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PART FOUR

Partners, Staff, Service Providers & Practice –

The Later Years

During and after the days of George Sainsbury, Francis Logan and Heathcote Williams,

the partnership they established expanded and grew. There have been 21 partners who

have followed them. Each has brought his own unique style, talents and interests to the

fi rm. The fi rm has also depended on its staff solicitors, clerks and other service providers

as Sainsbury Logan & Williams has negotiated the newer environment of legal practice in

the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Part Four deals with that history to the present.

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287

CHAPTER NINE

The Partners

INTRODUCTION

The Foundation Partners of the fi rm have already been chroni-cled in this book.

Messrs. George Sainsbury, Francis Logan and Heathcote Williams deserve rich praise for their efforts during the pioneering days of the Hawke’s Bay legal profession. They were involved in the law and they were involved in their community both regionally and nationally. Not only did they dedicate their time to the business at hand, but they took an active role in professional administration and politics by forming and being part of the Hawke’s Bay District Law Society – each of the three Foundation Partners was at one time President of the said Society. That was a tradition that was to be followed by others.1024

But as already recorded, these gentlemen were also either active participants or leaders in their particular sports or other pastimes: tennis,1025 cricket,1026 sailing,1027 rugby,1028 trout fi shing,1029 hunting,1030 ecumenical interests,1031 horticulture,1032

1024 See later in this Chapter under the heading Law Society Involvement.1025 Francis Logan – see Chapter 2.1026 George Sainsbury, Francis Logan and in particular Heathcote Williams

the founder and benefactor of the Heathcote Williams Shield – see Chapter 3.

1027 George Sainsbury who was an inaugural member of the Napier Sailing Club – see Chapter 1.

1028 Francis Logan who was at one time, in 1894, President of the New Zealand Rugby Football Union (“NZRFU”), President of the Hawke’s Bay Rugby Union (“HBRFU”), a referee of two international rugby matches, an Appeal Committee Member for the NZRFU and sole selec-tor for HBRFU – see Chapter 2.

1029 Francis Logan – see Chapter 2.1030 Francis Logan – see Chapter 2 including the image of Blackhead

Station Homestead with the day’s efforts on display alongside Francis Logan holding his Leesing Side-By-Side.

1031 George Sainsbury who was at one time Vicar’s Warden for the Parish of St John (see Chapter 1) and Francis Logan who was Chancellor of the Waiapu Diocese for twenty years (see Chapter 2).

1032 Heathcote Williams who was one of the early pioneers of the orchard industry and owner of Grasmere Orchard on the outskirts of Hastings – see Chapter 3.

poultry-breeding/showing,1033 flowers,1034 golf,1035 school administration,1036 motor vehicle enthusiast,1037 athenaeum,1038 charity work1039 and general philanthropy.1040

They were enormously peripatetic and travelled regularly back to their English roots and also widely throughout New Zealand particularly when travel overland was diffi cult and methods of transportation by train, carriage and motor vehicle was in its infancy.

All of that work and activity was repeated to a greater or lesser extent by the succeeding partners and still today the existing partners distinguish themselves on a regular basis, for example, by taking out prizes in the Ebbett Golf Tournament between lawyers and bankers.1041

The Foundation Partners established important business con-nections – for instance, with the Napier Borough Council and the Napier Harbour Board and signifi cant farming clients and interests throughout the province – providing a rich and sustain-ing legacy for those who followed.

Obvious hard work and devotion was able to cement, at a very early stage, a practice based on the personal attributes of each of them and the staff they employed, from law clerks through

1033 George Sainsbury who regularly won trophies for his prize Cochins, Hamburgs and pigeons – see Chapter 1.

1034 George Sainsbury who won prizes for his chrysanthemums and petu-nias – see Chapter 1.

1035 Francis Logan – see Chapter 2.1036 George Sainsbury who was on the Board of High School Governors in

1891 – see Chapter 1.1037 Francis Logan – see Chapter 2.1038 George Sainsbury who was a member of the committee of the Napier

Athenæum in 1889.1039 George Sainsbury who was involved with the Hawke’s Bay Children’s

Home in 1893.1040 Francis Logan who raised debentures to fund the All Blacks Tour of

Britain in 1905 (see Chapter 2) and Heathcote Williams who funded the chimes installed in the Hastings clock tower erected in 1919 and underwrote many cricket tours both nationally and internationally (see Chapter 3).

1041 Partner, Adrian Barclay took out fi rst place in 2010 and a Senior Associate, Lauren Hibberd, took out the top women’s prize that same year.


288 SAINSBURY LOGAN & WILLIAMS

to bookkeepers and confi dential clerks who were tasked with drawing up lengthy and tedious documents in copperplate writing, often under immense pressure from clients or from the court.1042

A solid base of farming and commercial clients (who were the early settlers and pioneers) paved the way to establishing a very broadly based practice where clients have by and large come to the fi rm because of the personalities of one or other of the partners or staff. Theirs has been a very personal connection. The benefi ts of that have been felt even today where succession planning (both within the clients’ own businesses and within the partnership) has provided a plan which has withstood some of the more extreme economic volatility where the partners have rolled with the clients and vice versa.

This Chapter and the ones that follow, are intended to chronicle the personal and professional backgrounds of those partners and staff who were to follow the pioneering Foundation Partners. Amongst the historical notes are stories about bravery, tragedy, dedication, sporting and community achievements, war time contributions, connections with notable judges within and with-out Hawke’s Bay, personal tragedy for wider family members such as A B Campbell’s widow; rebuilding and reconstruction work following the Napier Earthquake in 1931, Law Society involvement, directorships and battles won and lost for major clients.1043

As at the date of writing, 2011, there have been 21 partners follow the original three. For a fi rm spanning (now) 136 years, it seems that there ought to have been more. Part of the success, borne of longevity, is that the size of the partnership has never got to the point where sheer numbers have created tensions suffi cient to lead to a wholesale disintegration as has been the case elsewhere. The maximum number of partners at any one time is at present.1044 There have been no retirements or changes except for two partner appointments in the past 15 years. Careful succession planning and candidate selection has been another factor in the longevity record.

Importantly, dedicated staff have also contributed hugely. There have been three staff members who have celebrated more than forty years of service with the fi rm.1045 Many more have completed twenty years and upwards of loyal service. The fi rm has prided itself on longevity and low staff turnover where institutional knowledge is recognised, valued and rewarded.

And something must be said for the wives and partners who have sacrifi ced much of their otherwise normal home life for the partnership: early wake-up calls from farmers who cannot find a better time to talk to their lawyers about buying the

1042 For example, William Colenso’s probate application. William Colenso died on a Friday, was buried on a Sunday and his probate application, which required 12 foolscap pages of copperplate writing, was granted by the Supreme Court Registrar on the Wednesday following – see Chapter 7.

1043 Aside from J H G Murdoch’s ultimate sacrifi ce, notably Ivan Logan for wartime service in both World Wars, Bill McLeod, Ian Logan and Gibb Stewart.

1044 Seven partners comprising Magnus Macfarlane, Gerry Sullivan, Steve Greer, Stuart Webster, Andrew Wares, Adrian Barclay and Nathan Gray.

1045 Rae Wilson, Ann Eaton and Trevor Cardo. There may be others but no records exist to prove or disprove that.

neighbour’s property or forming a trust; or the pressure of hav-ing to entertain judges and other dignatories at home; putting up with stress at peak times of the year like Christmas, or in the period just before going on sabbatical or extended leave; hosting staff Christmas parties in their own homes, or waiting around at the Hawke’s Bay Club on Friday night with the children while the partners fi nish off their post partners’ meeting debrief in the Members Bar.

Material for some of the partners mentioned in this Chapter has been hard to come by either because they have died and few family members remain to interview, or they have moved away from Hawke’s Bay and lost their connection with the practice. It is hoped that this work might jog memories and stimulate some active searching in personal archives and amongst family members so that their stories also can be fully told.

ALEXANDER BULWER CAMPBELL (1855–1938)

(C10_1): Image source: Sainsbury Logan & Williams collection.

Alexander Bulwer Campbell was born in 1855, admitted to the Bar in the Wellington Supreme Court as a solicitor on 5 June 1879 and as a barrister on 5 June 1880,1046 became a partner of Sainsbury Logan & Williams in 1906 and died in offi ce in 1938.

Between being admitted and moving to Napier he was a solici-tor practising in Wellington and was employed by Messrs Bell Gully & Co1047 (later to become Bell Gully Bell & Myers).1048 R S V (“Dick”) Simpson was able to provide the following background:1049

One of your former distinguished partners was a gentleman called A B Campbell. He worked in Bell Gully’s in the 1870 and 1880 decades and in 1898 we think he may have been practising in Auckland…I must say that he was a very close friend of Sir

1046 Roll of Barristers and Solicitors, Supreme Court, Wellington.. 1047 Robin Cooke QC, Portrait of a Profession, at page 397. Bell Gully & Co.

resulted from an amalgamation in 1886 of Bell & Izard and Buller & Gully.

1048 See an image of the original letterhead in Chapter 7 under the heading Estate of William Colenso.

1049 Excerpt from a letter from Bell Gully Buddle Weir (R S V Simpson C.B.E. – Consultant Partner) to Sainsbury Logan & Williams (Andrew Morrison) dated 3.9.1987.


SAINSBURY LOGAN & WILLIAMS 289

Francis Bell and Mr Ernest Bell. We fi nd correspondence passing between them from time to time and it is obvious that they had a very close relationship. I remember when I was a Law Clerk here many years ago I saw letters from Campbell to Bell addressed in this manner: “Dear A.B.C. ………Yours truly, E.D.B.” (that is Ernest Tancred Dillon Bell) This always used to amuse me.

The Bell Gully “connection” came to prominence on a number of occasions when independent opinions were called for on matters of great moment for clients of the fi rm. For example, when Ridley Latimer Colenso got into bother with Napier Borough Council over the road width of Colenso Avenue, it is likely that A B Campbell recommended to him that he obtain a second opinion from Francis Dillon Bell before embarking on some expensive litigation against the Council. The matter resolved itself by young Colenso coming to a deal with the Council but not after he had checked out his rights at law and having instructed Heathcote Williams to prepare a Statement of Claim for fi ling in the Supreme Court.1050

In June 1905 Mr A B Campbell was unanimously elected a member of the Hawke’s Bay District Law Society.1051

A B Campbell became a partner in Sainsbury Logan & Williams in 1906 at the same time as Heathcote Williams, who was prac-tising in Hastings under the name Logan Williams and White. According to Peter Cornforth, who clerked for Sainsbury Logan

1050 See Chapter 7 under the heading William Estate of William Colenso.1051 Hawke’s Bay District Law Society Minutes, 19.6.1905.

