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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Auckland Provincial District]

Leather Trade

page 380

Leather Trade.

Including—Boot and Shoe Manufacturers, Importers, and Dealers; Boot Upper Manufacturers; Fellmongers, leather and Grindery Merchants, Portmanteau, Leather Bag and Trunk Makers; Saddlery and Harness Makers and Importers; and Tanners.

Astley And Son (Elijah Astley and John Edward Astley), Tanners, Auckland; Store, Albert Street, Auckland; Tannery, Avondale. Bankers, Bank of New Zealand. Mr. E. Astley was apprenticed to Mr. James Huberstey, of Chorley, Lancashire, England, and was subsequently in business for eighteen years on his own account. In 1880, both Mr. E. Astley and Mr. J. E. Astley came to New Zealand. Mr. E. Astley became manager of the leather dressing department of the tannery of Messrs B. Gittos and Sons, and held the position till 1888. Mr. J. E. Astley also completed his apprenticeship, which was begun in England, and worked as a journeyman currier at the same tannery for a number of years, and subsequently in Australia. The present business was commenced in 1888, and has been marked by a steady expansion of trade, the manufactures of the firm finding a ready market throughout New Zealand, and also in Sydney and London. Messrs Astley have always endeavoured to keep pace with the improved methods which have from time to time been introduced into the tanning industry, and, with this in view, have purchased a considerable amount of modern machinery. Their object has ever been to produce an article of uniform and reliable quality, and, if the demand for their goods is any proof, they have succeeded in doing so.

Crocker, Benjamin, Boot Manufacturer, 258 Queen Street, Auckland. Established in 1869. Bankers, Union Bank of Australasia. Mr. Crocker, who is a native of England, arrived in New Zealand in 1863, by the ship “Silver Eagle,” from London. Having made himself fully acquainted with all local requirements by employment in the trade, he determined, in 1869, to start in business on his own account, and opened in Victoria Street. There he conducted a flourishing business for twenty-five years, and gave the fullest satisfaction to all his customers. This he still continues to do in Queen Street, where he occupies a fine open front shop, with plate glass windows, in which he displays the newest and most fashionable styles. Mr. Crocker's stock is always replenished by direct importations, in addition to his own manufactures, and the fact that he caters for all classes has enabled him to withstand for over thirty years the many vicissitudes which beset business in the colony. The floorage space of Mr. Crocker's premises extends to 1332 square feet, and the building is of brick, two stories in height. The business is purely a local one, and as the proprietor does a strictly cash trade, he is able to give great advantages to his customers, as he makes a large turnover, and is satisfied with reasonable profits. A notable feature in the firm's methods is its endeavour to keep all new material up-to-date, and old stock is periodically cleared by clearance sales.

Davy, Henry, Crown Boot Factory, Grey Street, Auckland. Bankers, Union Bank of Australia. Mr. Davy came to New Zealand by the ship “Maori,” from London, in 1866, served his apprenticeship with Mr. John Trenwith, of Wakefield Street, and continued with him till 1879, when he founded the Crown Boot Factory, where the latest classes of machinery are in use, and over thirty hands are regularly employed. Mr. Davy makes a specialty of strong work, and has no difficulty in disposing of his goods through the wholesale houses of New Zealand.

Fleming, C. C., Leather Grindery, Boots, Shoes and Saddlery Importer, corner of Durham and High Streets, Auckland. Telephone, 312. Bankers, Bank of New Zealand. Mr. Fleming was born in Glasgow in 1837 and educated in Scotland. His first introduction into business life was as a clerk in the East India trade in his native city. His experience in that capacity enabled him to acquire a thorough fundamental knowledge of trade, which stood him in good stead in his after life. Having determined to try his luck in the colonies he engaged a passage early in 1857 on board the “Josephine Willis.” That vessel was wrecked, however, in the English Channel, and Mr. Fleming was fortunate to get back safely to London, although he lost his entire outfit. In no wise daunted by this unfortunate experience, he made his way to Glasgow, again fitted himself out for the voyage, and engaged a passage on the “Sanford, which arrived in New Zealand in the latter part of 1857. Mr. Fleming decided to settle at Onehunga, and shortly after his arrival accepted a position as assistant to his uncle, who was engaged in business as a general merchant. He remained with him for a few years, and then started in business for himself in conjunction with a Mr. Stevenson, the firm trading under the title of Fleming and Stevenson. The firm built a large two-storey building for its business, and the store had a depth of one hundred feet, with a frontage of thirty-six feet. The building is now used as the Onehunga Town Hall. In 1878, Mr. Fleming withdrew from the firm and purchased the business of Messrs J. W. Hoare and Co., in Auckland, which he carries on at the present time. He resides at Onehunga, where he has a very pretty home. Mr. Fleming has always taken a keen interest in public affairs, and has been once mayor and twice a councillor of Onehunga. About twenty-two years ago, he was a candidate for election to the old Provincial Council, and was defeated by only fourteen votes by Mr. (now Sir) Maurice O'Rorke. Although brought up as a Presbyterian in Scotland, Mr. Fleming, a few years after his arrival in New Zealand, joined the Wesleyan Church, and has several times acted as circuit steward. Mr. Fleming was married in 1862, and has six children.

