MAKERS OF AUCKLAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20307, 15 July 1929, Page 8

MAKERS OF AUCKLAND.

TiEADF.It WOOD'S CADEER.

AN ELOQUENT PIONEER.

•'AUCKLAND FOUR" INCIDENT.

(TWO GREAT SUPERINTENDENTS.

BY F.W.W

No. IV. 'Anofher prominent, figuro in Hie early history nf New Zealind was Mr. Header Gilson Wood, pioneer, soldier, Civil servant, provincial and colonial politician, land professional man, who carries the reputation of having been mia of tlio most eloquent orators ever heard within "this country's legislative halls. Mr. [Wood arrived in the Far North in 1844, and fought as a volunteer in the artillery in tho Hcke war, being present at. 4ho storming of Ohaeawai. Afterwards ho settled in Auckland as an architect tirid survej'or. Later ho was appointed Vleputy-Surveyor-General and head of tho Was'.o Lands Department, but eventually ho returned to private practice. Early in provincial history Mr. Wood tamo into prominence as a local politician. Ho sat in tho third Auckland 'Provincial Council, from 1857 to 1861, iand was again a member of tlio Council from 1873 till tho abolition of tho provincial system in 1876. lo tho General [Assembly lie was first returned in 1861, as member for Parnell, which ho continued to represent until tho seat of government was removed from Auckland in 1865, when ho resigned. "One of " The Auckland Four." Parnell again elected Mr. Wood in 1870, and ho was in Parliament until 1881, but for the last two years as memT>er lor Waitcmata. Mr. Wood was Colonial Treasurer and Commissioner of Customs in tlio Fox Ministry of 1861-2, and held the samo portfolios in the two succeeding Ministries —Domett, 186,_,-3, and Whitaker-F'ox, 1863-4. Whilo ho was a conspicuous man on nil political questions, tho outstanding featuro of Mr. Wood's political career •was his strenuous opposition to the borrowing schemes of Sir Julius \ogel. He was also ono of tho famous "Auckland Four" —tho others were Captain Colbeck, Mr. W, Swanson, and Mr. W. J. Hurst —■ ,i.vho in 1879 withdrew their support from tho Grey Ministry, and so clinched its j'alo, aftor its defeat by two votes, in a no-contidenco division. The terms mado by them with the succeeding Hall Ministry provided for giving Auckland, heretofore neglected, its fair share ot public works expenditure and for non- . interference with tho education system. .Though a politically opprobrious term of ono syllablo was applied to tho four by their opponents in the bitterness of controversy, their action was afterwards v indicated as politically ami morally justifiable. Pioncor in Journalism. On tho obelisk erected over tho rcst--Ing-placo of tlio Hon. John Williamson in tho Methodist section of tho Symonds Street Cemetery arc inscribed these words—"Ho was on live occasions chosen »y the peoplo to be Superintendent of tho Province of Auckland, and was the elected representative of fellowcitizens in tho Parliament of New Zealand during a period of 19 years. His own adopted motto and rule of action in life was 'Be just, and fear not; let all the ends thou aim'st at thy country's, thy God's and truth's.' Mr. Williamson came to Auckland in 1841, already, a trained printer and journalist, and became the first Government Printer, iri tlio work of which position ho had associated with him Mr. W. C. Wilson, subsequently the founder of tho New Zealand Iliuai.il In 1845, ]\lessrs. Williamson and Wilson established the first newspaper of consequence in tho city, the Now Zealander, utilising at tho outset a printing plant purchased from the Lev. 11. H. Lawry, who was at the time superintendest of the \\esleyan Mission in the South Seas. Jho partners made it tlio leading journal of the time in the colony, and carried it on in partnership until 1863. In that year, differing from his partner as to tho pro-Maori attitude of the paper in regard to tho Taranaki war, Mr. Wilson withdrew from tho firm, and began the publication of the New Zealand Herald, nf which his sons, Messrs. W. S. and J. L. Wilson, were the owners when they wero joined in 18i'6 by Mr. A. G. Horton, then proprietor of the rival Daily Southern Cross. Mr. Williamson continued the publication of the New Zealander until the destruction of his priut-ing-houso bv lire in 1866. Thames Election Riot. Into public life Mr. Williamson first, entered in 1853, when lie was elected to the first Provincial Council. In 1856 ho •was returned as fourth Superintendent of the province, and he held the office until 1862. From 1867 lo 1869 ho was again Superintendent. It was in a contest in 3869 with Mr. (afterwards Mr. Justice) T. B. Gillies, who defeated him, that there occurred at the Thames the famous election riot in which it was alleged at tho time—though since denied by the participants—that pick-handles wero flourished in a manner worthy of Donnybrook traditions. Mr. Williamson had a third term of Superinfendency from 1873 to 1875. Meanwhile ho had had a further period, 1865-7, as a floor member of tho Council. In addition fo all these legislative and 'journalistic responsibilities of Mr. Williamson sat continuously in Parliament from 1856 to tho time ofbis death in 1875. Ho was a member of the Fox Ministry of 1861-2, but without portfolio. Ho held office for some years under Ihe General Government as commissioner of Crown lands and curator of intestate estates. Legislator and Judge. Though Mr. Justice Gillies did not figure among tho public men of Auckland's early days, it is just as well to place his name in juxtaposition with that of his great rival of the provincial days. Thomas Banuatyno Gillies was born in Scotland, where ho received both a commercial arid a Jaw training, and came to Otago in 1852 as a young man of 24. For some years he - engaged in farming, but in 1858 he succeeded his father in a law partnership in Dunedin. From 1860 to 1865 ho sat in Parliament for Otago electorates, and ho held tho portfolio of At-torney-General in the short-lived Domett Ministry, 1862-3, and those of PostmasterGoneraj and Secretary for Crown Lands in tho Whitaker-Fox Ministry of 1863-4. In 1865 Mr. Gillies came to Auckland to practise his profession. Very soon ho j was in Parliament again, as representative of Mangonui, and from 1871 until 1875 lie, sat for Auckland City West. In this period ho was again in Ministerial office for a. few weeks, as Colonial Treasurer to the Stafford Ministry of 1872. As regards provincial matters, ho never sat, in the Council, but his contest, for tho Superintendeucv with Mr. John Williamson in 1860, already mentioned, was one of the most stirring elections ever held in New Zealand. Early Olllcial and Scientist. Mr. Gillies was four years in office. Iri In 1875 lie was appointed lo the Supreme Court. Bench, and he presided over (lie Auckland Court from then until his death in 1889. He is commemorated bv two science scholarships at the Auckland University College, which lie endowed in his lifetime—one in memory of Mrs. Gillies and tho other in memory of his wife's uncle, Dr. Andrew Sinclair. Dr. Sinclair, whoso grave is in (he Presbyterian Cemetery in Symonds Street came out, as the first Colonial Secretary in 1844, and held that office until tho days of responsible government in 1856. 'Besides being a medical man and an official, ho was a scientist. He took part in a scientific expedition to Canterbury *md while engaged in it was drowned in tbo Rangitata River in March, 1861. (To bo continued! dailv.)