Other formats

    TEI XML file   ePub eBook file  

Connect

    mail icontwitter iconBlogspot iconrss icon

The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Wellington Provincial District]

Dodgshun and Company

Dodgshun and Company, (Nathaniel Dodgshun), Importers of Woollens and Tailors' Trimmings, the Leading Tweed Warehouse, Customhouse Quay and Victoria Streets, Wellington. Telephone, 521; P.O. Box 290. Bankers, Union Bank of Australia. Cable address, “Dodgshun's,” Wellington. Code, private. Private residence, Mr. N. Dodgshun, Johnsonville. British agents, Dodgshun, Sons, and Co., 19 Fore Street Avenue, London, E.C. and 28 Basinghall Street, Leeds. This large business was established by the present owner in Dunedin in 1881. Mr. Dodgshun, the founder and sole proprietor, is a Yorkshireman by birth. His father was a large wool broker in Leeds. With the object of attaining a technical knowledge of wool he was apprenticed as a wool sorter, first in Huddlesfield, afterwards in Bradford and finishing by attending the London wool sales. For some time
Mr. N. Dodgshun.

Mr. N. Dodgshun.

prior to coming to the colonies he was in his brother's warehouse in Leeds, and believing that these southern lands afforded more scope for his energies, he embarked for Melbourne, Victoria, with a brother, Mr. Joseph Dodgshun, now in business as a warehouseman in Launceston, Tasmania. Mr. Dodgshun remained in the Victorian capital for some two years, being employed in the house of James Dodgshun and Co., whom he left to commence business in New Zealand. Crossing the Tasman Sea, he took up his quarters in Dunedin in 1881, and at once founded the present business. Beginning in a small way, Messrs. Dodgshun and Co., by steady perseverance and industry, succeeded in working into a large trade. After carrying on business in the southern city for ten years, the superior advantages of Wellington as a central distributing port became apparent, and Mr. Dodgshun decided to remove to the Empire City. The premises occupied are situated in Customhouse Quay, opposite the Bank of New Zealand. They extend through to Victoria Street, where there is a fine cart entrance, which is most convenient for both receiving and delivering. The ground floor is principally used for offices, and for the packing and opening departments; the total floor space of the whole building is little less than 6000 square feet. The stock-room on the first floor is a splendid apartment, which contains a very valuable assortment of broadcloths, page 711 vicunas, serges, worsteds, tweeds, Italians, silicias, and tailors' requisites in great variety. The firm receive regular shipments of the latest designs in trimmings and every conceivable article required in the tailoring trade from their British house. The value of the stock kept is estimated at from £10,000 to £14,000. Messrs. Dodgshun and Company are sole agents for the Colony for The Tailor and Cutter, the oldest and most reliable trade journal published in London. They keep a large variety of the latest books issued in connection with the tailoring trade, to enable those who study them to cut scientifically and make well-fitting garments. Messrs. Dodgshun and Co.'s connexion extends throughout the entire Colony, their customers being found in every town. Two travellers are always “on the road,” and visit the various centres of population with regularity. It is well known that the firm under notice are in a position to meet the needs of their customers, both as regards quantity and quality. Their stock is said to be the largest of its kind held by any one firm in New Zealand. Their relations with leading English merchants and manufacturers are such as to ensure the maximum of quality at the minimum of cost, and thus they are in the front rank in their line. Business men in all parts of the Colony should send for quotations and samples each season before deciding on their purchases. Messrs. Dodgshun and Co. have gained the reputation of being a capital firm with which to do business. Mr. Dodgshun makes it a rule to visit his customers personally, as often as possible, to consult them on business matters generally, and thus to place his extended experience at their disposal. By this means he has gained a considerable measure of popularity, and his visits are greatly valued. Mr. Dodgshun is well known as an active worker in the temperance cause. A total abstainer himself, he seeks to extend the benefits of abstinence to others who come within the scope of his influence. While resident in Dunedin he was prominent in this movement, and since coming to Wellington he has been a member of the Wellington Prohibition League since its inception, and now occupies the position of chairman of the New Zealand Alliance for the suppression of the liquor traffic. A Presbyterian in belief, he is yet willing to show his sympathy by helping forwad every deserving cause. Mr. Dodgshun is a Liberal in politics, and believes in the enactment of such laws as shall tend to the uplifting of the people.