Ireland Bros. (George Tarbutt, manager), Tanners, Fellmongers, etc. Head office, Vulcan Lane, Auckland; Tannery and Works, Panmure. P.O. Box 228. Telephones—Office 171; Works 172. Bankers, Bank of New Zealand. Few Auckland firms are better known than that of Messrs Ireland Bros. The business was established nearly forty years ago by Messrs Barton Ireland and George Ireland, and at a later date they were joined by their brother, Mr. Frederick Ireland. The offices and warehouse occupy a prominent site in Vulcan Lane, on a portion of which, in the early forties, stood the forge, which gained for the thoroughfare its present name. A splendid stock of all kinds of leathers from the tannery, and of saddlers' and bootmakers' machinery, English and foreign leathers, saddlery, saddlers' ironmongery, boot uppers, and grindery, mill belting, suction and delivery hose is kept on the premises. The works at Panmure are the finest of their kind in New Zealand. All the original members of the firm are dead, and the property is now in the possession of Mr. George Ireland, whose beautiful home forms part of the estate at Panmure. Mr. Barton Ireland died in 1884, Mr. George Ireland in 1890, and Mr. Frederick Ireland, who left the firm in 1890 for Palmerston North, died there in 1894.

Kapai Boot Factory (George Alexander Coles, Frank Jagger, Alexander H. Walker, partners), Eden Terrace, Auckland. Telephone 1015. Cable and Telegraphic address, “Coles, Auckland.” The factory has a floor space of about 15,000 square feet. The motive power is a gas engine of fifteen horse-power, and the plant is of the very latest and most improved design. It includes the celebrated Goodyear welting machinery, lasting, slugging, sewing, finishing machinery, and, in fact, everything required for an up-to-date business. About 120 persons are employed in the factory, the monthly wage sheet amounts to about £700, and there is a monthly output of about 6000 pairs. Two travellers are employed by the firm in canvassing the whole of the North and South Islands for wholesale orders only. Mr. Coles has ceased importing English and Continental boots and shoes, as he believes that everything required in the trade can be made in the colony. The firm is daily demonstrating this at the Kapai factory, where goods are manufactured equal in quality, style and workmanship to the imported article. The specialties page 381 of the firm are Goodyear welts and pumps on hand-sewn principles for walking and evening shoes, standard screws, machine-sewn fairstitch, and all other makes. The trade marks “Kapai,” “Sewn Welts,” “Featherweight,” and celebrated “C” are well-known all over the colony, and are a guarantee of the quality of the make.

Mr. George Alexander Coles, the Senior Partner, is a native of Northamptonshire, the great boot manufacturing centre of England. Mr. Coles was educated at the Wellingborough Grammar School, and apprenticed to Messrs Sharman and-Ekins, of the same place. His apprenticeship was completed in 1871, and he afterwards worked as a journeyman with prominent firms in England. He was for seven years in business in Wellingborough as a manufacturer, but sold out, sailed for New Zealand, and arrived in Christchurch in the year 1882. On landing he was engaged by Messrs Toomer Bros., with whom he stayed one year, but left under an engagement for twelve months to Messrs W. Mc-Arthur and Co., of Auckland, as manager of their boot factory. [unclear: H]e found things very disorganised, but with his knowledge of the trade, and by unremitting energy, he made the firm's factory the leading business of its kind in the North Island during his short term as manager, He afterwards transferred his services to the firm of Black and Co., but subsequently decided to start for himself, and he did so in 1885. When he began he employed only two or three hands, but he nevertheless founded in that way what is now the largest and best equipped boot factory in the North Island of New Zealand. Mr. Coles, by his extensive and practical knowledge of the trade, has done more than any other maker to improve the status of the boot trade in Auckland, and has demonstrated what an Auckland workman can do, the employees being nearly all native Aucklanders. Personally, and as president of the Auckland Boot Manufacturers' Association, he was recently—in conjunction with Mr. J. Trenwith, senior, and Mr. T. Hodgson—the means of bringing about a satisfactory settlement between masters and men in the Arbitration Court.

