The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Otago & Southland Provincial Districts]
Insurance
Insurance.
Insurance, in its various forms, is adequately provided for in Dunedin, as in the other large towns of New Zealand. Foreign and colonial institutions are represented, but the foreign companies are required to invest with the New Zealand Government securities sufficient to guarantee the responsibilities which they undertake within the colony. A uniform rate prevails among the fire insurance offices, but as with the various tables and methods of life insurance, the conditions differ, so do the rates. Consequently business in this branch of insurance is very keenly competed for. The Dunedin offices of some of the insurance companies are, architecturally, features of the city; in this respect they vie with the banks, and in some instances surpass them in stateliness and magnificence. The offices of the Government Life Insurance, the Australian Mutual Provident, and the Standard Insurance Company are superb examples of massive and ornate architecture.
Fire.
Alliance Assurance Company, Limited (successors to the Union Insurance Company of New Zealand), Stock Exchange Buildings, Princes Street, Dunedin. Telephone, 354. Post Office Box, 19; Bankers, Union Bank of Australia, Ltd. Branch manager for Otago and Southland, Mr: Charles Robert Smith. Chief agents in Invercargill, Messrs W. Tedd and Co., auctioneers, “The Rialto,” Don Street. Head office for New Zealand, Hereford Street, Christchurch, under which the company is further noticed in the Canterbury volume of this work.
The London And Lancashire Fire Insurance Company , corner of Water and Crawford Streets, Dunedin. Telephone, 188. P.O. Box, 114. Bankers, Union Bank of Australia. The head offices of this old established company are at 45 Dale Street, Liverpool, and 73 to 76 King William Street, London, E.C. The security of the company totals £3 686,092, and the losses paid since its inception amount to over £11,397,000. The attorney for Otago and Southland is Mr. H. D. Stronach, who was appointed from the Liverpool office on the 1st of November, 1896.
The Manchester Assurance Company , which was founded in 1773, and re-organised in 1824, occupies a very high position amongst British Fire Offices, and its methods have made it a popular company with insurers in all parts of the world. Its accumulated funds total nearly £3,000,000. Messrs J. G. Ward and Company are the chief agents and attorneys for Wellington, Otago and Southland; and they have appointed Mr. James Richardson, for many years chief of the Standard Company's Fire Department, as local manager for Otago. Having a complete local administration, the company offers to insurers similar advantages to those possessed by its colonial competitors, and consequently receives a large measure of public patronage.
Mr. J. Richardson.
Phoenix Assurance Company (Mr. Thomas McKerrow, District Manager), Dunedin. Head Office, London. Head office for New Zealand, Wellington. General Manager, Mr. R. M. Simpson. This company, which was established in 1789, has a capital of £2,688,800, assets of £1,834,000, and an annual premium income of £1,500,000. Claims for page 261 over twenty-six millions have been paid by the company.
Royal Insurance Company; Head office, Liverpool. Head office for Australasia, Melbourne. Messrs Henderson Law and Company, Chief Agents for Otago district, Exchange Buildings, Water Street, Dunedin. The “Royal” is the largest fire insurance company in the world, and has been established over half a century in Australasia. The total funds exceed twelve millions, with an annual revenue of over three and a half millions sterling. The company's ordinary fire policies cover loss arising from gas explosions, bush fires, and lightning; and rents of buildings rendered untenantable by fire are also insured, which affords a valuable protection to property owners and lessees. Messrs Henderson, Law and Company have represented the company in Dunedin from the early sixties, the chief agency for Otago having been held by their firm ever since the company commenced operations there.
Morris, photo.
Mr. H. R. Law.
Fire And Marine.
The Australian Alliance Fire And Marine Assurance Company , Queen's Rooms, Crawford Street, Dunedin. This company, which was established in 1862, has a capital of £250,000, a paid up capital of £125,000, and a reserve fund of £75,000. Mr. A. E. Kernot is manager for New Zealand, and Mr. A. J. Sullivan, chief agent for Otago.
