The Borough Of North Invercargill was constituted in 1870. It contains an area of 350 acres, and is bounded on the west by the borough of Invercargill, on the north by the Waihopai stream, on the south by the borough of East Invercargill, and on the east by the county of Southland. Members of the Council for 1901: Mr. J. H. Kissell, Mayor, and Messrs J. A. Ramsay, J. Flaus, C. Purdue, A. J. Garmson, W. Fraser, W. Woodward, D. O'Callaghan, B. Denly and E. R. Godward, councillors. Mr. W. G. Mackay is Town Clerk. The annual rateable value of the borough in 1903 was £4,084, on which a general rate and a special rate, of 1s. 4d. in the pound each, was levied. At the census of 1901 the population was 925. There are 287 ratepayers, who own 308 rateable properties. The total revenue for the year 1903 was £849. There are loans amounting to £7,000, £5,700 of which bears 4 1/2 percent interest, and £1,300 4 per cent; and the whole was borrowed for road making and drainage purposes within the borough. North Invercargill has a reserve of 300 acres at Seaward Bush. The Town Hall, which was erected in 1883 at a cost of £300, is situated in Ann Street, and occupies part of a section of half an acre of land. It is built of wood, but has an iron roof, and seats about 250 people. The Council meets every fourth Thursday, at 7.30 p.m.

His Worship The Mayor , Mr. John Henry Kissell, was elected Mayor of North Invercargill in 1901. He had previously served as a councillor for three years. Mr. Kissell was born in Cornwall, England, in 1869, educated in his native place, and there, too, he learned his trade as a saddler. He came to Port Chalmers, in 1874, by the ship “Christian McCausland,” and settled in Invercargill. For a number of years he worked for the late Mr. W. Guthrie, and ultimately started business on his own account, in Dee Street. Mr. Kissell has been a member of the Invercargill Licensing Committee. As a Freemason he is a member of Lodge Southern Cross; and as a Rechabite, he has passed all the chairs, has represented his lodge on several occasions at conferences, and is superintendent of the junior branch. Mr. Kissell was married, in October, 1884, to Miss Smith, of Invercargill, and has three sons and five daughters.

Councillor Bernard Denly , who has been a member of the North Invercargill Borough Council since 1902, was born in Wiltshire, England, in 1871. He attended school at Birmingham, and learned his trade as a carpenter in Wiltshire. In 1890 Mr. Denly arrived in New Zealand, via Australia, and settled in Invercargill, where he entered business as a builder. Before leaving the Old Land, he served for three years in the Duke of Edinburgh's Second Wiltshire Rifle Volunteers. He competed in shooting competitions in the Old Country and took prizes, and has been connected in Invercargill with the local Rifle Club. As a Freemason Mr. Denly is a member of Lodge St. John; and he is a member of the North Invercargill school committee. He was married, in 1895, to a daughter of Mr. Freith, of Chippenham, Wiltshire, and has two sons and one daughter.

Pope, Wylie Edward , Baker and General Storekeeper, Union Store and Bakery, Cheyne, and Princess Streets, North Invercargill. This business was established in 1879 by Mr. J. L. Cheyne, and was acquired by the present proprietor in 1898. The premises which stand on a freehold section with frontages to three streets, consist of a shop and residence and a large bakehouse containing two ovens. About 420 loaves can be baked in each batch, and forty-five sacks of flour are put through weekly. The proprietor devotes himself specially to the bread and cake trade, and has three carts in addition to one large four-wheeled delivery waggon. He delivers in the town and suburbs, and out into the country as far as Thornbury. In 1901 a branch store and bakery was established at Lumsden.

Mr. Pope , the Proprietor, was born in 1865, in Birmingham, England, where he was educated, and came to Port Chalmers, in 1883, by the s.s “Arawa,” on her first trip. He settled at Invercargill, learned the trade of a baker with Mr William McCrone, and, after six and a-half year's service, went to Sydney, where he had eighteen months of additional experience. Mr Pope had to return to New Zealand in the interest of his health, and was employed for two years at Thornbury, and four and a half years at Dipton, and with Messrs G. T. Smith and Company at Invercargill, before taking over his present business in 1898. Mr Pope served as a volunteer in the Bluff Navals, and is attached to the Loyal St. George Lodge of Oddfellows. He was married, in 1891, to a daughter of Mr George Dryburg, of East Invercargill, and has two sons and four daughters.

The Borough Of South Invercargill was constituted in 1875. It has an area of 4,000 acres, and is bounded on the north by the Oteramika and Dalrymple roads, on the east by Conyers Street and the district road; it borders the county of Southland on the south by the line of the Campbelltown hundred, and on the west by Bluff road. In 1903 there were 671 ratepayers, owning 922 rateable properties. The unimproved value of the district was £115,040. A rate of 6d in the £ is levied, and produces over £1, 100 a year. The total revenue, including subsidy, is £1,254, and the general expenditure, £1,465. The property of the borough includes reserves of thirty-four acres, and 274 acres, which yield a rental of £20 a year. The Town Hall, in Elles Road, is of brick; it was built in 1884, on an acre of freehold. It is used for council and public meetings, and as an office. At the census of 1901 the population of the borough was 1,874. Members of the Council: Messrs A Bain (Mayor), J. Stirrit, W. J. Perkins and G. Brown, North Ward; J. Lyons, J. Arnold, and G. E. Hilton, Middle Ward; G. Holloway, W. Peace and W. Stott, South Ward, Mr. A. Ball is Town Clerk, Treasurer and Returning Officer.