Mr. Frank Jagger, Partner, is one of the best knownand most enterprising citizens in Auckland. He is a native of Halifax, Yorkshire, and arrived in Auckland, via Melbourne, in 1859. After a short stay in Auckland he proceeded to Coromandel, where he was engaged in bush contracts at the Matawai Creek. In 1864 Mr. Jagger entered into a contract to supply the Imperial troops at Tauranga with manuka firewood. After the war, he took charge of a coasting cutter, and in 1867, he and Mr. Parker commenced business at Freeman's Bay as coal and firewood merchants. Eventually this business was purchased by the New Zealand Timber Company, but Mr. Jagger retained the management, which he held until the formation of the Kauri Timber Company, about 1888, when the latter company absorbed the former. In the following year Mr. Jagger started the present tannery, which has grown to be one of the largest in the North Island. About 1897, he again embarked in the timber trade, and became a partner in the firm of E. Mitchelson and Co., Northern Wairoa and Kaipara. When the liquidation of the Northern New Zealand Woollen Mills Company took place, Mr. Jagger and several others formed a syadicate and purchased the property, which is now known as the Onehunga Woollen Mills. Since its reconstitution, the concern has proved the greatest success, the value of shares having increased seventy-five per cent. above par. Mr. Jagger is one of the promoters and directors of Murray's Pasteurised Milk Company and the Premier Timber Company; a director of the Northern Union Steamship Company, Hikurangi Coal Company. Mr. Jagger has never taken any special part in municipal or political life, but has given his time and business talents-to the commercial progress of Auckland.

Mr. F. Jagger.

Mr. F. Jagger.

Queen Street, Auckland.

Queen Street, Auckland.

page 382

Knight, J. I. , Wholesale Manufacturer and Importer of Saddlery, Harness, Saddlers' Ironmongery, etc., etc., Lorne Street, Auckland. Telephone 933. P.O. Box 408. Bankers, National Bank of New Zealand. Mr. Knight commenced business eleven years ago in premises situated in England Street, Ponsonby. He made a specialty of riding saddles of all kinds. In this he was very successful, and soon established a colonial reputation for his goods. The business, in consequence, increased so rapidly that he was compelled to seek premises more suitable for his expanding trade, and the result is his present factory. This is a handsome brick building, situated in the centre of the city, and in every way suitable for the requirements of Mr. Knight's extensive business, which now includes the manufacture of harness and collars of every description, from the most finished article to the commonest used for country requirements; also military and fire brigade accoutrements, firemen's helmets, bags and portmanteaux, and in fact, all kinds of leather work connected with the saddlery trade. Mr. Knight gives constant employment to between sixty and seventy hands. The machinery and laboursaving appliances in the factory are all of the latest and most approved kinds. Mr. Knight imports direct from Home factories the various materials required to complete the numerous lines in saddlery he now manufactures. He was a successful exhibitor at the Dunedin Exhibition of 1889 and 1890, and also at the Auckland Exhibition of 1900, Mr. Knight is also the patentee for an improved metal seat which is attached to most of the saddles he manufactures; it strengthens the tree, prevents the seat of the saddle from subsiding and forming into lumps, and ensures comfort to the rider as long as the saddle lasts. Altogether Mr. Knight's establishment represents one of the most up-to-date and promising industries in Auckland.

Mr. Knight's Saddlery Department.

Mr. Knight's Saddlery Department.

Workroom in Mr. Knight's Factory.

Workroom in Mr. Knight's Factory.

Mr. J. I. Knight.

Mr. J. I. Knight.

Mr. J. I. Knight's Premises.

Mr. J. I. Knight's Premises.