Mr. Archibald James Sullivan , Chief Agent for Otago, was born in Dunedin in 1867, and was educated at the Christian Brothers' School, where, in his fourteenth year, he gained the highest distinction in the whole of the school subjects. He has been very prominent in athletic circles, and represented his province on the football field, besides doing excellent service for the Dunedin Amateur Boating Club, and the Dunedin Cycling Club. He is a vice-president of the latter body, and has been largely instrumental in working it up to its present position. In 1901, after sixteen years of practical experience with some well known companies, he accepted his present position as chief agent in Otago for the Australian Alliance Fire and Marine Assurance Company.
Commercial Union Assurance Company , Ltd., Corner of Crawford and Water Streets, Dunedin. Telephone 41, Bankers, Bank of New Zealand. Manager for Otago, Mr. G. J. Reid. Head office for the Colony, corner of Lambton Quay and Grey Street, Wellington. An illustrated descriptive article about this company and some of its officers, appears on pages 521 and 522 of the Wellington volume of this Cyclopedia.
Mr. G. J. Reid.
New Zealand Insurance Company , Otago branch, Corner of Rattray and Crawford Streets, Dunedin. Telephone, 10. P.O. Box, 283. Bankers, Bank of New Zealand; Head Office, New Zealand Insurance Buildings, Queen Street, Auckland. The local offices of this company, which were erected in 1887, consist of a handsome four storey brick and stone building, the ground floor and basement of which are occupied for the purposes of the Otago branch, of which Mr. W. I. Bolam is manager. The company's Southland branch is situated in Esk Street, Invercargill, where Mr. Edward Belton Pilcher is manager. A sub-branch at Oamaru works under Dunedin, and is managed by Mr. James B. Grave. The company's net revenue for 1903 was £424,669; and at the same date its reserve funds, including undivided profits, amounted to £359,448.
Mr. William Isaac Bolam , Manager of the Otago branch of the New Zealand Insurance Company, joined the company's service in 1884, at the head office, Auckland. He was transferred to Napier, and afterwards to Wellington; and, subsequently, he filled the position of manager of the company's branch in Tasmania. Mr. Bolam's biography is given at pages 646–647 in the Wellington volume of this work.
Royal Exchange Assurance Corporation Of London . Messrs. J. S. Hodgson (Governor), H. F. Tiarks (Sub-Governor), and N. Lubbock (Deputy-Governor), and an influential board of twenty-four directors. Secretary, Mr. E. R. Handcock. Head office, Royal Exchange, London. Chief office for the Australasian Colonies, 63 Pitt Street, Sydney. Mr. W. A. Walton, J.P., Superintendent Principal New Zealand agencies; George King and Co., Ltd., Christ-church, Blackburne and Bendale, Wellington, Nevill Newcomb, Auckland, George Froggart, Invercargill, and representatives in all the leading centres of population. Australian offices—head, 63 Pitt Street, Sydney, the Orient Steam Navigation Company; Melbourne, Rucker and McKenzie; Adelaide, Gibbs, Bright and Co.; Brisbane, Webster and Co. This powerful Company, which was founded in 1720, undertakes all descriptions of fire and marine insurance. It has already paid more than £38,000,000 in claims, and has obtained the confidence of its policy holders by the moderate premiums charged, and the promptitude and liberality of its payments when losses occur.
Mr. William Abraham Walton , J.P., the Superintendent for Australasia for the Royal Exchange Assurance Corporation of London, was born in 1859, in Liverpool, page 262 where he was educated. He landed in Port Chalmers in 1875, a passenger in the barque “Kedron,” and afterwards entered the office of the South British Insurance Company. After several years' service he joined the National Insurance Company, and in 1892 was appointed Superintendent in New Zealand to the Royal Exchange. After filling this office for five years, Mr. Walton was promoted to the charge of the business of the corporation throughout Australasia, with headquarters in Sydney. It may be remarked that this large company opened its business in New Zealand, before extending to the adjacent colonies. In 1882, Mr. Walton married a daughter of Mr. Job Wain, of Dunedin, and has two sons.
Mr. T. R. Fisher.
