George Holdship

George Holdship was born in, or near, Belfast in 1839. which left Plymouth on 23 October 1854 and arrived at Auckland on 5 February 1855. A jury list in 1856 showed Henry Holdship of Wakefield St as a grocer. In 1858 it showed Henry Holdship of Chapel St as a draper and George Holdship, also of Chapel St as a carpenter. George trained as a carpenter though his obituary said he was a member of the volunteer forces. but he took his apprentices to the Police Court for absconding, for taking Boxing Day off and for not working after 5pm. and a court ruled that his steam engine and furnace were a nuisance to his neighbours. Next year he sold his Karangahape Rd house. In 1867 George was president of the Newton Literary Association, in 1869 he chaired a meeting to form Newton Fire Brigade, was elected to the Karangahape Highway Board and he was on Auckland City Council from 1871 to 1876, and from 1885 to 1886, when he resigned and the family took a long break in England. In 1874 his fellow councillors were Daldy, with whom he developed Western Springs, Prime, Buchanan, Henry Brett and Macready. George arrived back in Auckland from San Francisco in 1887. They were in England in 1891, when Sarah was too ill to return. In 1883 George was a director of the New Zealand Iron & Steel Co. == Family ==

Sarah Holdship (1841–1923) On 21 October 1862 George married Sarah Lambourne, who was born in 1841 in Hertfordshire. They had 5 sons. Thomas Henry Holdship (1864–1910) was the eldest of George's sons. and 1875. On 3 May 1888 he married Harriet Copland King at St John's, Ashfield. She died on 11 February 1889, aged 28. He remarried on 25 November 1890 at Darling Point to Mary Ethel Gore. He was KTC manager in 1889. He was made a JP at Pyrmont in 1890. A daughter was born in 1891. Thomas came close to bankruptcy in 1895. He and his wife arrived in London from Sydney by the Himalaya in 1896 suffering from insomnia and hoping to find a cure in England. Thomas and John Geoffrey Smith were trading as Holdship and Co, timber merchants, of Balmain in 1905. Thomas died on June 2, 1910. at Sutton Forest, aged 46. George Watson Holdship (1866–1914) was born on March 11, 1866 The family moved to Sydney when he was about 16, though he completed his studies in England and in Europe. He worked at the Bank of New South Wales, then managed the Union Oil Engine Company, then became an Inspector with the New Zealand Insurance Co (accident department). at home at Gaheemay, Leura. Hilda Aimee Blomfield, of Sydney, whom he'd married at Darlinghurst on 28 June 1899 and their children, George Watson and Hylda Isla. He'd been in poor health for a year, so that his death was not unexpected, He also passed an examination of barristers at the University of New Zealand in 1896. In 1893 he moved to Wellington. He captained a New Zealand cricket team in Australia. was an old Auckland Grammar School boy. After leaving school he was a prominent member of the Gordon Cricket Club, Subsequently he removed to Wellington, and while domiciled there he captained the first New Zealand cricket team to visit Australia. He sang at the Opera House in 1893. He was married in 1897 to Maud E. Clayton and they then travelled from Wellington to Sydney. In 1909 he was working as a patent agent in Christchurch. He left Christchurch for Sydney about 1914. The funeral of the late Mr. A. R. Holdship took place at the South Head cemetery on Monday afternoon. Among those present at the graveside were Ross Gore (Australian Golf Club), Plumpton, Wilson, Stevenson, Gurney (Victor Motor Co.), and F. King, Milford, C. Pain (University Club). He was a regular member of the second eleven of the Surrey County team, and on several occasions represented the county itself. William Ernest Johnston Holdship, (1868–1936) a son in charge of the Lithgow Supply Co. since its inception. On Wednesday, October 5, 1898 at 5 Featherston Terrace, Wellington, William married Emily Felicia Dean, youngest daughter of Rev W. T, Dean. He died on 14 March 1936, aged 68, leaving Emily as a widow. Edith Adeline Holdship (1869) died at 3 months old on 20 August 1869. Ida Evelyn Holdship (−1943) became a deaconess in 1917 and was associated with the Deaconess' Institution, Newtown, for a number of years. She married in 1935 to Leon L de Groen. She died on 5 February 1943, at home at 20 Streatfield Road, Bellevue Hill. Arthur Herbert Holdship (1874–1926) solicitor, and senior partner of the firm of Messrs. Holdship, Barnes, and Co., died suddenly on 7 April 1926 at his home at Spencer-road, Cremorne, aged 52. He was born in Auckland and educated at Cheltenham College, and later at Oxford. Coming to Australia, he was articled to the firm of Messrs. Stephen, Jaques, and Stephen. Mr. Holdship was admitted as a solicitor of the Supreme Court in 1898, and later went into partnership with the late Mr. a'Beckett. In George's will probate was granted to Arthur, William and Clarence Arthur Gurney, Holdship, Barnes, & Co, 160 Phillip-street, Sydney. == George Holdship and Company ==