Copy original opinion by Bell Gully dated 10 March 1900. HBMAG. (C10_3): Opinion (page 2)

(C10_4): Opinion (page 3)



& Williams for a time in the 1930s,1052 A B Campbell was aged about 81 at the time Peter started work in June 1932.1053 He was a renowned conveyancer throughout the country, especially as a Will draftsman. He would walk home to lunch at his home in France Road on Bluff Hill and be driven back early in the afternoon by his wife in their Willys-Knight car.1054

A B Campbell was a classical scholar who knew most of Horace’s Odes by heart. He was a fi ne conveyancing lawyer who is sup-posed to have drafted the Wills of half the New Zealand Judiciary (probably on the recommendation of his friend Sir Francis Bell).1055 He served as President of the Hawke’s Bay District Law Society in 1909 and 1917 and later had a stint as Vice-President in 1927 and 1928.

A B Campbell died in offi ce in 1938 at age 83. His death was described by Frank Logan in this way:

Still another death A.B. Campbell, who had been a partner in Sainsbury Logan & Williams for 40 [sic] years died. He must have been nearly eighty. He was quite a brilliant lawyer and had a very charming personality.1056

By 1939 Francis Logan and Heathcote Williams had died and the interests in the Hastings partnership which would have been held by Ivan Logan and the Estate of A B Campbell were bought out by the Hastings partners Holderness and Parkinson.1057

(C10_5): The headstone of Alexander Bulwer Campbell and Maude Campbell

at Park Island Cemetery, Napier (Section 25 and Plots 28 and 29. These

plots were purchased when they lived in France Road, Napier). Mavis Esther

Campbell who was involved in the same fatal accident as her mother-in-law

Maude Campbell is buried in the same cemetery in an unmarked grave

(Section 23a, Plot 2). Image source: Katrina Hellyer.

The Hawke’s Bay District Law Society marked the death of A B Campbell in the Annual Report for the year ended 28 February 1939 in this way:1058

It is sad to record the death of two Members, Messrs A B Campbell and W Selwyn Averill, during the year under review. Both had

1052 See Chapter 10 under the heading Peter Cornforth.1053 In fact he was only 77 years of age but appearances can be deceiving,

particularly for a young law clerk just starting out.1054 Peter Cornforth, personal recollection.1055 Speech Notes, Centennial Dinner, Sir Owen Woodhouse (see Chapter

12 under the heading Centenary Celebrations).1056 Frank Logan Memoirs (unpublished), page 110, paragraph 5.1057 S W Grant, page 76.1058 Hawke’s Bay District Law Society Annual Report, 14.3.1939,

deservedly earned the esteem and affection of their brother-practitioners and to many their deaths came as a severe personal loss. The late Mr Campbell had been a member since 1905; he held the offi ce of President of the Society with distinction in 1909 and 1917, and served for many years as a member of the Council, being ever ready to employ his time and his notable talents for the benefi t of the Society…

Tragically, A B Campbell’s widow Maude Campbell and her daughter-in-law Mavis Esther Campbell were killed in October 1942 by a member of their own family. The Evening Post recorded the events as follows:1059

Two women, Mrs AB Campbell widow and Mrs Colin Campbell, her daughter in law are in a precarious position in the Napier Hospital as the result of an alleged assault on them last night. At the Police Court today, David John Campbell aged 20 a timber worker was charged with attempted murder. The Police asked for and were granted a remand for a week during which the mentality of the accused would be inquired into.

On Thursday 22 October 1942 the Daily Telegraph reported:1060

…The women are believed to have been attacked about six o’clock last evening, shortly after which hour a telephone call was received by the Napier police. It is believed that the weapon was a roller from a wringer. Medical assistance was summoned and the victims were removed to the hospital. It is alleged that at the time the attack took place there were four persons in the house – the two victims, a young girl and a young man. The girl is believed to have sustained minor injuries, including bruises following the attack on the elder women, but succeeded in escaping and summoning the assistance of neighbours.

Mrs Campbell snr., who is the widow of the late Mr AB Campbell, of Napier, is a well –known and highly respected resident of the town.

On Saturday 24 October 1942 the Daily Telegraph reported:1061

The second victim of the tragic assault in a residence in Kowhai Road Napier, on Wednesday evening last, Mrs Maude Campbell, aged 67 years, died at Napier Public Hospital at 12.52 this morn-ing. Mrs Campbell’s daughter-in-law Mrs Mavis Esther Campbell, aged 42, the other victim, died at the hospital yesterday. Since they were discovered badly injured and bleeding in an upstairs room in their residence on Wednesday evening, the two women had been in a critical condition in the hospital and little hope was held for their recovery.

The grandson of Maude Campbell was accused of killing her and her daughter-in-law and was brought before a grand jury in the Supreme Court in February 1943.1062 A prima facie case was found but after inquiry into his mental state he was found to be unfi t to plead.

The Hawke’s Bay Herald reported on 15 February 1943 that David John Campbell had been an inmate of Porirua Mental Hospital until his discharge in July 1942.1063 He went onto commit the

1059 Evening Post, 22.10.1942,1060 Daily Telegraph, 22.10.1942, page 2.1061 Daily Telegraph, 24.10.1942, page 2.1062 Daily Telegraph, 15.2.1943, page 2.1063 There had been a serious earthquake that year and a substantial part of



(C10_6) Police plan of the crime scene. The original copy was found in the strong room by Allan McLeod in this current form without any indication of to what

or who it related except for the address. Image source: Sainsbury Logan & Williams Archive.



atrocities in October of that same year but was said never to have appreciated the consequences of his own actions. The Jury (presided over by Chief Justice Sir Michael Myers) returned a verdict that young Campbell was not suffi ciently sane to proceed to trial and was therefore to be kept “…at Porirua until the pleasure of the Minister of Justice was known.”1064

David John Campbell died on 18 April 1947 at Porirua Mental Hospital,1065 four years after he was committed by Sir Michael Myers C. J. The cause of death was pulmonary tuberculosis but he was diagnosed as having suffered from schizophrenic dementia for some years. He was cremated at Karori, Wellington and was aged 23 years at the date of his death.

After an exhaustive search at Police National Headquarters it has been confi rmed that the Police fi le on this double murder was destroyed some time ago.1066 The only remaining documentary trace appears to be the newspaper records and the diagram depicting the crime scene which survived in the strong room until Allan McLeod came across it and preserved it.

JAMES HUNTER GEORGE MURDOCH (1880–1916)

(C10_10): Image source: Sainsbury Logan & Williams Archive.

James Hunter George Murdoch was born in 1880, admitted as a solicitor in 1903 and as a barrister in 1911. He became a partner

the Porirua Hospital had been destroyed. It is not known but surmised that David’s release from this Institution was either premature or ill-advised.

1064 Hawke’s Bay Herald, 15.2.1943. John Logan recalls attending pre-school with David Campbell in Napier and from his personal recollection (October 2010) says that right from the beginning “something was not quite right about him.” Audrey Ricketts (formerly Langley – see Chapter 8 under the heading First Female Practitioner in Hawke’s Bay) recalls attending school with David’s sister Glen Campbell. “The Campbell murder, I remember being quite a cause célèbre, especially in little Napier and involving people we knew. I think I fi rst knew Glen Campbell two or three years previously but was never a close friend and didn’t keep in touch. I have looked in the Napier Girls High School rolls and see a G Campbell listed a year ahead of me in 1941–1942, and presume that was Glen. I don’t know what happened to her later.” Use en dash with spans of years

1065 Death Certifi cate dated 21 April 1947. Births Deaths & Marriages, Wellington, Registration No. 1947/21733.

1066 Vanessa Kennedy, Honours & Awards Offi cer, New Zealand Police, 16.11.10.

in 1908 and was killed in action in 1916 during the First World War whilst still a partner.

He was born on 18 August 1880 in Wellington to Hunter Henry Murdoch (a Record Agent of London and later a Patent Agent and Hawke’s Bay Herald correspondent at the time of James’ birth) and Fanny Murdoch (daughter of the Reverend George Andrew Jacob of Devon). Hunter and Fanny emigrated to New Zealand in 1880 settling fi rst in Lower Hutt then Hawke’s Bay.

James Murdoch grew up in the family home at Riverslea (situ-ated at Riverslea and Murdoch Roads near Hastings). His mother was a published author and was responsible for the fi rst cook book published in New Zealand. Its title was Dainties or How to Please our Lords and Masters.1067

His father was described as being “a well-educated Scot…pok-ing fun at local foibles and pretentions”…as well as seeking “…to rid the town of intemperance and Salvationists and regarded himself as the protector of the poor working settlers.”

Hunter Murdoch was elected as an independent candidate to the local Hastings Council and held the seat from 1888 to 1890. He often attacked Council proceedings through his column in the Hawke’s Bay Herald. The Council eventually resolved to exclude him from his seat unless he apologised for “unfair and improper comment”. He chose to ignore the threat and resigned rather than face defeat. He authored several articles such as Domestic Brewing in the Hawke’s Bay Almanac and How To Make Money from Patents. His occupation in the electoral roll at the time was listed as “Dramatist”. He died in November 1903.

James Murdoch was still listed in 1908 (aged 28) as living in the family home in Murdoch Road. His mother Fanny and his sister Mary Edith lived in Cobden Road Napier Hill in 1911, later relocating to Feilding in 1919 where Fanny died in 1935.

James Murdoch was admitted to the Bar on 26 June 1911.1068 He became a partner in 1908 and went away to the war in 1915.

It appears that Mr J H G Murdoch became a member of the Hawke’s Bay District Law Society in 1909 and attended the Annual General Meeting on 15 March 1909.1069 In that year Mr A B Campbell was appointed President and Messrs Murdoch and Logan from Sainsbury Logan and Williams were appointed to be Members of the Council.

It appears that the very next meeting (28 April 1915) was the last attended by J H G Murdoch, as he went to war and was killed in action in France on 4 July 1916.1070

His Partner, Heathcote Williams chaired the meeting of the Law Society Council on 31 August 1916 where it was recorded:1071

It was proposed and carried that the Council express its deep regret of the loss the profession has sustained on the death of the Late Lieut Murdoch and that a copy of this resolution be sent to his relatives.

1067 Excerpt from text by Alison McKee: www.myjacobfamily.com/favershamjacobs/hunterhenrymurdoch

1068 Roll of Barristers of the Supreme Court of New Zealand (Napier Registry) Archives New Zealand; Agency No. AAOW, Accession W3244. See Appendix 5.

