Looking Back…
LOOKING BACK – an occasional series
150 Years Ago
7th January 1869 Daily Southern Cross – Advertisement
“NOTICE. IMPOUNDED at the Public Pound, Otahuhu, December 30th, 1868, by A. Wallace, for trespass at Mangere: 1 Chestnut gelding, white face. Damages – 3s. If not claimed within 11 days from the date of this notice, application will be made to a Justice of the Peace for an order for the sale of the abovementioned horse agreeably to the provisions of the Impounding Act, 1867. John HALL, Poundkeeper, Public Pound, Otahuhu, January 2 1869”.
16th January 1969 Otago Daily Times – Editorial criticising overpaid public servants:
“Candidates come forward in crowds whenever a municipal election takes place. Again, the duties of a Justice of the Peace are not trivial. Great responsibility attaches to them. Yet the honour of the office is always sufficient to attract suitable men; and there is no reason to believe that the non-receipt of a salary involves any negligence in the discharge of its duties”.
17th January 1869 Daily Southern Cross – News item
“On Thursday last a meeting of Justices of the Peace of the Port Albert district was held at the Mangawhai Hotel, and gazetted to appoint a chairman of Petty Sessions for 1869, and the rota of attendance”.
100 Years Ago
January 2nd 1919 The Auckland Star – News item
“A well-dressed Maori went into a gunsmith’s shop in Queen Street with the intention of purchasing a shotgun and some ammunition. Much to his surprise he was informed that Maoris were not allowed to purchase guns unless they had a signed authority to do so from a Justice of the Peace and a recommendation from someone responsible that they were fit and proper persons to be allowed to carry a gun. Inquiries found that the Act setting out this process was a hangover from the Maori War, and has not since been repealed. Today it appears to be little short of an absurdity…”
75 Years Ago
6th January 1944 The Press, Christchurch – News item
Of the two Justices of the Peace who presided at a sitting of the Magistrate’s Court in Invercargill on Tuesday one was a woman, Mrs Stanley Brown. This is the first occasion on which a woman Justice of the Peace has presided at a Court sitting in the city. In some centres women Justices of the Peace sit with the Magistrate, usually in an advisory capacity when he is presiding at sittings of the Children’s Court. The justices dealt with two cases at Tuesday’s sitting, one being a charge of intoxication against a motorist.
27th January 1944 The Auckland Star – News item
“An Auckland Justice of the Peace, despite a pressing business appointment agreed to delay his departure in order that he might witness a consent by parents to the marriage of their daughter who was under 21 years of age. When the date was about to be put to the document, the girl discovered that it was the 13th of the month. Although she had told the Justice of the Peace that the matter was an urgent one, she insisted the document be deferred to allow her to re-consider another, more propitious, date for her intended nuptials”.
Source: Papers Past – National Library of New Zealand
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