The Lion Boot Factory (Richard Walton, proprietor), Rutland and Lorne Streets, Auckland. Bankers, National Bank of New Zealand. This business, which was established in 1884, was purchased by the present proprietor in 1888. all kinds of boots and shoes are manufactured on the premises, and specialties are made in ooze calf, Russian calf, box calf, and glace kid. The trade extends throughout the North Island, and even into the South Island.

Mr. Richard Walton was born in 1845, near Halifax, in Yorkshire, where his father was a boot manufacturer. He learned his trade with his father, with whom he worked for many years, and after manufacturing on his own account in Conway, North Wales, and Wigan, Lancashire, for fifteen years, came to New Zealand in 1884. In 1869 Mr. Walton married Miss Alice Rebecca Waring, of Chorley, Lancashire, and has four sons, three of whom assist in the factory, and the other teaches under the Board of Education. Mr. Walton is the organist page 383
Mr. R. Walton.

Mr. R. Walton.

and choirmaster at St. James's Presbyterian Church, the largest in Auckland, and is also a member of the Orchestral Union. Two of his sons are also very musical; the eldest, Mr. Edgar Walton, being a prominent bass singer, and Mr. Robert H. Walton, the youngest, one of Auckland's leading violinists. The last-named is now (1901) a medical student at Edinburgh University.

The Northern Boot And Shoe Manufacturing Company, Ltd., (Thomas Hodgsons, manager and secretary), 5 and 7 Hobson Street, Auckland. P.O. Box, 391. Telephone 82. Cable address, “Aurora. Code, A.B.C. Bankers, Bank of New Zealand. This company was established in 1882, with a nominal capital of £15,000, of which about £13,000 worth of shares have been allotted. The trade extends throughout the North Island and also into the South, and the company has been of late years a regular dividend paying concern. Three travellers are always “on the road,” and such goods as cannot at present be satisfactorily supplied by the local leather manufacturers are imported from the best markets of the Old World; all the specially selected leather being branded “Kromoletta” and “Northern Light.” The premises are freehold, of three stories, and of brick throughout. Though but half the ground is covered, the floorage space is about 17,000 square feet. The machinery, to which additions are being constantly made, is driven by a nine-horse-power Otto gas engine, and over eighty hands are constantly employed by the company, which obtained first award and gold medal at the Auckland Industrial and Mining Exhibition of 1898–99, for ladies' and children's boots and shoes.

Mr. Thomas Hodgson, the Manager and Secretary of the Northern Boot and Shoe Manufacturing Company, Auckland, was born in Etherley, Durham, England, in 1854, and is a son of Mr. John Hodgson, contractor, of Durham. Mr. Hodgson was educated at Darlington, entered commercial life in that city, and was for ten years with the Darlington Iron and Steel Company. On comining to Auckland, in 1879, he accepted an appointment with B. Gittos and Son, tanners,and afterward with J. J. Austin and Co., boot manufacturers, as manager of their Wangnui branch. While thus situated, Mr. Hodgson mastered all branches of the trade, and when the Northern Company was started he was offered the secretaryship, and was afterwards appointed manager. When the Auckland boot trade decided to send a presentative to the tariff convention held at Wellington in 1895, Mr. Hodgson was chosen as the representative, and rendered special service in securing reductions on various lines. Mr. Hodgson has taken much interest in the cause of education, and has been a member of the comitttee of Newton East and West and Mount Eden schools; but it is in connection with Church and Sunday School work, that he has been best known. As circuit steward of Pitt Street Wesleyan Chureh, and representative to Wellington and Dunedin conferences, (superintendent of the Archhill Sunday page 384 school; vice-president of the Kingsland Christian Endeavour Society, and a delegate to the Auckland Christian Endeavour Union Mr. Hodgson has done some hard and valuable work. He is a Rechabite of many years' standing, and an enthusiastic supporter of athletics. Mr. Hodgson held a seat on the Executive of the Auckland Industrial and Mining Exhibition; he was chairman of the advertising and printing committee, and a member of the finance committee. In 1876 Mr. Hodgson was married to Miss Wakerley, daughter of the late Mr. Wakerley, of Auckland, formerly of Darlington, and he has one daughter and two sons.

Mr. T. Hodgson.

Mr. T. Hodgson.

