AGE OF "CITY FATHERS"

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21640, 4 November 1933, Page 3 (Supplement)

AGE OF "CITY FATHERS"

PROPOSED 60 YEARS' LIMIT THREE VETERANS AMUSED THE GRAND TRIO OF HULL That no person over 60 years of age shall be eligible for election as a city councillor is the proposal of some members of the Labour Party in Hull, and it was to be brought before the city council at a recent meeting;. The proposal lends itself to a most interesting and piquant debate, for Hull, with a population of nearly 320,000, and the third port in England, has been largely governed in the past by men of mature years who have devoted the greater part of their lives to public service. Three of the city fathers in Hull hold records unique in municipal history. They are Alderman Sir W. A. Gelder, Alderman Richard Gillett, and Alderman Edwin Ombler, and they are regarded as a grand old trio. Alderman Gillett is over 90 years of age, and he has been a member of the council since 1880, a period of 53 years. His term of office as an alderman does not expire until 1938, and he is still so active and punctual in his business affairs that it is said that one can tell the time almost to a minute when he passes through the City Square each day on the way to his office. To Sir W. A. Gelder, who has been a member of the council for 38 years and has occupied the mayoral chair on five occasions, Hull is largely indebted for many of its recent developments, and although a septuagenarian he continues to play an active part in keeping the Yorkshire port well "on the map." He is an architect by profession, and Hull uiav be said to be indebted to him for one of the most enterprising schemes ever undertaken by a municipality. T'ntil a comparatively short time ago Hull had a dock in the very heart of the city,,and the neck of it had to be .crossed by a swing bridge, traffic being held up each time it was opened to allow a boat to pass. Having purchased the Queen's Dock, as was called, from the London and North Eastern Railway Company, the corporation filled it in, and then proceeded with a scheme which, when finished, ■"ill completely transform the appearance of the city. To a wonderful new boulevard, which is a striking feature of the scheme, there will be taken shortly Hull's most famous memorial, the Wifberforcc statue. Alderman Edwin Ombler, another of the stalwarts of Hull, recently celebrated his 88th birthday. He became a member of the town council as far back as 1902, and his name will always be closely associated with. one of the most unique municipal undertakings in this country, the Hull telephone exchange. Hull is the only English town to run a municipally-owned telephone and to Mr. Oinbler," who is the chairman of the Telephone Committee, much of the success which has attended the undertaking is due. Apart from corporation work, Mr. Ombler, who is a paper merchant and fancy goods importer, still takes an active part in his business. Those' three aldermen are I'ie grand fid men of Hull, to whom the suggestion, " too old at 60," must obviously , lie amusing.