1069 Hawke’s Bay District Law Society Minutes, 15.3.1909.1070 Hawke’s Bay District Law Society Minutes, 28.4.1915.1071 Hawke’s Bay District Law Society Minutes, 31.8.1916.



The fi rm recognised his war efforts by supporting his mother and family by paying an annual sum of money through until the 1920s.

Frank Logan recalls J H G Murdoch as the person who tried valiantly to get him to pass his law papers whilst convalescing from tuberculosis away from Oxford. In 1909 Frank wrote:1072

My health seemed pretty good so I decided to carry on with law. I joined the fi rm of Sainsbury Logan & Williams as a clerk but the idea was that I was to have several breaks in the year. This legal fi rm was established by G R Sainsbury in 1875 and my father joined in 1882. Twice a week J H G Murdoch used to give me tuition in torts property etc. After three years of idleness I found it quite enjoyable to be at work again and earning 10/- a week. I made many friends and there was much joy in life. Every morning and even through the winter I bathed off the beach with a team of about a dozen – all of whom are now dead except Godfrey Jardine and Tosh Gilray.

At the time of his death James Hunter George Murdoch carried the rank of 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Horse Artillery and Royal Field Artillery Special Reserves.1073 His wife was named Edith Louise Murdoch and she is buried in the same churchyard

1072 Frank Logan Memoirs (unpublished), page 36, paragraph 3.1073 www.military-genealogy.com

as Hunter Henry Murdoch. She died on 11th July 1956. There is no record of any children. His sister Edith Louise did not marry.

The Hawke’s Bay District Law Society recorded his death in its Annual Report of 13 March 1917 in the following way:1074

The Council regrets the death of Mr James Hunter George Murdoch, the second member of the Society killed in the present war [the fi rst was Mr John Geoffrey Persse a Hastings practitioner].1075 He left New Zealand for England and obtained

1074 Hawke’s Bay District Law Society Annual Report, 17.3.1917.1075 John Geoffrey Persse volunteered for active service. He left with the

Expeditionary Force (Main Body) and was killed in action in the Dardanelles on 7 August 1915, having been promoted to the rank of

(C10_11): Extract from HBDLS Minutes 31.8.1916 Volume 2, page 10. This is an excerpt from the partnership records which deals with the £80 paid

per annum to the widow, mother and daughter of J H G Murdoch (who was a

partner of the fi rm killed in action in France). The full text of the note reads:

The fi rm has undertaken to make good to Messrs Campbell & Mackay the

promised payment by them as Trustees of the Murdoch Estate (J H G Murdoch

was at the time of his death in action in France a partner of the fi rm) of the

sum of £80 per annum (a payment on has already been made) for a period of

7 years to Mrs Murdoch Snr., Mrs J H G Murdoch and Miss Murdoch. At the

end of 7 years the position to be reviewed but there is no commitment. See

letters 19/1/27 to Mrs Murdoch File 66/16. W N J Mackay. This note made

(as a record) at request of Mr Logan. Other partners agreed. Also see Deed of

Covenant 16/2/27 Fanny Murdoch and others & F Logan and others. The sum

of £80 per annum may be reduced under the circumstances therein stated.



a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Artillery. He was killed in action in France on the 4th July 1916.

IVAN BIGGAR LOGAN (1886–1970)


Ivan Biggar Logan was born in 1886, admitted to the Bar shortly after completing his law studies and became a partner in 1910, retired in 1946 and died in 1970. Ivan was the second son of Francis Logan and was the second generation of the Logan fam-ily to practise law in the fi rm. His sons Ian and John1076 became part of the third generation to do so.

Ivan Biggar Logan was unanimously elected a member of the Hawke’s Bay District Law Society in 1913.1077

When his father died in 1933, Ivan Logan was regarded as the senior partner of the fi rm even though A B Campbell was more advanced in years and had been a partner for a longer period. He occupied the front offi ce; the fi rst sizeable room on the left after one entered the front doors.1078

According to Sir Owen Woodhouse he was a “quiet, rather reserved but friendly man touched slightly by what the English would call a public school background, upright in both the physical and moral sense and generally liked by the profession and by his clients, many of whom were family friends. He was an effi cient lawyer (a member of the Inner Temple) and like all other Logans was a complete gentleman, courteous and understanding with his staff, a generous friend and a fi rst class fi sherman”.1079

John Logan recalls:1080

There were four children in the Ivan Logan family – Nancy, Ian, myself and David. Ian and I decided to follow our father’s profes-sion. I was born on 4 July 1920 and because of my age and the fact

Corporal shortly before his death: Hawke’s Bay District Law Society Annual Report, 15.3.1916.

1076 See below in this Chapter and Chapter 10. Ian became a partner and John was a clerk for some time before the war interrupted his career plans.

1077 Hawke’s Bay District Law Society Minutes, 18.3.1913.1078 See Chapter 6 and the Finch & Westerholm plan of the premises fol-

lowing the earthquake.1079 Speech Notes, Centennial Dinner, Sir Owen Woodhouse (see Chapter

12 under the heading Centenaryl Celebrations).1080 John Logan, personal recollection.

that I went to boarding school at the age of seven, I did not get the chance to know my grandfather Francis well, but even at that early age I could see what a giant of a man he was and had been in work and sport and in his presence within the community. This was a daunting challenge to my father (Ivan) who had probably been under his father’s thumb in the offi ce.

My father had a distinguished career mainly as a family lawyer and trustee. He was trustee in many large farming and family estates, including many overseas people who had invested in farmland in New Zealand. He was always a ready listener as well as giving expert advice. Of a retiring nature, he was widely respected by all his clients and members of his profession as a man of great integrity and capacity. He was most meticulous of detail and never forgot anything. He was a very popular fi gure in the offi ce and could be approached at any time.

He was interested in all forms of sport and played rugby and cricket for his school (Wanganui Collegiate) and Oriel College at Oxford. He was a keen golf and tennis player and spent much time fi shing. For many years he was President of the Acclimatisation Society and a Church advocate at the Waiapu Diocese until his retirement from the legal fi rm.

He served in the army in France and Germany in the 1st World War and was Captain in the National Reserve in Napier in the 2nd World War.

He retired to Taupo in 1946 but through ill health returned to Westshore in 1965 and died there in 1970.

We had a very happy father/son relationship and it was a sad day when he went.

Frank Logan records in February 1942 that Ivan was in camp at McLean Park with the National Guard.1081

Hamilton Logan (son of Frank Logan and a nephew of Ivan’s) recalls:1082

I was the youngest of the [Frank Logan and Ivan Logan] families. During the war, when the Ivan Logan boys – Ian, John and David – were overseas, I used to spend weekends with my aunt and uncle in Napier. Uncle Ivan used to come to McLean Park when I was playing rugby. It was an opportunity to get to know this quiet, reserved man who had so much knowledge and so much to offer, but seldom expressed his opinion unless asked.

We talked a great deal about his days at Wanganui Collegiate where he had an outstanding career – head prefect, in the rugby and cricket teams and captain of the latter for two years.

He was nominated for a Rhodes Scholarship. Had he been selected he would have been one of the fi rst recipients. Rhodes Scholars were introduced in October 1903, the fi rst term of the Oxford year. My grandfather [Francis Logan] declined the offer, saying that as Ivan was going off to Oxford he would rather it be awarded to someone else. I have always felt that was a hard call on Ivan. It was an honour that he may have been denied.

He used to speak about Oxford days and how he was denied his rugby blue when he broke his arm playing on a frozen fi eld in Scotland two weeks out from the annual fixture against Cambridge.

1081 Frank Logan Memoirs (unpublished), page 122, paragraph 18.1082 Hamilton Logan, personal recollection.



He spoke of wonderful opportunities he had, to shoot all man-ner of game birds and fi sh for trout. Although he did all these things with his father in New Zealand, doing them in the United Kingdom was quite different. I believe it was these experiences that motivated him to give the Acclimatisation Society so much of his time.

Uncle Ivan, in my opinion, was very like his father, but lacked the charisma and drive that Francis had. In spite of his scholastic achievements and prowess on the sporting fi eld, he didn’t achieve his potential. It is a typical example of a son growing up under a successful father who expects too much of them.

After the earthquake Ivan Logan and his family came out to Pukekino to stay with the Frank Logans.

Ivan had a long association with the military. In 1903 whilst attending Wanganui Collegiate he was appointed as Acting Honorary Captain to the No. 3 Company, Wanganui Collegiate School Rifl e Cadet Volunteers.1083 His offi cial appointment was certifi ed by I M Babington, Major General and Commandant of the New Zealand Forces and countersigned by none other than R E Seddon, the (then) Prime Minister and Minister of Defence. It was a role he was obliged to relinquish in 1905 because he was absent abroad attending Oxford.

Ivan later trained in the Wairarapa in preparation for service in World War I. He had arrived in Europe two weeks before Armistice Day but then stayed on by request of the military until his return in October 1946 because he was engaged by the New Zealand military forces to defend the deserters.1084

In October 1945, Frank Logan records in his Memoirs:1085

Ivan’s health was not good these days and we wanted him to take a trip to England feeling six months’ holiday and a complete change of scenery would be the answer. However, he seemed to think that the only thing to do was to retire from the business. He and

1083 Archives New Zealand, AD61/5/387.1084 Hamilton Logan, personal recollection. Apparently he was able to get

a good number of them off their charges. Many were severely shell-shocked and did not deserve to be court-marshalled.

1085 Frank Logan Memoirs (unpublished), page 141, paragraph 13.

Mary went to Taupo for a week or two and for a few days we went to their home in Napier as there were meetings of Williams and Kettle, Harbour Board and McLean Trust to attend…[February 1946] Ivan’s health was not good and he decided to go to his cot-tage at Taupo for a year and take life easily [sic]1086…[December 1946] Ivan and Mary were mostly in Taupo as the former was taking a year more or less off work on account of his state of health.1087

Ivan had been a Major during World War II. He went away for extra service, to the Featherston Military Camp for training. Ivan and Mary went to live in Featherston. They lived there for a while:1088

I think Granny wondered what on earth she’d come to – cold and freezing. Grandpa was past service himself. He was there training the troops. My father [Ian Logan – see below] wanted to be in the air force but he was colour blind and wasn’t accepted.

I think grandpa might have overshadowed my father in a way. I think that grandpa’s children weren’t as gifted as grandpa, and my grandmother too was very gifted in her way.