Prosser, Thomas, Boot Importer and Manufacturer, Newton Boot Warehouse, Karangahape Road, Auckland. Telephone 579. bankers, Bank of New Zealand. This business was first established in Queen Street in 1865 by the late Mr. Thomas Prosser, who was born at Peterchurch, Hereford, England, in 1826, and was the only son of Mr. Thomas Prosser, farmer. He learned his trade in Dorlstone, and afterwards carried on business in the same town. Mr. Prosser came to Auckland by the ship “Ernestina,' (Captain Pilling). He met his death through a bicycle accident, which occurred on the 14th of May, 1901.

Schofield And Son, Boot Manufacturers, England Street, Ponsonby, Auckland. In 1887 Mr. H. Schofield, the senior partner of this firm, established the business in Parnell, where he carried on manufacturing in conjunction with a retail trade. The manufacturing branch, however, rapidly developed, and in 1896, Mr. Schofield relinquished the retail trade and secured premises in Victoria Street, where he conducted business on wholesale lines. Finding that extra room was required to cope with his speedily increasing trade, the proprietor entered his present premises in England Street, where he manufactures on an extensive scale, and competes favourably with the larger American firms. Upwards of twenty-five hands are constantly employed in the manufacture of the great variety of boots product by the firm.

Sexton, Charles Henry, Boot and Shoe Maker and Importer, Karangahape Road, Auckland. Mr. Sexton is a native of New Zealand, and was apprenticed to Mr. George Foster, of Auckland. In 1886 he decided to commence business on his own account, and he now has a handsome double-fronted shop, well stocked with a large variety of goods of colonial make, as well as with an assortment of imported brands. Mr. Sexton employs nine hands, and leather and grindery are imported direct to supply the workers with material. Boots and shoes also are imported from England and the Continent.

Stone, S. and Co. (Samuel Stone), late R. Hannah and Co., Boot and Shoe Importers and Manufacturers, Queen Street, corner of Darby Street, Auckland. Branch, Coromandel. Bankers, National Bank of New Zealand. This business was established in 1886 by Messrs Robert Hannah and Co., the well-known boot manufacturers of Wellington, by whom it was successfully carried on for a period of ten years. It was then purchased by the present proprietor, who had been in charge for some six years previously. The premises are of brick, plastered in imitation of stone, and form a corner of the block known as the buildings of the Working Men's Club. Mr. Stone does a good brisk town and country trade, sending his goods throughout the province. The proprietor has had a large experience of the boot trade, and may be depended upon to supply excellent goods in every class.

Mr. Samuel Stone was born in Exeter in 1842, and was educated in Birmingham. There also he learned his business, and was in leading establishments at that city for almost nine years. In 1864, he came to the Colony, by the ship “Portland,” and landed in Anckland, with his employer, the late Mr. Thomas Forgham, of Birmingham, but soon left Auckland, and was in the south for a quarter of a century, during which he was in business successively at Napier, Wellington, Lower Hutt and Nelson. Mr. D. Curle, formerly of Wellington and Hokitika, and now proprietor of the “Bush Advocate” at Dannevirke, is a brother-in-law, and Mr. S. Dawes the present proprietor of the “Hokitika Guardian,” is a nephew of Mr. Stone's. Mr. Stone was the first hand employed by the now noted firm of Messrs R. Hannah and Co., Wellington. In conjunction with the Wesleyan church, Mr. Stone has been an earnest worker privately, and for some time professionally, in Otago and Nelson, and on the West Coast, and is respected throughout the Colony as a church worker of more than thirty years' standing. The Masons, Oddfellows, Foresfers, and Protestant Alliance Association, all claim Mr. Stone as a member, and, generally, he has lent his aid to all movements having for their object the well-being of society. In 1872 Mr. Stone was married at the Hutt, Wellington, by the Rev. George Harper, to Miss Rebecca Witt, daughter of the Rev. P. Witt, then of Birmingham, and a member of Carr's Lane Chapel, whose pastors were the celebrated Rev. John Angel James and Dr. Dale; and has one daughter and four sons. A nephew of Mr. Stone's, the Rev. Granville Sharp, is a Congregational minister at Clifton, Bristol, England.

Mr. S. Stone.

Mr. S. Stone.

