Schumacher, Nicholas Carl. Aerated Water Manufacturer, Lyttelton. Mr. Schumacher was born in the province of Schleswig-Holstein, North Germany, in 1845. For seven years he followed a seafaring life, during which he voyaged all over the world. Early in 1869 he arrived at Port Chalmers, on the same day as the Duke of Edinburgh, second son of Queen Victoria. Mr. Schumacher settled at Port Chalmers where he was a partner in the firm of John Mill and Co. for eighteen years. He also served ten years on the local borough council. In 1889 Mr. Schumacher sold out his interest and came to Lyttelton, where he was appointed master stevedore for the Canterbury Stevedores' Association. After filling this position for a year, he purchased the aerated water manufacturing business of Mr. J. B. Milsom, and has since successfully conducted it. This business was established in 1859, Mr. Schumacher was initiated into Freemasonry in the Port Chalmers Marine Lodge, in which he passed through the chairs also of the Mark and Royal Arch Chapters. Since his arrival in Lyttelton he has been affiliated with Lodge Unanimity. He has also been connected with the Oddfellows. Mr. Schumacher was vice-president of the Lyttelton Rowing Club, President of the Lyttelton Lawn Tennis Club for six years, the first President of the Lyttelton Young Men's Club, and is now President of the Lyttelton Marine Band and Hockey Club. He was for several years an active member of the Lyttelton Borough Council, was Mayor for one year, also a member of the Lyttelton Harbour Board, and for several years member of the local school committee. Mr. Schumacher was married in Port Chalmers to a lady from Christiana. Norway, and has a family of three sons and three daughters. The eldest son, Dr. Carl H. Schumacher, obtained his medical degrees of M.B. and Ch. B. at the University of Otago, and is now (1902) following further professional studies in London.

Standish and Preece, photo
Mr. N. C. Schumacher.

Palmer, James, Clothier and Tailor, Lyttelton. Mr. Palmer has an extensive business connection in Lyttelton. He was born in Devonshire, England, in 1859, and came to New Zealand, via Melbourne, in 1879. Since then he has carried on business in Lyttelton. Mr. Palmer has been an honorary member of the Lyttelton Fire Brigade for over nineteen years. He is well known as a capital shot and an ardent sportsman, and is elsewhere referred to as a volunteer officer.

Mr. Claude Ferrier, J.P., who was placed on the roll of the Justices of the Peace in 1902, is a native of the Isle of Man, where he was born in 1866. On leaving school he went to sea, as an apprentice to the well-known Liverpool shipping firm of Messrs Joseph Heaps and Co. Mr. Ferrier first came to New Zealand in 1888, as an officer in the Union Steamship Company's fleet, and remained in that service until 1890, when he accepted an appointment with the Canterbury Stevedores' Association, which he held for four years. He then returned to the Union Steamship Company, and filled the position of wharfinger at Lyttelton, also for four years. In 1898 Mr. Ferrier established himself in business at Lyttelton, in partnership with Mr. Field, who, however, retired from the firm in 1902, and since then the business has been conducted solely by Mr. Ferrier, under the style of Claude Ferrier and Co., Ship and Insurance Brokers, Customs and Forwarding Agents, Grain and Produce Experts. Mr. Ferrier is also surveyor to the Bureau-Veritas, for the South Island. Although repeatedly requested to stand for various public positions, the demands of Mr. Ferrier's business have so far prevented him from complying. As a member of the Masonic fraternity, he was initiated in the Isle of Man, and he is now affiliated with Lodge St. Augustine. Mr. Ferrier has been presented with two certificates from the Boyal Humane Society of Australasia for saving life. He is married to the second daughter of the late Mr. Cornelius Cuff. of Christchurch, and has a family of two sons and two daughters.

Old Colonists.