She was an absolute crackerjack pianist and they lived at Wanaka Station. Her parents were Robert and Annie Turnbull. Mary was, as a young thing, brought up in Wanaka and she had a tutor who came out from England and tutored her. He came and lived with the family and taught her a technique and I think it was called the singing touch and she was a wonderful pianist – he told her that she could have been a concert pianist if she wanted to be…

But she didn’t want to be. She loved horses, she was a sports-woman, she loved golf and gardening and painting – she was a wonderful painter – she was a lovely water colourist – they actually went and lived in England when she was a teenager in Bath and she and her sister and brother were tutored privately. The brother actually went to a public school – that’s Monty Turnbull – he went to Radley and the other two were tutored at home. Mary did painting and she did all those fi ne things that young ladies of that age did. Grandpa was 84 when he died and granny was 89.

Frank was called laddie by his mother. I don’t think Granny Logan was that happy when Grandpa and Uncle Frank married the two Turnbull sisters.

Grandpa desperately wanted to go to Taupo and spend time fi sh-ing. Granny probably aided and abetted him as well because she was a wonderful fi sherwomen in her own right and because she was brought up at Lake Wanaka. Wanaka Station was right on the lake. She absolutely adored Lake Taupo because it reminded her of her years growing up at Lake Wanaka.

I think Granny had a special connection with me because I was still a little person when I lived there at the time that my mother fi rst contracted tuberculosis and I think I learnt to crawl with her. I think she may have thought of me as a slight extension of her own children in a way and she would read to me Winnie the Pooh and I have absolutely marvellous memories of her. I cannot say one word against my grandmother. But I think there was a story told that [my Uncle] David was on the Leander, a warship

1086 Frank Logan Memoirs (unpublished), page 143, paragraph 16.1087 Frank Logan Memoirs (unpublished), page 146, paragraph 5.1088 Jan Chalmers, personal recollection.

Photograph of the Napier Gas Company Board of Directors (date unknown).

Ivan Logan features front row (fi rst left). Image source: HBMAG No. 12455.



which came into port in Auckland at one stage during the war. Granny went to meet it and there she was – Mrs Logan – who was quite a grand lady and always dressed beautifully, always had big hats and everything and here she was standing away from the crowd – standing by herself so that he could see her, which was quite a good idea in lots of ways, but of course he nearly died a million deaths because here he was with all the young sailors going “…aw David there’s your ma…” and I think that he was highly embarrassed by this – aren’t we all?

When Ivan and Mary went to live in Mere Road, Taupo, Allan McLeod recalls travelling there on occasion and taking documents for him to sign such as Deeds of Retirement and Appointment of Trustees,1089 which was a hangover of his legacy of having been a partner for so long – 36 years.1090

MILTON REID GRANT (“BUDGE”) (1880–1961)

Milton Reid Grant was born in 1880, admitted as a Solicitor on 9 June 1916 and as a barrister on 11 June 1921,1091 became a partner in 1919 and died in offi ce in 1961. He was a very busy partner. He acted for two building societies, the Hawke’s Bay Harbour Board and attended to any major court work, apart from criminal. In fact the fi rm has never specialised in criminal work, although it is understood that Jim Zohrab did some

1089 Allan McLeod, personal recollection, 26.7.2010. 1090 See Appendix 1.1091 Roll of Barristers & Solicitors, Archives New Zealand, (AAOW W3244

289). Prior to 1966, law graduates in New Zealand had been required to elect whether to qualify as a barrister (meaning a court lawyer) or a solicitor (meaning a lawyer who undertook conveyancing and other types of work that did not require court appearances). The course con-tent at College differed, depending on which career path was elected. Some graduates decided to complete papers in both and could there-fore be admitted both as a barrister and a solicitor which would entitle them to do both court and non-court work. Curiously Budge Grant was admitted as a barrister on the same day that his partner Buck Amyes was admitted as a solicitor of the Supreme Court (Budge being the older of the two and having previously been admitted as a solicitor). There was often a gap between admission as a barrister and admission as a solicitor on the different rolls. Typically a practitioner’s career path would see him (or her) shifting from solicitor type work to court work and in these days a separate qualifi cation was required before admis-sion to each roll.

criminal work shortly after joining the fi rm. He was formerly a schoolmaster and was Vice-President of the Hawke’s Bay District Law Society in 1944 and President in 1945. Len Lister recalls that Mr Grant taught his father and uncle when they were in Standard 6 at Clive School.1092

Budge Grant lived at the foot of Balquhidder Road in a home which Sir Owen Woodhouse often visited as a small boy.1093 He recalls that his wife had something of the temperament which has given rise to the loose but apposite description of appearing “highly strung”. Their only child, Margaret, was a quiet unpreten-tious girl, older than Sir Owen and must have been educated at one of the small private schools which could then be found on the Napier Hill. Budge Grant had largely an in-house role as a partner in Sainsbury Logan & Williams, but occasionally he would appear in Court to argue some legal issue, in particular for the Napier Harbour Board.

According to Sir Owen he decided (perhaps unwisely) that he should conduct a claim in the Compensation Court brought by the Board in 1947 against the Napier City Council. It was the only case in which Sir Owen ever found himself pitted against the pleasant but remote father of his childhood friend. At issue was the amount to be paid by the Council for land it had taken under the Public Works Act for use as the local airport. Prior to the 1931 earthquake it had been the seabed of the inner harbour, but when all land in the district had been abruptly raised by the earthquake, the relevant area had become dry, salt infested land. The Harbour Board pinned its valuation on potential use of the area for agriculture or sheep farming and claimed an amount in current dollar terms of what would have been $2 million. The Board employed a rural valuer and some farming clients of Sainsbury Logan & Williams to justify the fi gure. In reply, Napier City Council had offered a quarter of that sum, an amount which was paid into Court when litigation became inevitable. Sir Owen had heard of an elderly unorthodox Palmerston North valuer named Monteith, who had some background in indus-trial chemistry. On his advice much digging began across the whole area involved, samples were despatched to determine

1092 Len Lister, personal recollection, 23.8.2010.1093 Sir Owen Woodhouse, personal recollection.

(C10_9): Photo of Ivan Logan fi shing at Lake Rotongaio with Mount Tauhara

in the background. Image source: Jan Chalmers.

Milton Reid Grant. Image source: Sainsbury Logan & Williams Archive.



their level of noxious salts and the results given with graphic emphasis on beautifully coloured charts. Mr Justice O’Leary, recently appointed Chief Justice, heard the case. He listened politely to the rural evidence of the carrying capacity of land in various areas of Hawke’s Bay, examined with glistening eyes the bright charts and helpful tables put up by Napier City, and then delivered a decision which gave the Harbour Board rather less than two thirds of the amount that had actually been paid into Court.

Sir Owen Woodhouse’s father engaged Budge Grant in 1932 to write a letter to a Mr Briasco in response to a demand to account for a tent that had been used by one of the many homeless families in the immediate aftermath of the 1931 earthquake. As the story goes, Briasco permitted the Woodhouses to utilise a tent which was erected on their lawn at Balquihidder Road and was able to accommodate a family of eleven who were rendered homeless by the quake. The letter of 16 November 1932 goes on:1094

Before the end of the week Mr Woodhouse removed his own family to Auckland leaving a number of strangers camped on his lawn and to whom he gave the run of his house.

On his return from Auckland a few days later he found that three tents which had been erected on his lawn had been removed without his knowledge or permission.

After much inquiry he ascertained and advised your client that the tents had been removed by Mr Lemmon of Poraite on the Sunday following the earthquake and that in removing the tents Mr Lemmon was acting under the direct instructions of the Offi cer-in-charge at the Nelson Park Camp, Napier, during the months immediately following the earthquake, was more or less under Military control, and during this period property was commandeered right and left for the public good. Mr Briasco is the fi rst man that we have heard of who has tried to make his neighbour responsible for anything done during that period.

This particular tent was “commandeered” for the use of a man with a family of ten to house. Your client is by no means the only owner who was so treated but in return he and his family in com-mon with hundreds of others were housed and fed at the public expense for quite a considerable time following the earthquake.

We venture to suggest that today all right-minded citizens of Napier have balanced their earthquake accounts setting benefi ts received against losses suffered. Most of us fi nd the balance on the credit side.

We have answered your letter at considerable length because we think the circumstances warrant such a reply.

In conclusion we suggest that if your client considers he has a good moral and legal claim he should proceed to action. We shall be pleased to accept service.

Budge Grant was a member of the Reconstruction Committee after the earthquake. He was appointed by the Government Commissioners and representing the Law Society.1095

1094 Sir Owen Woodhouse, personal archives. The letter is an original carbon copy letter on pink duplicate paper bearing Budge Grant’s sig-nature in fountain pen ink.

1095 Hawke’s Bay District Law Society Minutes, 31.7.1931.

(C10_14): Original carbon copy letter on pink duplicate paper sent on behalf

of Sir Owen Woodhouse’s father to Mr Briasco’s solicitors. Image source: Sir

Owen Woodhouse, private collection.

(C10_15): Briasco letter (page 2).



He was very active in the submissions on the Land Transfer (Hawke’s Bay) Amendment Act 19311096 and other reconstruc-tion legislation and on a regular basis was delegated to attend Wellington and lobby the Registrar-General on a variety of matters arising out of the earthquake and its aftermath. As a partner at Sainsbury Logan & Williams he was in charge of the Hawke’s Bay Harbour Board lease portfolio and the reconstruction of those leases. The land transfer dealings with third parties required considerable effort and practical thought where Declarations of Loss of titles and instruments was a com-monplace drafting exercise, the deponents (often clerks within the offi ce) having to swear that they had looked in all places “likely and unlikely” for the missing titles and instruments when everyone knows that they were destroyed by fi re.

Under normal rules, whenever a perpetually renewable lease was created, the Registrar would issue three copies of the lease – Original, Duplicate and Triplicate. The Original was held by the Land Transfer Offi ce. The Duplicate was held by the occupier as Lessee, or his or her solicitor or banker as security on mortgage. The Triplicate copy was held by the Harbour Board through its solicitors pursuant to its interest as Lessor.

