, Middlesex, England, in July, 1847, and received part of bis education at Mr Forest’s school at Harlington. In 1855 he left England with his parents for Now Zealand in the barque Dunedin, and arrived at Port Chalmers in January, 1856. He completed his education at the East Taieri School under Mr James Waddell, and subsequently went to live in the North-east Valley district, where he was engaged in the dairy industry for many years and took a leading part in public affairs. In 1860 he became a member of the Northeast Valley School Committee, and held his seat on that body, being chairman for several terms, until 1893, when the Upper Junction School district was formed and he joined that committee. He was a member of the old Road Board, which was the first governing body in the North-east Valley district, and in due course he became its chairman, holding that position until the road district was merged into the Waikouaiti county. Ho was immediately elected to represent the riding on the county council, and he retained his seat until the proclamation of the borough of North-east Valley in 1877. Mr Green seemed to gravitate naturally towards mayoralties. His quickness to see through propositions as they arose, his cogent reasoning, and his knowledge of procedure qualified him to rule municipalities. He was made the first Mayor of North-east Valley, and was re-elected to that chair in 1881, 1883, and 1892. The amalgamation of North-east Valley with the city of Dunedin took place on October 15, 1910, and at the municipal election in April, 1911, Mr Green secured a seat on the City Council. He was re-elected as a councillor in 1913, and in the following year he contested the city mayoralty against Mr J. B. Shacklock, Mr J. J. Marlow, and Mr W. Belcher, without success. He was still a member of the council, however, having been returned in 1913 for a period of two years. He was re-elected to the council in 1915, and two years later was beaten for the mayoralty by Mr J. J. Clark, but in 1919 was again returned as a councillor and held the seat for two years.

Mr Green also served on the City Licensing Committee, the Ocean Beach Domain Board, and the Otago Hospital Board, and he was a justice of the peace for a great number of years.

One of his few defeats was when he stood for Parliament as a candidate for Dunedin North in 1908, the other candidates being Messrs G. M. Thomson and A. R. Barclay. Some of Mr Green’s time was also given to Freemasonry, he having been a member of the North-east Valley Lodge for a generation. It may be said of him, as was said of his brother James, that whatever he found to do he did with all his might, and that is one of the tests of a good man.