Sutherland, W. and Co., Limited, Tanners, Fellmongers, and Leather Dressers, Auckland and Onehunga. This business was established at Onehunga twenty years ago, and from small beginnings the company has increased its plant and works, till now (1901) fifty hands are employed. The buildings are of two and three stories high, and cover about two acres of land, and the machinery consists of many labour-saving modern appliances. Leathers manufactured by the company from the crude material are of the best in the market, and well-known throughout New Zealand. The chrome leathers are becoming so popularly known that they may be called the coming leathers. Most of the goods are sent to the firm's wholesale store, which is situated at the foot of Grey Street, Auckland.

Mr. Josiah Lawry, who is Secretary of W. Sutherland and Co., Limited, was born in 1855 at Mangere, Auckland, and is the third son of the Rev. H. H. Lawry, the eminent Wesleyan divine, so long connected with the Methodist Church of the province. He was educated at the Wesley College, under Mr. John Fletcher, and he also received private tuition. In 1873 he joined the New Zealand Insurance Company, and rose to the position of chief clerk in the head office, and in February, 1879, he received a similar appointment at the Nelson office. He was afterwards made agent at Oamaru, and then he returned to the head office, in Auckland, to occupy his old position as chief clerk, which he held until page 385 1891, when he resigned. On leaving the New Zealand Insurance Company, the directors gave him a handsome bonus as a token of appreciation of his services. Mr. Lawry has always taken a keen interest in cricket, and was formerly a member of the West End Club. He represented the Auckland province against the first Australian eleven in 1872, and at Nelson in 1881, and played against the English eleven at Oamaru about 1882. Whilst stationed at Oamaru he played for that district against Auckland. In December, 1880, Mr. Lawry married the fifth daughter of the late Mr. C. J. Stone, one of the founders of the city of Auckland.

Mr. J. Lawry.

Mr. J. Lawry.

Mr. William Sutherland, late of the firm of Messrs W. Sutherland and Co., was born at Wick, Scotland, in 1838. Mr. Sutherland was educated in his native town and apprenticed to the carpenter's trade. At the age of nineteen years he left the Old Country for Auckland, where he landed with the proverbial shilling, and engaged in his calling with constant employment in many parts of the country. In 1868, he started business as a fellmonger and wool-stapler, and in 1881 he founded the present firm at Onehunga, where he carried on the business until his death in December, 1896. Mr. Sutherland was an active member of the Wesleyan Church, but in later years attached himself to the Salvation Army, to which body he rendered much service. He was married to Mary Elizabeth, daughter of Mr. Bevan, of London, and had seven sons and five daughters.

Trenwith, John, Pioneer Boot Factory, 37 and 39 Wakefield Street, Auckland. Telephone 114. Cable and Telegraphic address, “Trenwith, Auckland.” Bankers, Bank of New South Wales. Mr. Trenwith is a native of Penzance, Cornwall. He served his time at the boot trade with his father, completed his term in 1847, and continued till 1865 to manage his father's business. In the latter year he came to New Zealand, and after gaining local experience he founded the present business in 1870. When he commenced only three hands were engaged, but as the business developed, additions to the number were constantly needed, and Mr. Trenwith now employs nearly one hundred. He is continuously obtaining the latest and most improved machinery, and obtains his motive power from two gas engines, Mr. Trenwith is a direct importer of American, English, and Continental boots and shoes which cannot be made in the colony; but all other kinds are made on the premises. The registered trade mark is “Pioneer Brand, Tren-with's. Make”—a brand which is almost a household word throughout the colony. Mr. Trenwith has been a member of the Auckland City Council for over twelve years. He was a member of the Harbour Board for over two years, and has likewise occupied a seat on the Charitable Aid Board. As Mr. Trenwith began wholesale boot manufacturing in 1870, and has continued it up to the present, he is now the oldest wholesale boot manufacturer in New Zealand.

Mr. J. Trenwith's Premises.

Mr. J. Trenwith's Premises.

Wallis And Caley (Robert Marten Wallis and Thomas Lace Caley), Saddlers and Harness Makers, 156 Queen Street, Auckland. Bankers, Bank of New Zealand. Telephone, 690. Private residences, Mr. Wallis, Mount Eden Road; Mr. Caley, Mount Eden Road. This business, which was founded in 1889, is conducted in a handsome two-storey brick building
Hanna, photo.Mr. Wallis. Mr. Caley.