Although many of the duplicate (where the fi rm acted for the occupier) and triplicate (in respect of the Harbour Board) copies


of the leases were saved because of their storage in the strong room, many documents that were out and in use would have been lost in the fi re. This led to the practice of all of the partners, solicitors and clerks daily clearing their offi ces of important deeds of title and other documents, placing them on trolleys or trays for storage overnight in the strong room. Budge Grant was, for example, responsible (with others) for obtaining the District Land Registrar’s approval to the practice of “accepting two copies of the outstanding Triplicate copy and of returning one to the solicitor duly certifi ed without fee”.1097

What this meant in practise is that the Triplicate copy of the particular lease which was held by Sainsbury Logan & Williams on behalf of the Harbour Board was likely to have been the only copy in existence. The Original copy would have been stored at the Land Transfer Offi ce which was completely destroyed in the earthquake and subsequent fi re. The Duplicate copy will have been held by the Lessee’s solicitor and may or may not have survived the earthquake and fi re. If it was held by the Lessee’s mortgagee then it was likely to have been kept safe in a strong room either within Hawke’s Bay or elsewhere depending on which bank or fi nancial institution was involved. The effort in piecing together the jigsaw would have been enormous. The effect of the District Land Registrar’s approval was to avoid


(C10_16) Picture of the Reconstruction Committee. Image source: Geoff Conly, Hawke’s Bay “before” and “after”: the great earthquake of 1931: an historical record, Daily Telegraph, Napier, 1981.



having to produce a Declaration of Loss and reconstruct each lease whenever a transaction was required to be registered on the title.

One of the other practical steps taken by practitioners following the earthquake was to agree “that in every Contract for the sale and purchase of land in Hawke’s Bay there should be implied a covenant on the part of the Vendor that he [sic] will within, say, three months of the date of the Contract, make an effective application to have his [sic] Title copied or reconstructed and that legislative authority should be obtained for this.”1098

At the Annual General Meeting of the Hawke’s Bay District Law Society in 1940 the meeting recorded, in the spirit of pastoral care that a professional body could display, the following:1099

On the Motion of Mr Lawry, seconded by Mr Harker, it was resolved that the Secretary send a letter to Mr Grant in the name of the Meeting congratulating him on his recovery of health and looking forward to his return to business.

Budge Grant died in offi ce in 1961.

GODFREY BASIL AMYES (“BUCK”) (1897–1965)


Godfrey Basil Amyes was born in 1897, admitted as a solicitor in 19211100 and as a barrister in 1939, became a partner in 1934, and died in offi ce in 1965.

He was a junior partner when Peter Cornforth commenced working in June 1932. Buck Amyes spent much of his time working on mortgagors’ relief applications. The government of the day had passed legislation under which all mortgagors could apply to special tribunals for relief from their mortgage liabilities. Quite large sums were written off and interest varied or readjusted. Appeals lay to a Judge of the Supreme Court.1101 Buck Aymes was made a Notary Public in 1949.

1098 Hawke’s Bay District Law Society Minutes, 24.11.1932.1099 Hawke’s Bay District Law Society Minutes, 3.4.1940.1100 Roll of Barristers & Solicitors, Archives New Zealand, (AAOW W3244

289). See Appendix 5 and the footnote reference under the previous heading for Milton Reid Grant. Curiously Buck Aymes was admitted as a solicitor on the same day that his partner Budge Grant was admitted as a barrister of the Supreme Court.

1101 Peter Cornforth, personal recollection.

Buck Amyes became the senior partner of Sainsbury Logan & Williams after the retirement of Ivan Logan. He was described as being a cheerful, gregarious man, unaffected, friendly with everybody, always smartly dressed, known to one and all as “Buck” and was probably successful in gaining many clients for the fi rm.

His wife was a pleasant, smiling, party-loving person who also had been given a nickname which seemed to suit her attitude – “girlie” she was called.1102

1102 Sir Owen Woodhouse, personal recollection.

(C10_18): Original goatskin document appointing Buck Amyes a Notary

Public in 1949. Image source: Sainsbury Logan & Williams Archive.

(C10_19): Buck Amyes’ Notarial Seal. Image source: Sainsbury Logan &

Williams Archive.



(C10_20): Ibid. Note the fold-down embossed seal. Image source: Sainsbury Logan & Williams Archive.

(C10_21): Ibid. Original Bishop’s Seal is red, embossed and conical in the shape. Image source: Sainsbury Logan & Williams Archive.



Buck Amyes was President of the Hawke’s Bay Club from 1959 to 1960.1103

Despite having been admitted as a barrister in 1939, Buck Amyes may never have appeared in any court. His interests lay in effi cient attention to the conveyancing and family affairs of many personal clients.

WILLIAM AENEAS MCLEOD (1907–1981)


William (Bill) Aeneas McLeod was born on 14 August 1907, was admitted to the Bar in 1946, became a partner in 1946, retired in 1975 and died in 1981.

He was a close friend of Sir Owen Woodhouse who gave a eulogy at his funeral service at Taupo on 25 August 1981.1104

He came to Hawke’s Bay as Managing Clerk for Humphreys & Humphreys.1105 “He took the place of a chap named Bailey who was Managing Clerk at the time but who had wrongly accessed trust funds”.1106 After his admission to the Bar in Dunedin, Bill McLeod came to Napier in the 1930s to the position in the fi rm known as Humphreys & Humphreys. Then in 1940 he bought the practice of Mayne & Runciman.1107 Sainsbury Logan & Williams became caretakers for that practice during the time that Bill McLeod volunteered for war service in World War II. After serving in the Pacifi c, Bill returned to Napier and on 1 April 1945 was admitted to partnership with Sainsbury Logan & Williams.

Bill married Nellie Brown (born 10.7.1912). Nellie was the daughter of one of the founders of W D & H O Wells (Australia) and was the fi rst woman in Sydney to drive a car. They had two

1103 Hawke’s Bay Club Archives.1104 Sir Owen Woodhouse, personal archives.1105 Portrait of a Profession, page 287.1106 Sir Owen Woodhouse, personal archives.1107 Hawke’s Bay District Law Society Minutes, 3.9.1941, record that

“Notices regarding the sale of Mr Runciman’s Practice to Mr W A McLeod were received and Mr McLeod’s application that Mr H E Edgley be approved as Auditor was directed to be referred to the Joint Committee.” That approval was subsequently granted and a letter con-fi rming that was recorded in the Minutes of the subsequent Council meeting held on 24.11.1941. Mr Runciman, who had been suffering from ill health, died shortly thereafter as was recorded in the Minutes of the AGM on 15 May 1942.

children, Marion and Allan. Allan later became a partner of Sainsbury Logan & Williams in 1965.1108

(C10_23): Bill McLeod at his graduation from law school. Image source:

Allan McLeod.

Over the period of the next 30 years, during which time he rose to the position of senior partner with the fi rm, Bill McLeod distinguished himself in many areas of the law. In the late 1940s it was court work which engaged his attention, and later he became well known in the fi elds of commercial and farming practice. He acted for a number of local authorities and sub-stantial organisations. He was a Council member of the Hawke’s Bay District Law Society and was President in 1959 and 1960. He represented the district at New Zealand Law Society level and is remembered for his involvement in the establishment of the NZLS’s own building in Wellington and also the Solicitors’ Fidelity Guarantee Fund. He attended the Commonwealth Law Conference in Edinburgh in 1961 and delivered a paper there, the subject of which was the establishment of that fund in New Zealand. Bill McLeod was a man whose interests ranged far and wide. He enjoyed his golf and fi shing and was a very competent cricketer. For many years he was a member of the Hawke’s Bay Club, and the Napier Rotary Club being its President in the mid 1950s. He served on the Napier High School Board of Governors, being at one time Deputy Chairman.

Bill McLeod was very proud of his Scottish Ancestry and was one of those responsible for the founding of the Clan McLeod of New Zealand.

Bill McLeod purchased a property in Taupo jointly with Jock Twigg1109 and would often entertain Owen and Peggy Woodhouse there. Later on, during a New Zealand Law Society Triennial Conference held in Taupo, Bill and Nellie McLeod hosted Lord Denning at their Taupo house. Also present was Hutchinson QC who became a Judge and was the last member of the New Zealand judiciary to sentence a man to death. Allan McLeod recalls that an Australian Judge was visiting at the time of the conference also and was personally involved in a motor vehicle accident somewhere close to Four Mile Bay, near Taupo township. The

1108 See later in this Chapter under the heading Allan McLeod.1109 Allan McLeod, personal recollection, 26.7.2010.



to Wellington for treatment. Ian was left with two children and although he had the services of a Karitane Nurse available to him, he had a tough time running the house.

GILBERT WILLIAM STEWART (1907–1976)


Gilbert William (“Gibb”) Stewart was born in 1907, admitted to the Bar in 1947, became a partner in 1947, retired on 31 May 1964 and died in 1976. Gibb Stewart was for many years a conscientious clerk in the fi rm and admitted as a partner after the war.1112

1112 Sir Owen Woodhouse, personal recollection.

Police arrived and there were “QCs everywhere”. He observed the crash and in particular the mud on the mudguard and mused that one of the decisions he was currently writing back in Australia would need to be “re-organised” on account of what he had just observed himself from his own accident. Apparently no charges followed for anyone at the scene.

Bill McLeod dressed immaculately and always wore a hat.1110 It is correct to say that he was critical of some of his colleagues and clients and did not suffer fools gladly but was nevertheless a kindly man and a very able lawyer.

During the time that Ian Logan was a partner at Sainsbury Logan & Williams (1947–1956) he found his professional relationship with Bill McLeod very awkward.1111 According to John Logan (Ian’s brother) he was not the only one. Ian Logan in particular was a chap who needed encouragement and he had a tough time also because his wife had tuberculosis and she had to go

1110 Ibid.1111 John Logan, personal recollection.

(C10_24): Bill McLeod’s Certifi cate of Court showing his admission as a

barrister of the Supreme Court. Image source: Allan McLeod.

(C10_25): Bill McLeod pictured separately on the occasion of Allan McLeod’s

admission. Image source: Allan McLeod.

(C10_26): Bill and Nell McLeod’s house in Coleman Terrace/Selwyn Road.

Image source: Allan McLeod.



Jan Chalmers recalls Gibb Stewart as “a very, very nice man. He and his wife made a lovely couple. They had one daughter”.1113

Gibb Stewart was captured in Greece and was a Prisoner of War in the latter part of World War II.1114

Allan McLeod recalls Gibb Stewart as having been severely shell-shocked in the desert during the war from which he never fully recovered.1115

Bob Logan served with Sergeant Gibb Stewart (C Company, 25th Battalion, 3rd Echelon, 2nd NZEF) during World War II. Bob recalls:1116

When war was declared, Gibb enlisted immediately. Early 1940 he received orders to report to Trentham Military Camp for a crash course in infantry, completed in 2 ½ months. He became a Sergeant Instructor. New recruits arrived in May, fi nished their course in early July and joined C Company. That completed the 25th Battalion for overseas duty. There was then 16 days of fi nal leave before embarkation. We slipped out of Wellington Heads early in the morning. The escort Achilles was waiting for us and we linked up at Perth with two Australian troop ships. From there we had a huge escort (one battleship, one cruiser and fi ve destroyers to guide us through dangerous seas). We reached our destination (Egypt) safely and went to base camp (Maadi) and then straight into training. That was tough. We had to route march 25 miles in full web one day a week in searing heat. We were only allowed one litre of water and sucked pebbles to keep our mouths moist. Greece was the fi rst big battle. The New Zealand Division was outgunned. Sergeant Gibb Stewart was taken prisoner and not released until the war was over. Sadly he never regained good health.

