THE COUNCIL’S OVERDRAFT ALARMED THE CITIZENS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 19108, 28 June 1930, Page 22 (Supplement)

THE COUNCIL’S OVERDRAFT ALARMED THE CITIZENS.

A Lawyer Was Fined For Bad Advice In Supreme Court In The Early Days.

Written for the “ Star ” by

A. SELWYN BRUCE.

The old Carlton Mill on the Carlton Mill Road, long since demolished, was started in 1854 by Woodford and Stevens, and that on the mill island at Hereford Street was opened by Daniel Inwood in 1855. The Provincial authorities welcomed the erection of these flour mills as the grinding of wheat for local requirements was a somewhat difficult problem. In 1857 the first circus to visit Christchurch was opened by Foley in a tent in High Street on the land now occupied by the Empire Hotel, and the old fire gong in the Market Place was erected by Billy Barnes in 1858, being mounted at a height of forty feet from -he ground. Hondin the wizard was an attraction with his magic legerdemain in the Town Hall in 1563. An Enormous Overdraft. In the early sixties a citizen signing himself “Fair Play” wrote a lengthy letter to the paper, in which he viewed “with anxiety and alarm the council’s enormous overdraft at the bank, now exceeding £800”! The cabbies of our town were W. H. Read and W Dunn, both of whom drove London growlers (as fourwheelers were dubbed), while Tommy Goodyer followed with the first hansom, a cab which Jonah Wheeler, of Wheeler and Nurse, had imported, but had never used. It is interesting to learn that in the sixties Sir George Grey, an early Governor of the Colony, presented Canterbury Province with some silver grey rabbits, assuring the people that in the future these would prove a valuable asset! ’Nuff said! A Fine For Bad Advice. Our legal friends may be interested in the following notes culled from the diary I have referred to in my former article. Judge Stephen, of Wellington, who came down to Christchurch in the very early days to preside over the sittings of our Supreme Court, once fined a Wellington solicitor £2O for giving his client bad advice! Judge Wakefield also presided in Christchurch in 1857, Judge Gresson being then permanently appointed to Canterbury. Among old solicitors may be mentioned Mr Wormald in Lyttelton, whose articled clerk was John Dean Bamford. Wormald had the cream of the professional work in conveyancing and mortgages, R. H. Rhodes and others being among his clients. C. E. Dampier also practised as a solicitor, his office being at the corner of Oxford Terrace and Durham Street Another early practitioner was C. Pritchard, who lived in Gloucester Street near the site of the Jewish Synagogue. He may be recalled as a very tall man who always rode a big white horse. , T. S. Duncan, after living in the bays for some time, opened an office in Lichfield Street near the present site of His Lordship’s Larder Hotel, T. I. Joynt and Bertrand being his clerks. H. B. Gresson (afterwards judge) lived in Manchester Street, opposite the present City Council offices, his successor in residence being John Bealey, who planted the tall gums and willow trees which for long years were a feature in this block. Another solicitor was C. W. Wyatt, whose office was in Colombo Street, where Fletcher the tailor afterwards carried on business for many years* These men were followed by Harry Bell Johnstone, who first occupied an office on the site of the present Post Office, and later erected the ancient

wooden building addjoining the brick offices of Harper and Co. in Hereford Street, being joined in 1861 by WynnWilliams—a recent arrival from Home. Francis Slater’s office was in Lichfield Street, near the present location of Sargood, Son and Ewen. W. T. L Travers, who was originally at the comer of Hereford Street and Oxford Terrace, was joined by Wyatt, the partnership being added to by the inclusion of Philip Hanmer and Lewis, and Leonard Harper, merging into the firm of Hanmer, Harper and Co. A Racing Enthusiast. Christopher George Hodgson, who married a daughter of John Shand, of Avon Lodge. Riccarton, practiced as a solicitor in the fifties, and was described as “ a rather handsome, ruddy, well built Englishman, more of a sport than a lawyer, a racing enthusiast.” Tom Hichens was his clerk and among his sporting chums were Tom White, of Oxford, Holland, Jim Moorhouse, Tom Adams, John D. Brittan and others. A C. Cottrell was in partnership at one. time with Henry Sewell, and Cc*nif from Tasmania. Teddy Preston, who was managing clerk to Wynn-Williams, may be recalled as “ a Londoner,- short and stout, with a habit of blinking his eyes and twiddling his thumbs, always neatly dressed in black, with a billy-cock hat.” Preston took much delight, in company with Oswald and Williams, in baiting the Municipal Council of his day, the vehicle of annoyance being colloquially referred to as " The Dirt and Darkness Club.” Preston fell out with Williams and went to Honolulu, where he afterwards became a judge of the Supreme Court. “Filing The Shovel.” James Edward Graham was in the 'sixties the official acting under the Bankruptcy Act, Jcck M’Gregor being his henchman. " Filing your shovel,” as becoming a bankrupt was familiarly dubbed, was much in evidence in those hard times, and it is said that Jock M’Gregor used to stand at the corner of Cashel and High Streets with forms ready for completion by those contemplating bankruptcy. Henry Sewell, the solicitor and wellknown politician, was described as “ a podgy, comfortable looking man, with a big iron grey covered head—a shrewd intellectual man.” Orbell Willoughby Oakes, whose c-ffice was near the old Town Hall in High Street, was described as “ a pompous little London cockney who went to Hokitika during the gold rush and made money, returning to England and entering into business in London as a financial agent.” The number of drink shops in the early ’sixties was out of all proportion to the requirements of the population, but when we read that a well-known politician introduced a bill into the Provincial Council, compelling the Bench of Justices to grant a license to anyone who could get twelve householders to recommend him as a licensee, we can visualise the inevitable result. No sooner was the Act passed than license# were applied for and granted in all directions, and the Force had a pretty strenuous time keeping some semblance of order, the old-fashioned policeman’s rattle being a familiar noise in the early morning hours as roysterers celebrated “the end of a perfect day ”! (To be continued.)