His Worship The Mayor of South Invercargill, Mr. Andrew Bain, has been in the Council since 1880, and has served the Council as Mayor for six terms; namely, in 1895–6, and 1901–2–3–4, He is further referred to as chairman of the Bluff Harbour Board.

Mr. William Martin , who was Mayor of South Invercargill for one term, and served for about four years as a councillor, was born in 1845, in Dunfermline, Scotland, where he attended school. After six months at sea, he had five years' experience in connection with the coal trade in Fife and Midlothian, and in 1875 he arrived at the Bluff by the ship “Christian McCausland.” Soon after settling in Invercargill, Mr. Martin began carting on his own account. He was interested in the opening up of the Nightcaps coal mine, from which he took out the first marketable coal to the extent of one hundred tons, and sent a fine block of a ton weight to the Sydney Exhibition. Mr. Martin owns ten acres at George Town, on which he resides. He joined the order of Oddfellows in Scotland, and was transferred to the Shamrock, Rose and Thistle Lodge at Invercargill. He was a director of the Southland Caledonian Society for several years, and at one time held office as president. Mr. Martin was married, in 1867, to a daughter of the late Mr. Adam Barr, of County Antrim, Ireland. This lady died in 1891, leaving four daughters and two sons; and in 1893 Mr. Martin was married a second time to Mrs. Reid, formerly Miss McKissach, of Elgin, Scotland.

Bain, Andrew , Building Contractor, Morton Road, South Invercargill, and at Teviot Street, Invercargill. Mr. Bain, who established his business in 1886, has erected a large number of important buildings in Southland, including the Dairy Supply Company's office in Tay Street, the Commercial Club, Mr. August's shop, Mr. Watson's house in Forth Street, and many other buildings. He was president of the Builders' Association in 1903 and 1904.

Drapery And General Grocery Store (C. C. Lewis, proprietor), Corner of Grace and Ness Streets, South Invercargill. Mr. William Lewis; manager of this business, was born at Tredegar, Monmouthshire, South Wales, in 1869. He attended school there for five years, and came to New Zealand with his parents in 1878, landing at the Bluff. About 1880 he entered the service of Messrs Hay and Co., grocers, Tay Street, and remained with the firm until 1899, when he bought the business which Mr. John Young had carried on for twenty-six years. On the business passing into the hands of Mr. C. C. Lewis at the end of 1903, Mr. Lewis was retained as manager. Mr. Lewis is a member of the Primitive Methodist Church, teaches in the Sunday school, and is a member of the choir of the South Invercargill church. For some time he was a member of the school committee of the South School. Mr. Lewis was married, in 1892, to a daughter of Mr. James Aitken, builder, of South Invercargill, and has two sons and two daughters.

Vickery, William Charles , Butcher, Elles Road, South Invercargill. Mr. Vickery was born in Wanganui, in 1877, and lived with his parents, successively, at Lyttelton, Banks' Peninsula, Christchurch, and Ashburton. In 1892 he settled in Invercargill, and in March, 1901, started a butchery business at his present address, having previously been employed as a journeyman butcher. In 1898 he married a daughter of Mr. David Meffan, settler, Clifton, and has a family of one son and two daughters.

Awarua Nursery (John McChesney, proprietor), Scott Street, South Invercargill. This nursery was established in 1887, when the ground was all in virgin bush. Mr. McChesney has a total area of fifteen acres of freehold, six or seven acres of which is in page 875 use as a nursery. The business is extending rapidly, and three or four men are employed. Fruit and forest trees grown in the nursery thrive well wherever they are sent.

Mr. Reginald Mackinnon , J.P., became a colonist of New Zealand in 1878, and is now living in retirement at Macquarrie Street, South Invercargill. He was born in 1851 at Lymington, Hampshire. England, and educated at the Naval School at New Cross, Kent; Southsea; Stuttgart; and Paris. For about eight years he was clerk in a mercantile office in London. In 1878 he came to New Zealand as manager and part owner of Mount Linton station, Waiau, and was there for fourteen years. On his retirement, in 1892, he bought the property on which he now resides, and on which he has effected improvements. Prior to leaving England for Germany, Mr. Mackinnon took a prominent part in school athletics, and is now a patron of cricket and other healthful sports and pastimes. During ten years of the fourteen he spent at Mount Linton, Mr. Mackinnon was a member of the Wallace County Council. He is now a member of the Acclimatisation Society, the Southland Club, the local committee of the Trinity College Musical Examinations, and has been for five years president of the Invercargill Musical Union.