South British Fire And Marine Insurance Company Of New Zealand (Otago Branch), Liverpool Street, Dunedin. Manager, Mr. R. M. Clark. Telephone, 52. Branches, Invercargill and Oamaru. Manager's private residence, Eglinton. Head office, corner of Queen Street and Shortland Crescent, Auckland. The Dunedin office of this well-known insurance company is situated in a three storey brick and stone building erected to the company's order about the year 1877. The whole of the ground floor is used for the public offices of the branch, the manager's room being on the front of the next floor.
Mr. R. M. Clark.
Fire And Life.
The Northern Assurance Company was established 1836. Its head offices are in London and Aberdeen. The head office for the colonies is at Melbourne, and is managed by a board of directors, with Mr. A. A. Tavener as secretary. New Zealand is represented by agents under power of attorney, and Mr. A. Fletcher Rattray is inspector. The Dunedin office is in Manse Street. The net income from all sources for the year 1902 was £1,447,400; from fire, £960,300; life, £267,100; and interest, £220,000; and the accumulated funds amounted to £6,227,900. Over ten millions have been paid by the company for claims under fire polices.
Mr. A. F. Rattray.
The Yorkshire Fire And Life Insurance Company was established in 1824. The head office is in York, England, and there are branches throughout Australia. Messrs Kirkealdy and Company, Provident Buildings, Triangle, Dunedin, are the New Zealand agents. For the year ending December, 1902, the net premium income in the fire department amounted to £190,502, as against £112,677 for the previous year. At the end of 1903 the fire insurance fund stood at £305,000, as against £240,000 at the beginning of the year. In the life department for the same period the gross new sums assured amounted to £374,937, of which £74,380 was reinsured with other companies, leaving the net new sums assured at £300,558, as against £215,533 in the previous year; and the total net premium of the department was increased to £89,685. In the accident department the premium income was £17,418, as against £9495 of the previous year. The total funds of the company exceed £1,500,000.
Marine.
The Indemnity Mutual Marine Assurance Company, Limited , 1 Threadneedle Street, London. This company, which is one of the oldest established English offices, dates its existence from the year 1824. It has a capital of £1,005,000, with a reserve fund of £329,000, and its assets amount to £929,188. Operations were extended to New Zealand in December, 1893, and the head office for the colony is situated at the corner of Crawford and Water Streets, Dunedin. The company insures wool from the sheep's back to London, and marine risks are accepted to all parts of the world at the lowest current rates. Mr. H. D. Stronach holds the position of chief agent and attorney for New Zealand.
The Ocean Accident And Guarantee Corporation, Limited , corner of Water and Crawford Streets, Dunedin. This company, which has its headquarters in London, was founded in 1871. The head office for New Zealand is in Custom House Quay, Wellington, and Mr. C. M. Montefiore is the General Manager for the colony. With an authorised capital of £1,000,000, the subscribed capital amounts to £621,540. On the 31st of December, 1902, the reserves of the company had reached the total of £1,080,500. The district manager for Dunedin is Mr. H. D. Stronach.
Mr. H. D. Stronach.
Life And Live Stock.
The Australian Mutual Provident Society; established 1840. Head office, Pitt Street, Sydney; head office for New Zealand, Wellington; Resident Secretary, E. W. Lowe; Dunedin office, Princes and Dowling Streets; District Secretary, Bernard Robert Stock. The Dunedin office, which was erected in 1887, is a fine four-storey building of Port Chalmers and Oamaru stone, and the ground floor is ornamented with handsome polished marble pillars. The offices of the society are on the ground floor, and the top part of the building is occupied by numerous private offices.
Mr. Bernard Robert Stock , District Secretary for Otago, is the second son of the late Ven. Archdeacon Stock, and was born in Wellington. He was educated at Christ's College, Christchurch, and entered the Wellington office of the Australian Mutual Provident Society in 1876. He was appointed district secretary for Christchurch in 1884, and took charge of the Dunedin branch in 1887.
