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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Taranaki, Hawke's Bay & Wellington Provincial Districts]

Ex-Councillors

Ex-Councillors.

The most important public body of a municipality is the Borough Council, which levies rates, administers public moneys, and controls various institutions. The public acts of members are often censured in the press, and meet with hostile criticism from the “man in the street,” yet their good works very rarely receive any expression of public approbation or thanks. Despite this capable men often stand for election. In consequence of this public spirit Napier has been fortunate in securing, from time to time, the services of a number of highly-qualified administrators. In this section some of the past members of the Borough Council are referred to; and others are referred to in other sections of the work.

Mr. Hyman Phineas Cohen, J.P., formerly a member of the Napier Borough Council, was born in London, England, in the year 1837, and is a son of the late Mr. Phineas Cohen, merchant, of that city. He was educated in London, and afterwards entered his father's office, where he remained until 1859, when he came out to New Zealand, and landed at Auckland. A few months later he went to Melbourne, and proceeded to the gold-fields at Inglewood and Navarre. In 1862, when the Otago gold “rush” set in, Mr. Cohen returned to the colony, and entered into business as a storekeeper at Tuapeka and on the Dunstan. In 1867 he went to the Thames, and spent three years in that district. After a further period of three years in Auckland, Mr. Cohen settled in Napier, and opened a fancy goods store, to which he afterwards added a furniture warehouse, and subsequently an auctioneering business. During his long residence in Napier, Mr. Cohen has taken great interest in public matters, with political leanings to the liberal side; and, in Mr. Ballance's days, frequently took the chair at his meetings. He was a member of the Hawke's Bay Hospital and Charitable Aid Boards, and for a great number of years was chairman of those bodies. He was also a school commissioner, and devoted considerable attention to educational matters. For over twenty years without intermission, until illness compelled his resignation, Mr. Cohen was a member of the borough council, and for a similar period was captain of the fire police and salvage corps. He is a Freemason, and has taken the Royal Arch degree. Mr. Cohen married Miss page 313 Hannah Moss, of London, in the year 1870, and has one daughter.

Mr. Charles Hugh Cranby occupied a seat on the Napier Borough Council for about twelve years, and since 1899 has been a member of the United Hawke's Bay Hospital and Charitable Aid Board, of which body he is now chairman. He was born on the 15th of March, 1852, at Breslau, in Germany, was educated at the Real Schule in his native city, and in 1867 went to sea in the merchant service. During the next few years he was engaged chiefly in the East, and was for some time in charge of a store ship on the Japanese coast. In 1874 he returned to England, and in the same year came to New Zealand. Settling in Napier, he was employed for about ten years in the New Zealand Shipping Company's office, and in 1886, in partnership with Mr. Prebble, established a shipping and general carrying business. Ten years later the partnership was dissolved, and Mr. Cranby then carried on business for a short time as a seed, grain, and produce merchant. In 1897, however, his interests were purchased by Messrs Simmonds and Company, and Mr. Cranby has since traded in Browning Street as a shipping and general commission agent, under the style of C. H. Cranby and Co. He represents the Huddart Parker Line, the Federal-Houlder-Shire Line, the North Queensland Insurance Co., the New Zealand Flour Millers' Association, the New Zealand Portland Cement Co., and a number of other valuable agencies.

Bunting, photo.Mr. C. H. Cranby.

Bunting, photo.
Mr. C. H. Cranby.

Mr. John Dinwiddie, formerly a member of the Napier Borough Council, was born in the year 1834, in Manchester, England, where he was educated. He left the Old Land in 1859, by the ship “Caduceus,” and landed in Auckland. In January of the following year he removed to Napier, and, having a knowledge of carpentry, obtained employment on the old Government buildings, near the present Post Office. Devolving into a builder and furniture manufacturer, Mr. Dinwiddie soon had a very fine business on those lines, and during his first fifteen years in the district gained a competence. In 1876 he took a trip Home, via the United States, returning by way of Suez. Mr. Dinwiddie then chose the life of a farmer, and settled in Patangata County. In this, however, he was not particularly successful, and he sold his farm, returned to Napier, and assisted his brother, Mr. Peter Dinwiddie, of the “Hawke's Bay Herald,” for some two or three years prior to his final retirement. During the time of the Maori troubles Mr. Dinwiddie saw active service, and was at the engagement of Omaranui. He took great interest in volunteer matters for about seven years, was one of the first to start the movement in Hawke's Bay, and held the New Zealand war medal. Mr. Dinwiddie died in 1900, leaving a family of one son and three daughters.

Mr. Alexander Edward Eagleton, who occupied a seat on the Napier Borough Council continuously from October, 1901, to October, 1906, was born in Auckland, in October, 1863, and is the youngest son of a master mariner, who is (1906) caretaker of the Calliope Dock, on the Waitemata harbour. He was educated at a private school, conducted by Mr. E. M. C. Harrison, in Auckland, afterwards learned the trade of a baker in Parnell, and then served an apprenticeship to the hair-dressing trade
Bunting, photo.Mr. A. E. Eagleton.

Bunting, photo.
Mr. A. E. Eagleton.

page 314 under his brother. In 1891 Mr. Eagleton removed to Napier, established himself in business, and acquired an extensive connection. He is treasurer of the Napier Board of Hospital Trustees and Charitable Aid Board, was the promoter of the Napier Swimming Club, is secretary of the Hawke's Bay branch of the New Zealand Amateur Swimming Association, president of the Union Rowing Club, the City Football Club, and the Hawke's Bay Sports Protection Association; vice-president of the Wednesday Afternoon Club, and treasurer of the Tradesmen's Club, is life honorary lieutenant of the Victorian Rifles, an Auckland corps; was honorary secretary to the send-off and reception committees in connection with the South African New Zealand Contingents, was secretary to the Troopers' Memorial Committee, and is captain of the Napier Fire Police and Salvage Corps. Mr. Eagleton married a daughter of the late Mr. W. W. Waddel, a former Mayor of Auckland and chairman of the Auckland Harbour Board, and has one son and two daughters.

