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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Canterbury Provincial District]

Linwood

Linwood.

In one respect the borough of Linwood, which adjoins Christchurch on the east, is unique. It has a population of 7000 inhabitants, and does not contain a licensed house. There is no other borough in the colony, of the same size, in such a position, But not only is the Borough Council without license fees, for it has to meet its expenses without the aid of revenue from reserves, from which some boroughs derive nearly as much as they do from rates. Linwood is, to a large extent, a residential borough, where many people whose vocations call them to the city have erected pretty cottages, close to the centre of business, yet far from its incessant noise and turmoil. Three miles of tramways run through the borough; one line on Ferry Road, leading to Sumner, and the other lines, on Stanmore Road and Worcester Street, going to New Brighton. Linwood, therefore, is within easy distance of the two favourite seaside holiday resorts. There are eighteen miles of streets in the borough. Some of the principal thoroughfares are being widened to meet the increasing demands of traffic, and £1000 has been set apart for acquiring land, shifting fences, and meeting other expenses in connection with the work. Channelling and kerbing, also, have been taken in hand by the Borough Council. For water the residents depend on artesian wells.

The Linwood Borough Council. Members for 1902; Mr. H. Pearce, J.P. mayor; and Messrs H. J. Otley, J. R. Brunt, W. H. Young, John Jamieson, C. H. Wagstaff W. H. Seed, M. S. Brown, Joseph Cleworth, M. Robertson, W. H. Denton, Andrew Schumacher, and C. Dixon, councillors. Mr. James Anderson is town clerk and borough surveyor. The borough of Linwood comprises an area of 650 acres, and was incorporated in February, 1893. For eleven year previous to that it existed as a town board district. It is rated on the unimproved value system. Its unimproved value is £16,251, and its capital value, £516,070. There is a general rate of 41/2d on the unimproved value; a charitable aid rate of 1-10th of a penny on the capital value; a Waimakariri River Board rate of 3-32 parts of a penny on the unimproved value; a Christchurch sewage area rate of 3/4d on the capital value; and a Christchurch drainage rural area rate of 5/8 parts of a penny (unimproved value); besides Id in the pound for a special loan for public works. The revenue from rates for the year ending March 31st, 1902, was £5,682, and the total income £8,816; while the total expenditure was £10,835. The council chambers, which are situated at the corner of Stanmore Road and Worcester Street, consist of a one-storey wooden building, originally erected in 1884 by the Linwood Town Board, which was the local governing body prior to the incorporation of the borough.

His Worship The Mayor, Mr. Herbert Pearce, was born in Cornwall. England. At the age of seven he came to New Zealand with his parents, and was brought up and educated in Canterbury. He served an apprenticeship of five years as a builder, and after three years of further experience, he started in business as a builder and contractor. Mr. Pearce has taken an interest in municipal matters for a number of years. He represented the North Opawa ward on the Heathcote Road Board, and when the ward was joined to the borough of Linwood, Mr. Pearce was elected a member of the borough council, and has been in office ever since, For four years he was chairman of the works committee, As Mayor of Linwood Mr. Pearce took an active, interest in the administrative work connected with the visit of the Duke and Duchess of York in June, 1901. During Mr. Pearce's connection with the local government of Linwood, the borough has borrowed money for channelling, widening, and improving the streets, and lighting the town with incandescent page 386 lamps. Mr. Pearce was a member of the special conference appointed to enquire into the question of electrical trams, also a member of the special committee appointed by the conference to report; and he is a member of the Christchurch Domain Board.

Standish and Preece, photo.

Standish and Preece, photo.

Councillor Matthew Stoddart Brown was elected a Member of the Lin-wood Borough Council in 1900. He was born at Port Levy in 1863, and is a son of Mr. Matthew Stoddart Brown, of Lyttelton, who arrived in New Zealand in 1857. from Sunderland, England, where the family name was an honoured one for many generations. Mr. Brown was brought up at Lyttelton, and educated at Ross's Grammar School, and the District School. He was articled to Mr. Nalder. solicitor, and since the 1st of October, 1880, has been associated with Mr. Wynn Williams, in Christchurch. In 1898 he was admitted as a partner in the firm, which has since borne the designation of Wynn Williams and Brown. Mr. Brown was for some time a member of the East Christchurch school committee. He has taken an active part in bicycle racing, has been captain of the Pioneer Bicycle Club. was a member of its committee for several years, and is now one of its trustees. As a Freemason he fills one of the warden's chairs of Lodge Canterbury, in which he was initiated. Mr. Brown married a niece of the late Mr. John Thompson, formerly Mayor of Lyttelton.

Councillor John Russell Brunt is one of the oldest members of the Linwood Borough Council. Before the inauguration of the borough he was a commissioner of the town board for the Linwood district, and was the mover of the resolution which led to the formation of the borough. He was elected a member of the first council, and has since, with the exception of a few months. held office continuously. He has headed the poll at the various elections; all the important offices in connection with the council have been filled by him, and at the present time he is chairman of the finance committee. Mr. Brunt has always devoted much of his time and thought to furthering the interests of the borough. His services in connection with the East Christchurch school committee, on which he served for twelve years, were much appreciated, and for two years before his retirement he held the office of chairman. Mr. Brunt was well known for many years as publisher of the Christchurch “Press.” He is now representative for the Government Accident Insurance Department.

Councillor Joseph Cleworth, of the Linwood Borough Council, was born at Bolton, Lancashire, England, in November, 1856, and arrived in Lyttelton by the emigrant ship “Piako” on the 5th of March, 1879. During the trip out a fire occurred in the hold of the ship, and caused a delay of six weeks at Pernambuco, in Brazil, South America. Mr. Cleworth was elected to the Linwood Borough Council in 1895, and has been continuously a member except during an interval of six months. He is also a member of the Woolston school committee, on which he has held a seat since 1891. Mr. Cleworth is at present (1902) president of the Lancashire Society.