The Australian Widows Fund Life Assurance Society, Limited . Head office, Collins Street, Melbourne; New Zealand Branch office, 6 Custom House Quay, Wellington. New Zealand Board of Directors: Mr J. G. W. Aitken, M.H.R. (chairman); Mr. A. H. Turnbull (Messrs W. and G. Turnbull and Co.); Dr. Walter Fell, M.D. (Oxford), M.R.C.S. (London), Bankers; Union Bank of Australia, Limited. District office for Otago and Southland: Bank of New Zealand Chambers, Dunedin. Mr E. F. Black, District Secretary. Resident Secretary, Mr V. H. Baxter. This society was established in Victoria in 1871 upon the mutual system, and in 1893 a branch was opened in New Zealand. The advantages of the mutual system are well illustrated in the affairs of the Australian Widows Fund which, commencing business without any shareholders' capital, has now an accumulated fund of over £1,640,000. The whole of the surplus is allotted among the members in proportion to their contributions to the surplus fund, in the form of additions to the amounts originally assured. Every desirable form of life assurance and annuity business is transacted. The directors some years ago introduced to the colonies a new system of life assurance, exempting from payment of premiums when the assured is either temporarily or permanently incapacitated either by accidental or bodily injury, or by illness or mental disorder. The great success which has attended this departure, and the many expressions of satisfaction which have reached them from the members who have had occasion to appreciate its special advantages, have induced the directors to issue a still more liberal policy. The new policy, to an extent not hitherto achieved, combines the advantages of life assurance with the real benefits of a provision against the risks of accident and illness. It confers all the usual advantages of an ordinary life assurance policy, and in addition doubles the sum assured under ordinary life assurance, If death occurs within ninety days as the result of an accident. It secures the payment of an amount equal to the ordinary sum assured in the event of permanent total disablement, if such takes place, and death does not take place, within ninety days of accident. It secures the payment of an amount equal to half the ordinary sum assured in the event of permanent partial disablement, if such takes place, and death does not take place, within ninety days of the accident. It secures the payment of an amount equal to half the ordinary sum assured in the event of irremediable total blindness or permanent general paralysis, the result of disease. It provides compensation when the head of the house is incapacitated by accidental bodily injury, or by any one of the numerous diseases specified on page 7 of the prospectus, from earning his living.
Mr. Edward Francis Black , District Secretary for Otago and Southland, is the second son of the late Mr. William Black, well known in Otago as owner of Black's run (Ophir), and grandson of the late James Rolland, Writer of the Signet, Edinburgh, and Member of the Legislative Council, New Zealand, who resided at Gask, Molyneux. Mr. Black was educated at the Church of England Grammar School, Melbourne, and came to New Zealand in 1882, when he joined the service of the Union Bank. In 1900 he resigned his position in that institution to take up his present appointment.
Wrigglesworth and Binns, photo.
Mr. E. F. Black.
The Citizen's Life Assurance Company : Head Office, Sydney; New Zealand offices at Wellington, Auckland, Christchurch, and at Temple Chambers, Princes Street, Dunedin. Mr. John Packer, District Superintendent for Otago and Southland. This company was established in Australia on the 1st of January, 1887, with a capital of £200,000. Four years afterwards the funds amounted to £115,158. The year 1895 saw them past the quarter of a million, and in 1902 they had increased to over £1,000,000. The first annual premium income, £22,378, was, in 1902, represented by over £365,000. The soundness of the investments in shown by the valuations of the company's freeholds made in 1901, when they amounted to over £21,000 more than what they stood for in the accounts. Since its inception the company has paid to policy holders or their beneficiaries the sum of £700,000. Every description of life assurance business is transacted, and provision is made not only for life assurance, but for compensation in the event of disablement by accident or disease. There are 230,000 policies in force, which is in the proportion of one to something over twenty of the entire population of Australasia.
Mr. John Packer , Superintendent for Otago and Southland for the Citizen's Life Assurance Company, was born in London, and educated at the Green Coat school. He came to Australia in 1885, and for eight years was engaged in commercial pursuits at Newcastle. In 1892 he joined the Citizen's Life Assurance Company as agent; in 1899 was promoted to the position of Assistant Superintendent in Newcastle, New South Wales, and in 1902 left for New Zealand, to accept the appointment of Superintendent for Otago and Southland.
Mr. J. Packer.