Mr. Edwin Blackler, who has resided over forty years at Lyttelton, was born in Devonport, England, in 1828. He emigrated from Plymouth to Adelalde in 1847, in the ship “Princess Royal,” and returned to England in 1859. Mr. Blackler came to Lyttelton in the “Robert Small, which brought out the first batch of men to construct the tunnel. After the tunnel was completed he worked for several years as a stonemason, and was subsequently appointed to his present position of sexton. Since 1871 he has been a teetotaller, and has taken an active part among temperance societies. He was married in South Australia in 1850, and has a family of two sons and one daughter, and a large number of grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Mr. Campbell Brown was born in Akaroa in 1857. His father, the late Mr. Peter Brown, one of the pioneers of New Zealand, arrived in Wellington in 1840, and shortly afterwards removed to Akaroa. Mr. Campbell Brown was brought up and educated at the French settlement, and afterwards served five years in Mr. J. D. Garwood's store. He then took over the management of the bakery and grocery business which his mother had previously established, and conducted it for seven years. Mr. Brown then purchased the Criterion Hotel, Akaroa, which he conducted for a similar period. In 1890 he came to Lyttelton, and took over the Canterbury Hotel, where he has maintained a successful business, and of which he is still the proprietor. As a Freemason, Mr. Brown was initiated in Lodge Akaroa. He is married to a daughter of the late Mr. John Sunckell, of Akaroa, and has a family of four sons and three daughters.

Mr. Adam Chalmers has been identified with the public affairs of Lyttelton for many years. He was a member of the first borough council, to which he was elected on the 20th of January, 1868, and was Mayor for the page 404 years 1873, 1874, 1885, 1886, 1897 and 1898. Mr. Chalmers has served on the Charitable Aid, Hospital, and Harbour Boards, and was a member of the old nominated Hospital Board. He was for a long time a Justice of the Peace, till advancing years led him to quit public life. Mr. Chalmers was born in 1883, in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, where he was brought up to farming life, but after-wards became a quarryman. In 1859 he arrived in Lyttelton by the ship “Victory,” and has ever since resided in the place. He engaged in contracting and flaxmilling, but since the great fire in Lyttelton he has been a dairyfarmer; and has been for some years chairman of the Lyttelton Gas Company. Mr. Chalmers was married in the Old Country, in 1854, and has one son, who is a farmer on the Plains.

Captain William Stevens Cleary was a well-known figure in Lyttelton for many years. He was born at Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1843, and went to sea at an early age. Captain Cleary commanded the “Helenslea,” the pioneer ship of the New Zealand Shipping Company, and subsequently had charge of the ship “Emperor,” which was engaged in the intercolonial trade. In partnership with Mr. C. W. Turner, of Christ-church, he owned the latter vessel. Captain Cleary made his home in Lyttelton, where he died, leaving a family of four sons and one daughter.

Mr. John Grubb, who was one of the earliest residents of Lyttelton, was born at Tayport, Fifeshire, Scotland. He was a ship carpenter on the “General Palmer,” when that vessel, on a voyage from Melbourne to London, put into Wellington in a leaky condition, and was there condemned. Mr. Grubb came to Lyttelton, in 1847, to build tne first wharf at that port for the Canterbury Association. He afterwards built a small vessel named the “Caledonia,” which traded between Lyttelton and Wellington; and at Pigeon Bay he built the “Canterbury,” which also traded to Wellington. On settling in Lyttelton Mr. Grubb started in business as a shipwright, and he also owned the first slip at the Port. The shipwright's business is now conducted by his son, the present Mayor of Lyttelton. Mr. Grubb was for several years a member of the early borough councils. As a Freemason he was for about twenty years treasurer of Lodge Canterbury Kilwinning. In conjunction with the Deans of Riccarton, he was instrumental in establishing St. Andrew's Church in Christchurch, and for many years he was an elder of St. John's Church, Lyttelton. Mr. Grubb was married in Scotland, and his wife came out in the ship “Charlotte Jane,” one of the first four ships. He died in February, 1900, leaving a family of seven.

Mr. and Mrs J. Grubb.

Mr. James Lewin was born in Middlesex, England, in 1841, and arrived in Lyttelton by the ship “Chrysolite,” in 1857. Shortly afterwards he entered the employment of the Lyttelton Harbour Board, then under the Provincial Government, and has ever since remained in the service. Mr. Lewin married a daughter of Mr. William Walker, an old colonist who was in business in Lyttelton in the early days, and has a family of three sons and seven daughters.

S.S. “Cornwall,” Leaving Lyttelton with the Tenth Contingent.