Mr. William James McGrath was elected to the Napier Borough Council in 1900, and served continuously till April, 1906, when he resigned in order to contest the Mayoralty. He was born in Napier in February, 1866, his father, a member of the 65th Imperial Regiment, being at that time in residence in the town. He was educated at a private academy under Mr. J. A. Reardon, and was subsequently engaged in a variety of employments, including those of a compositor, a cabinet-maker, a shearer, a ploughman, a labourer, etc. In 1897 he purchased a general grocery business in Napier, and has since conducted an extensive trade. Mr. McGrath is a member of the local Hospital and Charitable Aid Board, is a Past District President of the United Ancient Order of Druids, and is president of the Napier Tradesmen's Sports Club. For several years he held the local championship for the quarter and half-mile sprint; he is vice-president of the Union Rowing Club, and a member of the football and cricket clubs. At the general election of 1905 he unsuccessfully contested the Napier seat. Mr. McGrath is married, and has three sons and one daughter.

Mr. John Wainhouse Neal, who was almost continuously a member of the Napier Borough Council from its formation, until his death, on the 7th of January, 1898, was one of Napier's most respected business men, and was intimately connected with its progress. He was born at Southport, near Liverpool, England, in the year 1839, but was educated and brought up in Yorkshile. Coming to New Zealand early in 1861, he spent about three years in Auckland, after which he settled in Napier, and was in partnership with Mr. John Close for nearly thirty-four years, few firms being better known throughout the colony than that of Neal and Close. As a public man, Mr. Neal carried into his work that punctilious attention and integrity which were his chief characteristics. He was chairman of the public works and waterworks committee, and a member of the finance committee, where his business abilities were of great service, and he was a painstaking member of the Napier Harbour Board, to which he was elected on seven consecutive occasions. On the Hawke's Bay Charitable Aid Board, the Napier Hospital Trust, and the Napier High School Board of Governors, Mr. Neal also rendered valuable services, and his innumerable acts of private and public charity were marked by an absence of ostentation. In 1870 he married Miss Close, a sister of his partner, and at his death he left a family of three daughters.

The Late Mr. J. W. Neal.

The Late Mr. J. W. Neal.

Mr. William Plowman, formerly a member of the Napier Borough Council, is a partner in the well-known firm of W. Plowman and Sons, cordial manufacturers. He was born in Manchester, England, in the year 1850, and is the son of Mr. James Plowman, machine broker. He was educated in his native city, and apprenticed to Sir Joseph Whitworth and Company, Limited, engineers. On the completion of his time he went to London, where for two years he was engaged in the wax and tallow chandlery business. In 1871 he came to New Zealand by the ship “St. Leonards,” and on arrival in Napier was engaged in the aerated water factory of Mr. George Bowman. Three years later he entered the employment of Messrs H. C. Robjohns and Son, with whom he remained for eighteen years, rising to the position of brewer and manager. In 1894 he joined in the purchase of the business of Messrs Thomson, Gifford, and Company. Mr. Plowman is a Master Mason, and a member of Lodge Scinde. He married, in 1877, a daughter of Mr. Pond, of Falmouth, England, and has two sons.

Mr. Frederick George Smith, who was a member of the Napier Borough Council for many years, is a well-known shipping and forwarding agent. He was born in 1850, in Hayle, Cornwall, England, and is a son of Mr. John Pearce Smith, cooper and woodware manufacturer. He was educated at the Hayle Grammar School, and subsequently was apprenticed to the sea with the West of England Company. After attaining the rank of second mate, during a period of nine years, in the Valparaiso, Indian, and China trade, Mr. Smith gave up seafaring life, and embraced an opportunity of coming to New Zealand. Settling in Napier in 1875, he obtained employment in the establishment of Messrs Margoliouth and Banner, grocers and wine and spirit merchants, and remained with that firm seven years, having charge of the Spit branch and wool dumping works. Mr. Smith then entered into business on page 315 his own account, which he has since successfully conducted. He has been a volunteer for over twenty years, and was in command of the Napier Naval Artillery from 1885 until 1897, when the corps was disbanded, and he was placed on the reserve staff with the rank of captain. Mr. Smith is a Past Worshipful Master Mason, and took his Mark and Royal Arch degrees while on a visit to the Old Country in 1892. In 1879 he married a daughter of Mr. Edward Newbigin, of Ryton, Newcastle-on-Tyne, and has four daughters and two sons.

Mr. John Stentiford Welsman, who was a member of the Napier Borough Council for a number of years, was born in Devonshire, England, in the year 1843, and is a son of the late Mr. Thomas Welsman, who came with his family to Auckland in 1858, by the ship “Egmont.” He was educated partly in a public school in England, and partly by private tuition in Auckland, was apprenticed to the late Mr. H. Potter, chemist and druggist, in Auckland, and set up in business on his own account in 1861, in Queen Street. Mr. Welsman sold out in 1877, and established himself as a chemist in Napier. For many years he was superintendent of the Wesleyan Sunday School, and he has been a director of the Napier Gas Company. In 1870 Mr. Welsman married Miss Allen, of Gloucester, England, and has, surviving, three sons and two daughters.