Mr. Robert C. Wilson , Assistant Superintendent, was born at Dunedin. He joined the Citizen's Life Assurance as agent in 1898, and was promoted to his present position in 1902. Mr. Wilson is a prominent Forester, and is colour-sergeant of the Wakari Rifles.
The Colonial Mutual Life Assurance Society, Limited , corner of Princes Street and High Street, Dunedin. Head office: Collins Street, Melbourne. Head office for New Zealand, Wellington. Branches throughout New Zealand, South Africa, and Great Britain. Established in 1873. The total funds at the end of 1902 amounted to £2,706,320; the income for the year was £787,720, and the increased business was £48,000 in advance of that of the previous year.
Mr. James Johnston , the Manager for the South Island, severed his connection with the Bank of New Zealand at Dunedin to accept a position in the Australian Mutual Provident Society, and received his present appointment in 1902.
The Mutual Life Association Of Australasia: Principal office, Sydney (J. C. Remington, General Manager). Head office for New Zealand, Wellington. Otago branch, corner of Princes Street and Dowling Street. Secretary, Mr. F. E. Brittain; local director, Mr. Robert Glendining. The Mutual Life Association was established in 1869, and the total assurances in force at the end of 1902 amounted to £5,816,259, and the total annual income to £274,902 1s 1d. There are over a million and a half of insurances in New Zealand.
Mr. F. E. Brittain , District Secretary at Dunedin for the Mutual Life Association, is a son of the late Captain J. F. Brittain, R.M., and grandson of the late Dr. C. Carfield, Inspector General of Hospitals. He came to New Zealand in 1883 and occupied a position as clerk in the office of the Australian Mutual Provident at Wellington, before receiving his present appointment in 1896. Mr. Brittain, who has always taken a great interest in athletics, was honorary editor of the New Zealand Cricket Annual, and secretary and treasurer of the Dunedin Savage Club.
The National Mutual Life Association Of Australasia . Head office for Australia, Melbourne; head office for New Zealand, Customhouse Quay, Wellington; Dunedin office, corner of Liverpool and Bond Streets; telephone, 85; bankers, Bank of New Zealand. New Zealand directors: Mr A. E. Pearce, chairman, Messrs William Fraser, M.H.R., and Nicholas Reid. Resident Secretary, Mr. Orton Stevens. From 1869 till 1903 the claims paid by this Association amounted to £3,039,889; the total amount assured under current policies was £13,273,819; the income for the year ending 1903 was £630,071; and the accumulated funds at the same date amounted to £3,674,435.
Mr. C. H. Osmond.
Mr. Robert Smith Mcgowan , District Manager of the New Zealand Government Life Insurance Department at Dunedin, is a brother of Mr. John McGowan, Commissioner of Taxes, who is referred to on page 132 of the Wellington volume of this Cyclopedia. He is the youngest son of the late Rev. William Stewart McGowan, and was born in 1862 at Sandwick, Orkney, Scotland. Mr. McGowan joined the Government Insurance Department in 1878, at Wellington, as a cadet, and in 1886 was appointed Chief Clerk in the Head Office. In 1889 he was transferred to Dunedin as relieving officer, and in the following year received his present appointment.
Mr. George Crichton , formerly Chief Clerk in the Dunedin branch of the New Zealand Government Life Insurance Department, is a native of Cornwall, where he was born on the 20th of July, 1860. He was educated at Hart House School, Tregony, with a view to entering the English civil service, and was junior master of St. Austell grammar school for eighteen months before sailing for New Zealand in 1879 in the ship “Chili.” After landing at Lyttelton, Mr. Crichton proceeded at once to Wellington, where he soon afterwards joined the Government Insurance Department as extra clerk, rising to the position of chief clerk under Mr. George Robertson in 1893. He was transferred to Dunedin in 1897, as chief clerk. Mr. Crichton has long taken an interest in photography, and, during his residence in Wellington, was a member of the committee of the Camera Club. He was also joint secretary for the exhibition of 1895, at which he was the winner in the competition for tasteful work. In the American Order of Odd fellows, he has been a prominent member of the Southern Cross, Zealandia, and Victoria Rebecca No. 2, lodges. For six years he was grand lodge representative, and also held office as Deputy Grand Master. On leaving Wellington Mr. Crichton was presented with a large marbie clock, bearing a silver plate suitably inscribed, as a mark of appreciation for his long and faithful services in connection with the order. He is also a Freemason, and was senior deacon in the New Zealand Pacific, No. 2 Lodge, N.Z.C. Mr. Crichton was married in 1883 to Miss Toms, niece of Mrs W. R. Williams, of Wellington, and has two daughters. He is now (January, 1904) Resident Agent at Greymouth for the Government Life Insurance Department.