By 1866 George was listed as a timber merchant and was advertising for sawyers at his Custom-house St factory. A fire in 1866 burnt several houses on East St, including one next door to Holdship's house, which was saved by the assistance of the bystanders. In 1870 he linked his mills across Custom House St with a tramway. In 1871 the brick chimney at the Newton mill was blown down in a gale. == Auckland Timber Company ==

Towards the end of Vogel's economic boom, George arranged for George Holdship and Company to be taken over by the Auckland Timber Company Limited (ATC) Initially it had a capital of £120,000 and the shareholder directors were - • Robert Bleazard (c1818-1886) – father of artist Eden Bleazard and a Mount Eden farmer, bucket manufacturer and goldfields investor. • William Crush Daldy (1816–1903) • William Errington (1832-1894) – an engineer from South Shields, who designed the Western Springs water pump and Calliope Dock. • Alexander Richardson Watson (1828–1911) – a contractor from Peebles, who came to Auckland in the 1860s and built many local buildings, probably including the ATC head office. 12,000 £5 shares were issued in 1878. ATC took over the Newton mill in Custom House St, where there was a boiler fire in 1878. Smoke and sparks from the Auckland mills remained an issue until the Custom House chimney was raised in 1878. Move from Newton to Freemans Bay During the early colonial period, the site adjoined an area of settlement that spread along the waterfront between the town’s main commercial centre in Queen Street and an industrial suburb at Waiatarau, renamed Freemans Bay. The latter was a centre for timber production from an early stage in colonial development, with sawyers described as present by 1841. The reclamation works were commissioned by Auckland Harbour Board (AHB), which was formed in 1871, under the Auckland Harbour Act 1874. When reclamation was commissioned, George was an AHB member A contract for the Hardinge Street project was awarded to Martin Danaher in October 1875. The project involved cutting back the cliff, erecting a stone retaining wall and infilling the seabed. The retaining wall was at least 200 feet long and formed part of the southern boundary of the current site. The works appear to have been still in progress towards the end of 1876. Following completion, the reclaimed area accommodated an extension of Customhouse Street, later renamed Customs Street West, then Fanshawe Street. Major occupants either side of Fanshawe Street included some of Auckland’s largest timber firms, notably the New Zealand Timber Company (NZTC) and ATC. George Holdship designed the new factory, By 1881 ATC was able to pay a 10% dividend. Many accidents were reported at the mills, so that the staff set up a benefit society to alleviate hardship. George Holdship was described in 1888 as having keen business ability, a straightforward, outspoken style and social qualities, when ATC amalgamated with other timber companies under the Kauri Syndicate, of which George was managing director. ATC was noted for its modern machinery and large scale production. Up to around 1884, the Kauri timber industry was doing really well, mainly due to the building boom experienced as part of the rapid expansion of building, fuelled by the gold rush of the late 1870’s and the increase in population as settlers flooded into the country – they desperately needed housing, along with the services from retail and commerce. == Constituent companies and assets in 1888 ==