Hanna, photo.
Mr. Wallis. Mr. Caley.

page 386 a large and growing trade is done in goods made by the firm. Previous to going into business both partners had a wide experience in all branches of the trade, and consequently they conduct their business in the way best suited to meet the varying demands of the general public. In the workroom a large number of hands are employed and up-to-date appliances are used. The firm's bag and portmanteau department has developed into considerable proportions, and every description of bag is made. In the collar department work of a superior order is manufactured, and collars in patent and plain leather are made after any pattern. Saddlery and harness of all kinds are repaired, and also portmanteaux, Gladstone bags, handbags, etc. A good stock of cycling sundries is kept, including cycling gaiters, touring and tool bags. Tennis racquets are repaired and restrung with the best English gut.

Mr. Wallis, the Senior Partner, is the son of the Rev. J. Wallis, who came to the Colony in 1833. Mr. Wallis was born at Raglan in 1844. He was employed by Messrs J. Wiseman and Co., with whom he remained until, in conjunction with Mr. Caley, he established the present business in 1889. Mr. Wallis has always taken a warm interest in church affairs. At one time he was morning superintendent of the Grafton Road Sunday school, and at present he is circuit steward and a trustee of the same church. In 1874 he married Miss Emily Wing, daughter of Captain Wing, of Onehunga, and has five children. His eldest son is first mate of the barque “Hertha.”

Mr. Caley, Junior Partner, was born in Auckland, and was educated at the Rev. Peter Mason's school, and also at the Cambridge school. After completing his education he was apprenticed to Messrs J. Wiseman and Co., with whom he remained ten years, and left in 1889 to enter into partnership with Mr. Wallis. Like his partner, Mr. Caley takes an interest in church matters, and is trustee and Sunday school teacher of the Pitt Street Wesleyan Church.

Whittington, Alfred James, Boot and Shoe Upper Manufacturer and Importer of Grindery, Shoe Lane, off Grey Street, Auckland. Mr. Whittington was born at sea, while his parents were emigrating to the colony, in 1864. He completed his apprenticeship with Mr. J. Trenwith, at Auckland, in 1881, and worked at McArthur's factory till commencing business on his own account in 1882. He is a direct importer of all kinds of grindery, and all kinds of boot uppers, school satchels, portmanteaux, Gladstone bags, etc., are made on the premises. By close personal attention, Mr. Whittington has achieved success for his various manufactures all over the North Island. He is the inventor and patentee of Whitting-ton's Perambulator Safety Straps for holding infants in perambulators or other vehicles. They have already proved to be very useful, as they are thoroughly effective in accomplishing their inventor's object. The plant includes machines of the latest and most approved patterns, and a competent staff of work people is regularly employed in the production of the various goods that are made at the establishment.

Wiseman, J. and Son, Wholesale Saddlers, Saddlers' Ironmongers, Leather Merchants, Importers, Etc., Queen Street, Auckland. Telephone 226. This business, which is the oldest of its kind in Auckland, and one of the oldest in New Zealand, was first established about 1861 by the late Mr. James Wiseman, in Dunedin. He remained there for only a short time, however, and transferred his headquarters to Auckland in 1862. The business increased year by year, and additions were made and departments added, to such an extent that the premises in Queen Street now consist of three large three-storey and basement buildings, and the whole of the upper portion of the three buildings and the basement are used by the firm for storage room and for its various departments. The business is almost entirely wholesale, with the exception of a purely local retail trade, which is quite independent of the whole business. The wholesale trade extends throughout the colony, and to the South Sea Islands, with which a large and growing business is carried on. The factory is divided into five departments, including the retail branch, each department being under the supervision of a skilled and competent foreman. The bags, portmanteaux, and travelling trunks are manufactured in a separate factory belonging to the firm in Wellesley Street. The firm gives regular employment to about a hundred hands. The late senior partner of the firm, Mr. James Wiseman, had latterly taken very little active part in the conduct of the business, which has been controlled by Mr. John Wiseman, the surviving partner.

Brookes, Alfred H., formerly a Boot and Shoe Dealer and Importer, Jervois Road, Ponsonby, but now a commercial traveller, was born in Auckland, in 1871, and gained experience under his father, the late Mr. C. Brookes, who was in business in Queen Street for many years. In 1887 the business was removed to Ponsonby, where it was carried on successfully by Mr. Brookes for a number of years. Mr. Brookes is a member of the Ponsonby Bowling Club, and has carried off many prizes and trophies, including the champion bowls of 1896–7, and a fine pair of bowls presented by the Auckland Bowling Association in 1897.