1113 Jan Chalmers, personal recollection.1114 Bob Logan, personal recollection.1115 Allan McLeod, personal recollection.1116 Bob Logan, personal recollection, 9.5.11

(C10_28): 25th Company in the Wairarapa before leaving New Zealand. Gibb Stewart is denoted with the yellow arrow and Bob Logan with the red arrow. Image

source: Bob and Hirani Logan.

(C10_29): From a legal and accounting perspective, when a partner retires

from practice, the current partnership is dissolved and a new partnership

formed amongst the remaining partners (which may or may not include the

admission into partnership of new blood). This document records a settle-

ment between the remaining partners and Gibb Stewart (personally) on his

retirement from practice in 1964. The signatories to the document are Buck

Amyes, Bill McLeod, Jim Zohrab and Allan McLeod. Image source: Sainsbury

Logan & Williams Archive.



IAN MCGREGOR LOGAN (1915–1958)


Ian McGregor Logan was born in 1915, admitted as a solicitor of the Supreme Court in Wellington on 9 April 19481117 and became a partner in 1947. He retired from the partnership in 1956 to relocate to Fiji and died in offi ce in 1958 from polio.

Ian Logan joined the Army in April 1940 and proceeded to Trentham.1118 Frank Logan in his Memoirs records in July 1942 that news came that Ian Logan had married Kay Wilson, who was nursing in Fiji where Ian was stationed for some months with the New Zealand Forces.1119

In July 1943 Ian Logan was back from war service in the Islands. Ivan and Mary gave a party before he went off to New Caledonia. Later he proceeded to Italy on commission.1120

Kay Logan who had been ailing for some time, was pronounced to have a tubercular infection in her spine and was admitted to Napier Hospital Shelters. It was a sad business but she was very plucky and resigned.1121

John Logan provides the following history on his brother’s time in and out of the law:1122

Ian left Wanganui Collegiate at the end of 1932 and went down to Victoria University in 1933 to study for his LLB. He worked in the legal fi rm of Luke Cunningham & Clare at the same time until 1937 when he returned to Napier and joined the fi rm of Sainsbury Logan & Williams. At that time he was almost qualifi ed.

Ian was a quiet, unassuming person with a dry, delightful sense of humour. He was always friendly and never had a bad word to say about anyone. Needless to say he was popular with all his clients as far as his work was concerned. He was a real plodder and made sure everything was correct.

He joined the army in 1940, was commissioned in New Zealand and posted to Fiji for further training. He saw service in the Solomon Islands and elsewhere. He was married in Fiji to Kay and they both arrived back in New Zealand in 1943. After spending

1117 Roll of Solicitors currently held in the Registry Offi ce in the High Court, Wellington.

1118 Frank Logan Memoirs (unpublished), page 115, paragraph 12.1119 Frank Logan Memoirs (unpublished), page 124, paragraph 9.1120 Frank Logan Memoirs unpublished), page 128, paragraph 15.1121 Frank Logan Memoirs (unpublished), page 146, paragraph 13. 1122 John Logan, personal recollection.

leave in New Zealand Ian was posted to the Middle East and saw service in Italy before being sent home in 1945.

Ian rejoined Sainsbury Logan & Williams in 1946 and was made a partner in 1947.

During the next few years, Kay was seriously ill from time to time and had to be hospitalised away from home which caused a lot of stress on the whole family. At the same time, Ian’s partnership with the fi rm was not a happy one. During Ian’s posting to Fiji he had become very friendly with a lawyer there (John Falvey) whose fi rm was “Cromptons”. Ian had kept in touch with John and the upshot of it all was that Ian accepted John’s offer of a partnership so a decision was made to move to Fiji in 1956. They were well and happily settled in when Ian died of polio in 1958 and the family returned to New Zealand to the home in Hadfi eld Terrace which they had fortunately retained.

I believe that if Ian had had any encouragement to remain in partnership in Sainsbury Logan & Williams he would have chosen to stay with the fi rm. Ian got very little encouragement. He was the type of bloke…who was quiet, very friendly, good sense of humour and very thorough. He was a plodder and I think if he’d stayed there he could have done well.

I also believe that had he stayed, the Firm would have benefi ted greatly from his total honesty, sense of humour, sense of duty to his clients and loyalty to his fellow partners – qualities which were dear to his grandfather (Francis) and to his father (Ivan).

Ian and I were great pals and his passing was tragic.

Ian left the practice1123 and moved to Fiji. He had met a good friend in Fiji during the war, John Falvy. At that time Ian and his wife had three children (Jan, Andrew and Anabel). Ian contracted polio and died. There was no vaccination available in those days. Ian’s parents were shattered. They were living in Taupo. They got the news through the Taupo Post Offi ce by cable and they were very upset. Ivan and his sister, Nancy fl ew over for the funeral. Ivan’s wife could not go because she suffered from bad claustrophobia, something to do with being trapped in a store during the 1931 earthquake which had traumatised her. A lot of children had contracted polio during that epidemic in Fiji. Ian was placed on an iron lung but died pretty quickly afterwards.1124

Jan Chalmers (Ian and Kay’s eldest daughter) recalls the time of her father’s premature death:1125

…you see Dad died in September 1958 and there was no social security over there [in Fiji] and so Andrew and Anabel, who were fi ve and three at the time were just little children and there was nothing to do but to come back. Fortunately they hadn’t sold the house in Hadfi eld Terrace, they’d just rented it out because my mother had thought, we’ll just see how it goes in Fiji and you never know – your parents might want the smaller house, she was quite practical. My father was all for selling up and going and as it turned out it was very good decision not to because she was

1123 His resignation as a Member of the Law Society was recorded in the Council Minutes of the Hawke’s Bay District Law Society at its meeting held on 17 November 1955 and it was moved at the subsequent meet-ing on 15 December 1955 that “Mr Logan is to be formally advised that it is with regret that the Society accepts his resignation”.

1124 John Logan, personal recollection1125 Jan Chalmers, personal recollection.



able to come back with the children. Unfortunately a few months after we got back my mother got TB for the second time.

My parents were married in 1942. I was born in 1945. My mother had been a nurse at the hospital in Suva and had contracted TB from a patient and it stayed in her system and came out probably about 1946. She spent a year, 14 months I think, it was down at Wellington Hospital and Otaki Sanatorium and my father and I went and lived in Gladstone Road with my grandparents while she was in hospital. The Hadfi eld Terrace house was right next door to the Gladstone Road house, so Dad went back there and I think he used to go down to Wellington on the weekends to see her. She came back and eventually recovered. She was not supposed to have any more children, that was a no-no for her, but she did have a pregnancy which old Dr Barnett terminated when I was about three which was an absolutely terrible heartbreak – it was dreadful for them…yet they has another 2 children, Andrew and Anabel?

Dad had met Mum in Fiji. Mum was a nurse at the CWN Hospital when they met – Dad was stationed there during the war at one stage. They took nurses out, those guys, and they met by default really because he was supposed to be taking out somebody else and he kind of reneged, he’d met mum in the meantime and took her out instead, anyway that’s what she told me. They had a whirlwind romance really – they were engaged within weeks and married within months. They married in Fiji in 1942 and they had met several nice people who lived there, including John and Margaret Falvey…. So John Falvey was in Cromptons (Lawyers) in Fiji and they had kept in touch and mum and dad had had a holiday over there and I think it was in the early 1954. It was then they must have talked about maybe going over there permanently. The Logan thing, Gran and Grandpa expected an awful lot of their children, especially Granny. She was very keen on her sons doing her bidding – in the nicest possible way. They were good boys and they did what they were told. David Logan, the youngest one went and lived in England for years and years and came back in the early 1960s. He was the youngest and Granny doted on him but he couldn’t bear all that, so he escaped and I don’t know that he ever really had a very good relationship with his mother. Granny was very protective, I don’t think she really liked any of her daughters-in-law or her son-in-law for that matter particularly, but funnily enough Granny really mellowed in her old age and my mother and her got on like a house on fi re when we came back from Fiji. Granny was wonderful to mum – they both were.

When my father died, Grandpa came over to Fiji for the funeral but Granny stayed in New Zealand. She couldn’t fl y because of claustrophobia…she had been locked in the loos at Blyth’s during the 1931 earthquake and that seriously affected her.

I came back with [Grandpa and my Aunt, Nancy Fisher] on a plane with TEAL as it was in those days. Mum and the two little children stayed over there for probably another six weeks. It was before Christmas when they got back. I actually stayed with my grandparents in Taupo. They were retired to Taupo then and I lived with them for a while and then I lived with Uncle John and my cousins for a while and went to the local primary school up there. It was the next year 1959 that mum’s TB came back and

she was in hospital for a year. I went to the Napier Girls High School – she went to Napier Hospital.

She was lying in a plaster cast – it came back into her spine again and she was lying fl at in a plaster cast for a whole year. We had a succession of housekeepers when she was in hospital and so it was a fairly disruptive time for everybody.

She did not harbour any bitterness about going to Fiji and my father dying and the fact that it might not have happened if they had stayed in New Zealand. She was not like that. She didn’t have it in her.