Councillor William H. Denton was elected a Member of the Linwood Borough Council in 1901. He was born in London, and came to New Zealand with his parents in the ship “Eastern Monarch,” which arrived at Lyttelton in 1879. He is a partner in the firm of Messrs Triggs and Denton, saddlers, Manchester Street, Christchurch.

Councillor Christopher Dixon, of the Linwood Borough Council, is a native of Leeds, Yorkshire, England, where he learned his trade as a builder. He landed in New Zealand in 1879 and immediately started to work at his trade in Christchurch, where he has been engaged on many important buildings. For many years he was retort-setter to the Christchurch and Lyttelton gasworks, and still does a considerable amount of work of the same kind. Mr. Dixon has built the principal brick and pottery kilns throughout Canterbury. He was elected a member of the Linwood Borough Council in 1901.

Councillor John Jamieson, of the Linwood Borough Council, was a member of the old Linwood Town Board for two years prior to 1888. He was first elected to the Council in 1895, and has been repeatedly elected since that date. Mr. Jamieson has also served on the East Christchurch school committee. He is further referred to in connection with the business which he conducts in Hereford Street. Christchurch.

Councillor Henry John Otley, Member of the Linwood Borough Council. is a son of Mr. John Otley, who is referred to in another part of this volume. Councillor Otley is a builder by profession, and as a Freemason he is attached to Lodge Canterbury.

Councillor Malcolm Robertson, of the Linwood Borough Council, is referred to in connection with the New Zealand Farmers' Co-operative Association of Canterbury, Limited.

Councillor Andrew Schumacher, of the Linwood Borough Council, was born at Papanui, Christchurch, and is a son of Mr. P. C. Schumacher, a very old colonist, who arrived in 1853 by the sailing ship “Sir Edward Paget.” Mr, Schumacher, senior, was connected with some of the first public works in Canterbury, and saw the rise of the province from its early days. Councillor Schumacher has been a member of the Linwood Borough Council since 1899. At a previous election in 1898 he was defeated by the narrow majority of twenty-four votes, but was at the same time elected as a member of the Recreation Reserve committee. He has taken an active interest in municipal affairs for a considerable time, and is a member of the works committee, which has made great improvements throughout the borough in asphalting the footpaths, widening many of the streets, and completing the concrete channels. As a Druid, Mr. Schumacher is a member of the Pioneer Lodge No. 1 of Canterbury, and was a member of the Canterbury Prohibition Council. He is referred to elsewhere as a baker and confectioner.

standish and Preece photo. Councillor A. Schumacher.

standish and Preece photo.
Councillor A. Schumacher.

Councillor William Henry Seed, of the Linwood Borough Council, was born at Preston, Lancashire, England. He was educated at the denominational school, and was brought up to the business of a jeweller. He arrived in New Zealand in 1879, and shortly afterwards entered the service of the firm of Messrs B. Petersen and Co., jewellers, for whom he is now manager. Mr. Seed is trustee and secretary of the East Belt Wesleyan Church, and has been chief secretary of the Christchurch division of the Sons of Temperance Friendly Society for ten years. He was chairman of the Christchurch branch of the Shop Assistants' half-holiday movement at the time of the passing of the Act.

page 387

Councillor Charles Henry Wagstaff was elected a Member of the Linwood Borough Council on the 24th of April, 1901. He was born at Mary Tavy, Devonshire, England, in 1868; in 1878 he accompanied his parents to Melbourne, and three months later came on to New Zealand. After spending a year in Timaru Mr. Wagstaff came to Christ-church, where, for a short period, he was engaged in the Customs Department, after which he obtained his present position with the Lytttelton Times Company. As a Freemason Mr. Wagstaff was initiated in Lodge St. Augustine, and he has filled the office of Deacon in Lodge Concord. He has also been a member of the Christchurch Liedertafel, and is a member of the Linwood Club. In 1892. he married the youngest daughter of Mr. Robert Spence, of Christchurch, and has one daughter. Mrs Wagstaff is elsewhere referred to as the first assistant mistress at the Gloucester Street School.

Councillor W. H. Young was elected a Member of the Linwood Borough Council in 1899 and again in 1901. Mr. Young is also president of the Christchurch Working Men's Club, of which he has been a member for fifteen years, and has been on the committee for five years.

Mr. James Anderson, Town Clerk and Surveyor to the Linwood Borough Council, was appointed to his present position in October, 1902. He is the eldest son of the late Mr. A. F. Anderson, who is referred to under St. Andrews, in the South Canterbury section of this volume, and was born at Seaward Downs, Southland, in 1865. After removing with his parents to St. Andrews, he was educated at Timaru, and served three years under Mr. Thomas Roberts, as a civil engineer and architect. Mr. Anderson then came to Christchurch, and soon afterwards accepted a position as accountant in Mr. Bruges' office, where he remained for ten years. Later on he was clerk and surveyor to the Avon Road Board for twelve months, and for a similar period was assistant town clerk at Timaru; resigning the latter position to accept his present appointment. As a member of the Ancient Order of Druids Mr. Anderson first joined the Pioneer Lodge in Christchurch, and after-wards the Timaru Lodge. He has been secretary of the Druids' annual gala, and for over six years he kept the books of the Christchurch and St. Albans Money Club. Mr. Anderson married a daughter of the late Mr. Duncan McFarlane, an old colonist, of Deep Stream. Otago, and has a family of one son and one daughter.

Ferrier photo. Mr. J. Anderson.

Ferrier photo.
Mr. J. Anderson.