The Borough Of East Invercargill was incorporated in 1870, and has an area of 121 acres. Its boundaries are North Invercargill on the north, the borough of Invercargill on the west, and the county of Southland on the south and east. Members for 1904:Mr. J. A. Mitchell, Mayor; and Messrs J Harper, T. Simon, J. A. Dewar, J. Hamlyn, J. Smith, E. A. Bath, R. A. Anderson, R. Ashton, and W. Sloan, councillors; Mr. W. G. Mackay, Town Clerk. The Council meets at the Assembly Rooms in Elles Road, not far from the Invercargill Water Tower on the second Tuesday of the month at 8 p.m. The total annual rateable value of properties is £4,466, on which the Council levies a general rate of Is. 10d. in the pound, and a special rate of 8d. East Invercargill has a population of about 1,000, and there are 197 ratepayers, who own 245 rateable properties. The total revenue for the year ending March, 1904, was £840. The Council borrowed £3,000 in 1889 at 6 per cent for drainage purposes, and £2,500 in 1904 at 4 per cent for further drainage and asphalting.

Councillor James Smith , Member of the East Invercargill Borough Council, was born at Coylton, Ayrshire, Scotland, in 1852. He was educated there, and apprenticed to the trade of bootmaking at Barbieston, near Coylton. Prior to coming to page 876 New Zealand, in 1875, he worked for some years as a journeyman. Mr. Smith settled in East Invercargill, where he has ever since worked at his trade, and has all along resided on the property which he now owns. He entered the Borough Council in 1883, has sat continuously since then, and was Mayor for two terms- 1895 and 1896–and was unopposed for the second term. Mr. Smith was married, in 1871, to a daughter of Mr. James McVey, of Ayrshire, Scotland, but his wife died, leaving two sons. In 1891 he married a daughter of the late Mr. Alexander McKenzie, of Invercargill, contractor, and has by this marriage one son and one daughter.

Avenal is the smallest borough in New Zealand, as its area is only eighty acres. It was constituted in 1876 under an Otago Ordinance. Avenal is situated at the north end of Invercargill, and fronts Kelvin Road on the east and the Waihopai Estuary on the west. The annual rateable value of the borough, in 1904, was £2,662, on which a rate of Is. 3d. in the pound was levied. At the census of 1901 the population was 355, and there were 109 rateable properties owned by seventy-six ratepayers. The total revenue for the year 1904, was £306, and the expenditure £304, and the borough had a small credit balance without debts of any kind. The Town Hall was built in 1888, of wood and iron, and has seating accommodation for 150 persons. There is no water supply in the borough, which has two miles of streets and roads. Members of the Council for 1904: The Hon. Henry Feldwick, Mayor; Messrs J. Branigan, R. Cleave, G. Challis. G. R. Joyce, J. Macilister, E. R. Stephens, J. Tait. J. Ward, and P. H. Vickery, councillors. Mr. C. W. Brown is Town Clerk. The Council meets on the third Tuesday in the month.

Councillor James Macalister , who was elected to the Borough Council of Avenal in 1903, is referred to in another article as the proprietor of the Invercargill Foundry.

Mr. Edmond Richard Stephens became a member of the Avenal Borough Council in 1900. He was born in Westmeath, Ireland, in 1868. Mr. Stephens came to Lyttelton in the s.s “Norfolk.” in 1879, and learned the trade of a woolstapler in the colony, and at Bradford, England, which he visited in 1889. On returning to New Zealand, he resided at Waikiwi for about seventeen years, but settled at Avenal in 1896, and built a residence on a section of a quarter of an acre, on the North Road. He had been a keen sportsman all his life, and served a good many years in the Southland Hussars. Mr. Stephens was married, in April, 1897, to a daughter of Mr. G. Wells, of Dunedin, and had one daughter and one son. He died in the latter part of the year 1904.

The Borough Of Gladstone was incorporated in 1875, and has an area of 240 acres. It is bounded on the west by the New River estuary, on the north by the Waihopai river, on the east by the borough of North Invercargill, and on the south by the Wellesley estate, in the county of Southland, and the Invercargill borough park lands. There are about five and a-half miles of formed and unformed streets, and the borough's total annual rateable value, in 1904, was £4,031, on which there was a general rate of Is, and a special rate of 3d for charitable aid. The annual revenue of the borough is about £400, and there is a loan of £1000 for drainage and street formation. At the census of 1901 there were 329 inhabitants in the borough. A Town Hall was built in 1894. in Lewis Street, on a site of a quarter of an acre. It is a wood and iron building, and has seat room for one hundred adults. Members of the Council for 1901: Messrs Herbert Cooper (Mayor), A. E. Hawke, H. J. Curtis, W. D. McCarthy, F. Smith. C. J. Broad, A. F. Spear, D. W. McKay, and W. D. Mitchell.

Mr. Robert Archibald Strang , Town Clerk of the Borough of Gladstone, was born in 1876, at Goulburn, New South Wales, where he was educated. He had considerable experience as a miner in New South Wales, and in West Australia, and arrived in New Zealand in 1898. Mr. Strang settled at Alexandra, Central Otago, where he was engaged in work on the dredges for two years. He then removed to Invercargill, and was appointed to his present position in May, 1903. In addition to performing the duties of Town Clerk, Mr. Strang has full charge of the roads of the borough. He was married, in April, 1899, and has one son.