When KTC was formed in 1888, it took over 28 sawmills, from Coromandel northwards, and many other assets – • Auckland Timber Company – George Holdship had started milling about 1865, and – • Sydney – fronting Sydney Harbour. • Auckland head office, mills at Newton and Freemans Bay. • Port Charles In 1865, Robert Cashmore purchased the timber on the Tangiaronui block and began erecting a sawmill when a dispute arose with the Māori owners and operations were suspended. Charles J.W. Kensington appears to have taken the mill over but went bankrupt in December 1866. Kensington continued to live in the district and died there in 1877. By 1875 Pollard & Co are shown as owners, then G. Holdship was agent in 1874. KTC closed the mill in 1889 and machinery was removed in 1890. The machinery consisted of a vertical breaking down bench and circular saw breast bench driven by a 20 hp steam engine. They cut 50000 feet per week, employing 50 men. The mill site and adjoining lands were offered for sale by tender in May 1902. Daily Southern Cross: 10 & 28 August 1865, Daily Southern Cross 13, 15 and 17 December 1866, A.J.H.R. 1875 C-3, Bretts Auckland Almanac 1879 p127 By 1868 a sawmill had been opened, which later belonged to the Auckland Timber Co and had a tramway. • Whangaroa / Mangonui (or Mongonui) – opened from 1880, after was sold to ATC for £1,250 in 1878. A wharf was authorised in 1881 and Oruaiti River was used for booms from 1884. • Kennedy’s Bay mill was built to the north of the bay by Alexander McGregor, Frederick Atkinson and Charles Broadbent, trading as Alexander McGregor Company in 1862. Charles Broadbent left the partnership on 22 February 1863. In 1864 Cruickshank, Smart & Co managed the mill which cut about 2 million feet annually. It closed in 1891. • New Zealand Timber Company — mills at Auckland, Whangapoua (2), and Freemans Bay, cutters "Fanny." "Nellie," "Gipsy", barges "Progress" and ''Waitemata", of tramway, 3 locomotives. Hokianga mill, of about 1882, at Koutu Point, on the east bank, about up the Hokianga River, milled kauri and some totara. Cutting-capacity, 9,000,000 superficial feet ; output, 3,200,000 superficial feet ; mill hands, 30. At Freeman's Bay, in 1867, Frank Jagger and Mr. Parker became coal and firewood merchants. That business was bought by NZTC, but Frank was manager until KTC was formed. • Union Steam Saw, Moulding, Sash and Door Company Limited mills at Mechanics Bay, Aratapu, and Tairua. and its Aratapu mill was built in 1885, • David Blair & Son, of Hikutaia, Thames River, and Market Street, Melbourne, with barques " Grassmere" and " Killarney". Later they extended the line to a dump at the Waihou river below Kopu. All bush operations were finished by January 1928, and the line was lifted. Over 40 million feet was carried over this line. to 1882, the 4-storey brick building at 104 Fanshawe Street, was ATC's head office, showroom, store and factory of the ATC (1881–8), the KTC (1888–1944). It also drove a putty mill and other machinery. By 1884, the works were described as ‘one of the most extensive industries of the kind in the colony’. == Retirement to Sydney ==

George Holdship, a Sydney timber merchant, owned 9 Adderstone Avenue, North Sydney, built in 1884 in the Victorian Italianate style, from 1913 to 1923 and changed its name to 'Craigielea'. They returned from a long break in Europe in 1894. George made trips to Auckland in 1891 and 1896. In 1892 he moved from Buckland Crescent to a more commodious house on the Belsize Park Estate. It would seem that he has abandoned the colony altogether, since he has taken a seven years lease of the new domicile. Mrs Holdship remains in poor health, and is recruiting amid the pine woods of Bournemouth. ==Death==

George Holdship died on 10 May 1923, aged 84. He survived his wife by only a fortnight, Mrs. Holdship having died in Sydney on 27 April 1923 at the age of 82. There were 2 surviving sons and a daughter. Mourners at his funeral included his sons, W. E. J. Holdship and A. H. Holdship, and G. B. Holdship, his grandson and Miss Pallister represented the Deaconess Institution. He was buried at South Head Cemetery. His estate was valued at £63,266. == References ==