The Provident Life Assurance Company was established in 1904, for the purpose of transacting life assurance in all its branches. The head office is in the Provident Buildings, Triangle, Dunedin, and the company has agencies throughout the colony, and in Sydney and Brisbane. There is a capital of £100,000, of which £21,000 is subscribed. Mr. W. M. Kirkcaldy, F.S.S., is General Manager, and under his skill and guidance the company is making substantial progress. The new company has purchased the Provident and Industrial Insurance Company of New Zealand, which was established in 1889.
Mr. William Melville Kirkcaldy , F.S.S., General Manager of the Provident Life Assurance Company, was educated at the Otago Boys' High School, and after leaving school in 1882 had seven years' training in insurance business and obtained a thorough knowledge of fire and life insurance work. In 1889, on the establishment of the Provident and Industrial Insurance, of which his father was General Manager, he joined the staff as Superintendent and Inspector of Agencies, and on the death of his father in December, 1898, he was appointed General Manager by the directors. Mr. Kirkcaldy is senior partner in the firm of Messrs Kirkcaldy and Co., who are general managers of the Live Stock General Insurance Co., and attorneys in New Zealand for the Yorkshire Fire and Life Insurance Company.
The Live Stock General Insurance Company of New Zealand was established in 1893, with a capital of £50,000. The business of the company, which is confined to New Zealand, is to insure owners against loss of live stock by disease or accident, or from foaling or calving. The company also issues policies, insuring live stock shipped between coastal and intercolonial ports. The head office for New Zealand is in the Provident Buildings, Triangle, Dunedin. Messrs Kirkcaldy and Co., are general managers.
Wrigglesworth and Binns, photo.
Mr. D. Cargill.
Accident.
New Zealand Accident Insurance Company . Otago branch, Bank of Australasia Building, Bond Street, Dunedin, Telephone, 1101. P.O. Box, 406. Head office, Auckland. This well-known New Zealand company does a good business in Dunedin and page 267 Otago generally, not only in accident insurance, but also in employers' liability, fidelity guarantee, and plate glass insurances. Mr. D. T. Brownlee is the manager of the Dunedin branch.
Mr. David John Bews , Inspector of the New Zealand Accident Insurance Company, Victoria Arcade, Auckland, was born in Glasgow, and was educated at the Western Academy in that city. On leaving school he gained some experience in a lawyer's office, and afterwards entered commercial life. Mr. Bews came to the Colony in 1887 in the s.s. “Arawa,” and was well known in commercial circles in Auckland till 1889, when he joined the staff of the New Zealand Accident Company at the head office. After eighteen months he was appointed district agent in Otago, being subsequently promoted to the position of manager, and afterwards to his present office of chief inspector.
Mr. D. J. Bews.
Mr. Ernest Trevor Gould , Secretary of the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States of America, at Wellington, was born at Otahuhn, New Zealand, in 1869, and was educated at public schools and at the Parnell Church of England Grammar School. In 1884, he joined the Mutual Assurance Society of Victoria as a junior, and remained in that company's service till the business was merged in the National Mutual Life office in April, 1897, having occupied the position of district agent at Auckland for the last eight years of his term of office. After a few months with the Australian Mutual Provident Society, Mr. Gould was appointed manager in New Zealand for the Scottish Metropolitan Life Assurance Company of Edinburgh. While in Auckland he was a member of the Gordon Cricket Club, and an enthusiastic cricketer, and was for one year secretary of the Auckland Cricket Association.
Mr. E. T. Gould.