She absolutely adored our father and they were married for sixteen years and she never married again, he was her kind of person and only love in lots of ways. There were quite a number of cases of polio. I think there were only three people who died and Dad was amongst them…his polio attacked his chest, rather than his legs like it attacked a lot of people’s legs – he was paralysed in the chest – he was on an iron lung and because of that there was a huge strain on his heart and I think he lived a week and then he died of a sudden major heart attack. He had a tracheotomy. He contracted the polio they think from a client and he wasn’t immunized and it was just before a vaccine came out. He had an enormous temperature of course and they thought they were getting on top of it – he was starting to get movement back in his fi ngers and his legs were absolutely unaffected, in fact he could move his legs. He could bang them up and down inside the iron lung, but his whole chest was paralysed and he couldn’t talk of course, so he had a tracheotomy done to help him breath and he was starting to get the feeling back in his fi ngers when he died of a massive coronary. He was a fi t young man at 42 and it was just too much for him…

I was nine going on ten when we went to Fiji and was 13 when my father died. I have absolutely clear recollections of the whole thing – we lived in a series of houses. There was a housing short-age at the time and we lived in rental housing in Suva. They looked at lots of places to buy and never ever found anything and they decided they were going to build. In the end they bought a section up on a suburb called Tamavua which is on the hill overlooking the bay. It had a lovely view of the harbour and of the hills around. That’s when dad got sick and died and so that never eventuated. The land at Deuba was bought by my mother who had got an inheritance from her parents side. She inherited a little bit of money which she put into fi ve acres of land at Deuba which is right on the beach– it’s now a tourist place on the eastern side, 20 miles north of Suva…

They bought a section at Taupo which was before they decided to go and live in Fiji and then when they went to Fiji they decided to sell up their land and put the money into buying this land which was undeveloped really, it was quite swampy and so they spent weekend after weekend going down there and draining the land, planting coconut trees. They planted absolutely dozens and dozens of coconut trees and they had had it all drained by the time Dad died. Mum held onto that land for years and in fact wanted to sell it but there were no buyers around but then in the 70s a buyer suddenly appeared. John Falvey was still over there and he acted for Mum as far as the land in Fiji went. He was a wonderful help to her because he was able to complete the conveyancing.

Because the currency in Fiji was still sterling in those days for



every pound she got three times as much in dollar terms. It was wonderful. It enabled her to build the house at Taupo. We had a cottage at Pukawa on Lake Taupo and it enabled her to extend and renovate her own house, put on a room and so forth and also have money left over.

Anabel, [Jan’s younger sister] recalls:1126

I remember mum saying on the day he died, they all thought he was going to get better cause he had this sudden burst of energy where he could do all sorts of things and it just killed him like that. Aunt Nancy and grandpa came over – granny of course couldn’t face it. Everyone was notifi ed by cable including his brother, David Logan who was at that time in England.

One of the adventures reported by the (un)offi cial journalists of Ian’s service during World War II involved a potentially embar-rassing moment as follows:1127

…With the Japs pressing hard around Soanotalu, Lieutenant I. McG. Logan decided to take a stroll in the evening air, and returned later to tell his sergeant that he was sure there were Japs about, for several had run away from him, and that he would have shot at them, if he hadn’t forgotten to take his pistol with him.

1126 Anabel Kornigstrofer, granddaughter of Ivan and Mary and sister to Jan Chalmers, personal recollection.

1127 Story of the 34th: The Unoffi cial History of a New Zealand Infantry Battalion with the Third Division in the South Pacifi c, The Third Division Histories Committee, AH & AW Reed.

Eulogy for Ian McGregor Logan1128

Reverend FiggusSuva FijiSeptember 1958

We stand this morning in the deep shadow of personal loss occasioned by the death of Ian McGregor Logan. A death which we in our human near-sightedness call tragic and ill-timed.

1128 The text of this eulogy was kindly supplied by Jan Chalmers.

(C10_32): Order of Service, Christmas & New Year Celebrations for the 8th Brigade 1941–1942. Image source: Andrew Logan.

(C10_31): 2nd Lieutenant Ian Logan during his during service with the 8th

Brigade, 2nd NZEF. Image source: John Logan.



He is a strange man who, in the presence of death, is not humbled; who in the sudden passing of a friend well loved, and in the prime of life, is not moved to serious thoughts about the meaning and purpose of this life. And he can count himself an exceptional man who is not at a time like this tempted to question the ways of God and fl ing out towards heaven the ringing, echoing cry of all distressed and perplexed humanity, “My God, my God, why…”?

Yet in all our distress and perplexity, our sorrows and our pain we shall do well if with a sense of thanksgiving and joy we “gather up the fragments that remain.”

We cannot judge the worth of a human life – a son, a husband, a father, a friend and fellow-worker by length of years along. The value of a human life can only be assessed in terms of love.

Ian Logan was dearly loved by many; but, what is far more impor-tant in the fi nal reckoning, Ian Logan loved greatly.

He loved his work and those with whom and for whom he worked. He gave himself to that work wholeheartedly, holding nothing back.

He loved his family, his wife and children with a deep and abid-ing affection. To them he gave himself completely, “loving and cherishing them even as his own fl esh.”

He loved his God and served him “faithfully in the fellowship of his Church.” And to him who loves much, shall much be forgiven.

And so for ourselves we are reminded in this solemn moment that one day we too must come to die. When that day comes, be it soon or late, we shall be judged of God not by how long we lived, how much we did, how much money we made or how many honours we accumulated, but solely by how much we loved.

Ian Logan’s death was marked by the Council of the Hawke’s Bay District Law Society in the following way:1129

The President referred to the death of the late Ian Logan and it was resolved on the motion of Messrs. Tattersall and Bisson that the Society records its sympathy with the father and widow of Mr Logan and a letter of condolence is to be sent accordingly. The


(C10_33): Ibid.

(C10_34): Ian Logan and his wife Kay during service years in Fiji. Image

source: Andrew Logan.



Secretary [Mr A K Monagan] reported that he had arranged for a wreath to be forwarded, after discussion with the President.

The Annual Report of the Society for the year ended 31 December 1958 recorded the following:1130

We record with deep regret the death during the year of Mr Ian M Logan. Mr Logan was formerly a member of this Society, and at the time of his death was practising in Suva. He was the third generation of his family to practise in this district. The Council, on your behalf, has tendered its sincere sympathy to his widow and parents.

1130 Hawke’s Bay District Law Society Annual Report, 10.2.1959.

(C10_35): Ian Logan (4th from the left) during his service years. Image source: Andrew Logan.

(C10_36): Ian Logan and his wife Kay (date unknown). It is though to have

been taken at Allison Armagh’s wedding some time in the 1940s. Image source:

Andrew Logan.

(C10_37): Photo (date unknown) of Ian Logan with daughter Jan Chalmers,

John Logan holding Mary Logan and John Oakley holding Sarah Oakley. Image

source: Jan Chalmers.



JAMES HADFIELD ZOHRAB (“JIM”) (1936–2001)

C10_38b)Image source: Rosemary Zohrab

James Hadfi eld Zohrab was born in 1936, admitted to the Bar in 1958, became a partner in 1961, retired in 1994 and died in 2001. Jim was the second son of Dr J F Zohrab and his wife, and a great grandson of Octavius Hadfi eld,1131 Archbishop and great grandson of Henry Williams, Archbishop. He was one of the three Zohrab sons who all won the PB Cooke Cup for the “Best All Round Boy” at Wellesley College, Wellington (a preparatory school situated in Eastbourne).1132 Dan Stevenson1133 recalls that his fi rst memory of Jim was:

…as a new boy at Wanganui Collegiate in 1954, the Centenary year of the school, and Frank Gilligan’s last two terms as headmas-ter. Jim was Deputy Head Prefect and Captain of Cricket. He was a colourful and entertaining personality, both as a prefect and as a sportsman. He was a very energetic fast bowler who met with success through speed rather than accuracy. He started his run in “somewhere close to the river”. More importantly my memories are of a generous personality, and if a new boy has that memory of a prefect it is a testimony for life.

Jim studied law at Victoria University and during that time was a law clerk in Dan Stevenson’s father’s fi rm, Izard Weston, together with Rodney Gallen (now Sir Rodney Gallen QC,

1131 Octavius Hadfi eld (1814–1904) was a missionary who came to Waimate in the Bay of Islands and then to Otaki and Waikanae. Later he became Bishop of Wellington and then Primate of New Zealand: Ian St George (Comp), Colenso’s Collections, The New Zealand Native Orchid Group Inc., Wellington, 2009, page 397. As an example of how the characters involved in the early Colony became entwined, an individual by name of Wi Parata sued Octavius Hadfi eld in his capacity as the Bishop of Wellington in 1877. Parata was a wealthy farmer and a member of the Executive Council. He was an astute politician and a skilled orator and debater. He took the Bishop of Wellington to the Supreme Court over a breach of oral contract between the Anglican Church and the Ngati Toa and a breach of the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi. Ngati Toa had provided land to the Church in 1848 in exchange for a promise that a school for young Ngati Toa people would be built by the Church. However, no school was built. When the case came to Court, Parata lost. Another of the characters involved in the early state of the law fi rm (Chief Justice James Prendergast) ruled that the Treaty of Waitangi was a “simple nullity” having been signed by “primitive barbarians”. That ruling had far reaching consequences well into the 20th century.

1132 Kindly supplied by Alan Zohrab of Taupo, Jim’s brother.1133 Dan Stevenson is a senior partner in Izard Weston, Solicitors,

Wellington.

retired High Court Judge) and Bruce Carran. During school holidays Dan worked as offi ce boy in the fi rm and again it was a “positive experience to cross paths with Jim”. In the profession he was respected and liked.

Jim Thompson1134 was a life-long friend of Jim Zohrab. He recalls Jim as an old boy of Wanganui Collegiate School, a top student, but also a keen sports lover, playing for the 1st XV rugby team and captaining the cricket eleven.

(C10_39): Jim Zohrab featured in the “toss” with King’s College in 1954. Jim

is seventh from the left standing opposite the King’s College 1st XI Captain.

Image source: Wanganui Collegiate School Museum Trust. See also Bruce

and Don Hamilton Never a Footstep Back – A History of Wanganui Collegiate School 1854–2003, published by the Board of Trustees of Wanganui Collegiate

School, 2003.

He was a more-than-useful fast bowler representing the University team and Hawke’s Bay. He was a passionate tennis player and golfer. Attending full time at university he passed his LLB in four years. After a short stint with a Palmerston North fi rm he accepted a position with Sainsbury Logan & Williams. Due to the Second World War, new blood had not been intro-duced into the fi rm for many years. After a short probationary period, Jim was made a partner and soon became a senior partner, existing partners having either retired or died. At that time the fi rm operated gentlemen’s hours, closing at 4.30pm. Jim introduced modern day business practices and also recruited new partners into the fi rm. He was instrumental in building up a strong farming practice and most of the well known Hawke’s Bay families are present day clients of the fi rm. He developed a large tax and trust practice. In doing so he identifi ed a mistake in Deeds of Trust1135 used at that time by many of New Zealand’s leading law fi rms, which resulted in breaches of the law against perpetuities. An Act of Parliament was needed to correct the error.1136 In fact, Jim was so particular about the correctness

1134 Fellow practitioner based in Wellington and later Master of the High Court based in Wellington.

1135 Adrian Coleman (retired Hastings solicitor) observes that Jim Zohrab picked up the error in the B T Coleman No. 1 Trust Deed which had to be rectifi ed by Court Order duly obtained in April 1963: see A J Coleman, Lust for Land, A J Coleman, Printlink, Wellington, 2011, page 184.

1136 Perpetuities Act 1964. See in particular section 15: Rule of remorse-less construction abolished “Where a Court is construing a will or



of documents already signed and dated by clients he would regularly commission himself and his fellow partners to check the entire contents of the Wills Safe. So, for example, in early 1966 it was resolved that:1137

Wills to be checked will be done as follows D– I (JHZ) J – R (ADM) S – Z (PRGC)

Special emphasis on substitutionary clause.

Jim had a large personal practice helping his clients through good times and bad. They were a very loyal clientele. Many leading businessmen sought his advice including Sir Selwyn Cushing. He was a director of a number of companies including Chairman of the Board of Williams & Kettle Limited, a company which expanded rapidly under his leadership. He was a man of strong opinions balanced by a good sense of humour and he always enjoyed a few gins after a hard fought golf match. A devoted husband, his daughters and granddaughters were his pride and joy. He developed a strong band of friends, some of whom fell on hard times and no one did more for them than Jim to help them get over their troubles. His early death due to cancer was a severe blow to all who knew him and great loss to the fi rm.

Hamilton Logan tells the story from a client perspective:1138

Jim was our family lawyer during his whole time with the fi rm. I found his new ideas as to how to arrange one’s affairs very refreshing. He was diligent and very thorough. He was not only my lawyer but also a friend and we played some golf and tennis together. He was always very competitive in both sport and business.

In my grandfather’s time [Francis Logan] Sainsbury Logan & Williams had the cream of the province as its clients. I know that my Uncle Ivan [Logan] was concerned that the fi rm was losing ground, mainly due to restrictions during the war, but this trend continued after the war. It was therefore crucial that any appointment to the staff should have the ability to win back some of those clients. I must say, to Jim’s credit he was able to do this and more.

Jim had the ability to work in all facets of the law so as time went on he gradually shifted towards the commercial side of business. He took up directorships, the most notable being Williams & Kettle Limited, a regional mercantile fi rm. Under Jim’s chair-manship, Williams & Kettle expanded into a strong competitive company. Jim would be very disappointed at the direction that the company has taken since he left the helm.

Jim worked tirelessly for his clients. It was a tragedy that he died at such a young age.

other instrument, whether made before or after the commencement of this Act, and the will or instrument makes a disposition of any property, the Court may have regard to the fact that, while under one possible construction the disposition would or might be void as infringing the rule against perpetuities, under another possible construction it would or might be valid; and, in considering which of those constructions is to be preferred, the Court may take into account that the maker thereof would probably have intended the construction under which the dispo-sition would be valid.

1137 Minutes of a Partners Meeting held on 2 February 1966. JHZ was Jim Zohrab, ADM was Allan McLeod and PRGC was Peter Chetwin.

1138 Hamilton Logan, personal recollection, August 2010.

Jim became a partner in 1961 and retired in 1994. Initially he did some court work (including criminal). The Minutes of the Hawke’s Bay District Law Society1139 reveal that Jim Zohrab was nominated as a Member at that time and on his formal application (at the same meeting) was appointed to the Legal Aid List which was required to be approved formally by the Council before advising the Court Registrar. The Minutes in 1961 also reveal that Jim Zohrab put himself forward to accept the appointment as Society Librarian at a modest annual remu-neration of £30.1140 Jim was a proponent of the establishment of a joint Medico-Legal Society1141 (the remnants of which are still functioning today). He was an expert in trusts and trust administration and at the same time established a signifi cant rural client base. He could write any fi gure on an invoice and his clients would pay. He had no bad debtors amongst his own clientele. Towards the end of his partnership days Jim became Chairman of Williams & Kettle and was well-respected in that role. He would have mourned the demise of that company when it was sold to PGG Wrightson. According to Sir Owen Woodhouse, Jim Zohrab was inclined to judge success in money terms and his interests probably lay more in commercial activi-ties than the law, but he had a driving, business-like approach to legal practice which may have given a degree of impulse to the fi rm at a time when it had become rather quiescent.1142

Current partners recall with a touch of humour when Jim set his rubbish bin alight with a match that he had just discarded after lighting his pipe.1143 There was a small red light that he had installed just above his offi ce door (not big enough to give the wrong message) which, when turned on, meant to the receptionist that she would lose her job if she put a call through. It was a double-edged sword really because she was in danger of losing her job if he had forgotten to turn the light off and was denied an important call that he was expecting! Jim had an enormous intellect and at times could take on the persona of a slightly absent-minded genius: his tireless and uncomplaining secretary, Judy Lins, was once sent on a wild goosechase to fi nd his car which he said he had parked in town when in fact it was parked at the repair shop all the time.

Jim Zohrab was well known and widely respected by peers and adversaries alike. He quickly gained the confi dence (and work) of many of the traditional farming families in Hawke’s Bay and became their personal lawyer. He has been credited with saving Sainsbury Logan & Williams from certain mediocrity when, on his arrival in 1961, the fi rm was possibly over-balanced with older practitioners who had no clear direction as to succession planning within the partnership. This may be a little unfair to some, but with Jim, and later Allan McLeod, came a rejuvenation of the fi rm and a means by which the practice could grow and continue to support its very large farming base and contribu-tory mortgage portfolio. Jim could often appear abrupt and he defi nitely did not tolerate fools. He seemed almost indignant, in his twilight years of practice, that the legislature should

1139 Hawke’s Bay District Law Society Minutes, 13.4.1960 (R G Gallen as Secretary at that time).

1140 Hawke’s Bay District Law Society Minutes, 12.4.1961.1141 Hawke’s Bay District Law Society Minutes, 24.9.1968.1142 Sir Owen Woodhouse, personal recollection.1143 Gerry Sullivan, personal recollection..



introduce reforms (such as GST) which required practitioners to modify their practices and learn a whole set of skills in and around time of supply and taxable activity and then collect the tax on behalf of the government.

Jim O’Donovan recalls a story involving Jim Zohrab and the phones. There was a convention that a practitioner always answered the phone if another practitioner was calling. It didn’t matter who was calling or who was with you. Suddenly Jim began refusing to take calls when he had a client with him: “I am sorry, but Mr Zohrab has a client with him. Can I ask him to call you back?” This had never happened in over a hundred years. A Special Meeting of the Hawke’s Bay District Law Society was convened to consider this disgraceful departure from the way things were done and so all of the practitioners met in the (then) Supreme Court on the Marine Parade to discuss the matter. Jim O’Donovan recalls that Hallam Dowling called the meeting. Jim was (in retrospect, quite understandably) unrepentant and the matter was resolved in his favour but not without some fairly harsh words being uttered. The only other time Jim O’Donovan recalls a special general meeting being convened was when Dave Welch (then a partner of Lusk Willis and Co) stopped payment on a trust account cheque. Such an outrage had never previously been perpetrated in the District.1144

In his fi nal years in the practice as partner he pulled back from day to day involvement in partnership affairs and concentrated on his directorships, in particular Williams & Kettle. He stopped attending partners’ meetings at one point and retired as a part-ner just in time to avoid (unintentionally) the New Zealand Law Society levy1145 imposed on each and every principal of a law fi rm in New Zealand resulting from the defalcation case surrounding the Lower Hutt fi rm of Renshaw Edwards in 1992.

1144 Jim O’Donovan, personal recollection, 2.2.2011.1145 A levy in the sum of $10,000 for each partner. Andrew Morrison was

at that time President of the Hawke’s Bay District Law Society and had the diffi cult task of persuading the members of the national body’s plans to levy all practitioners in order to make right the $26 million shortfall as a result of the defalcations.

ALLAN DUNCAN MCLEOD (1940– )

(C10_40)Image source:

Allan Duncan McLeod was born in 1940, admitted as a solicitor in 1963, became a partner in 1965, and retired in 1981. Allan is the son of Bill and Nell McLeod.1146 He attended Central School in Napier, Hereworth, Napier Boys and then Victoria University. Initially he worked for Bell Gully & Co in Wellington (clerking there from 1960 through to 1963) and ‘devilled’ for Denis Blundell (later Sir Denis Blundell, Governor General). He was there at the time Des Dalgety, Laurie Greig (later Mr Justice Greig) and Lyndsay Papps were partners. He was admitted as a solicitor in 1963 in an admission ceremony presided over by Mr Justice McGregor and later admitted as a barrister of the Supreme Court on an application before Mr Justice Woodhouse in 1964. Back in Napier during this time, Budge Grant had died in 1961, Jim Zohrab had joined the fi rm and Buck Amyes had a stroke in 1963. Allan’s father approached him and invited him to come back to Hawke’s Bay. Allan recalls fi nishing his exams in 1963, taking two weeks holiday in the Bay of Islands (a place to which he was to return and settle) and starting at Sainsbury Logan & Williams “on the day that JFK was shot!”1147 Allan became a partner in 1965. He recalls that within a short time, beginning with Jim Zohrab’s arrival, the fi rm changed markedly from being one dominated by old partners to one that had received some “new blood” which, according to the new arrivals (of course) was much needed at the time. He says that it quickly became a different fi rm with “thirteen children running up and down the hallway and stairs”. His major clients included Hawke’s Bay Farmers Co-op Limited (for whom his father Bill McLeod had previously done much work), Hawke’s Bay Harbour Board, East Coast Farmers Fertiliser Company Limited and various large family trusts and estates. There was much work involved in breaking up the large farming trusts and subdividing the historical farming blocks. Allan says that this type of initiative would often falter at the last ‘hurdle’ because the in-laws would want to retain a small piece of land for their horse paddock. He was involved in the Hawke’s Bay Harbour initiative of creating vast areas of residential subdivision on reclaimed land (some earthquake, some from reclaimed lagoon

1146 See earlier in this Chapter under the heading William Aeneas McLeod.1147 Allan McLeod, personal recollection, 27.7.2010.

C7_38a: Jim Zohrab and his daughter Penny Zohrab at Penny’s admission

ceremony in Wellington in 1987. Image source: Rosemary Zohrab.



(C10_41): Allan McLeod with his father Bill McLeod in 1963. Image source:

Allan McLeod.

(C10_42): Father and son at Allan’s admission ceremony in 1963. Image

source: Allan McLeod.

(C10_43): Allan McLeod’s fi rst practising certifi cate. Image source: Allan

McLeod.

and calculations were always expressed as pounds-per-acre, never as a global sum. Allan refers to the sizeable contributory mortgage portfolio the fi rm had from early times. In its heyday both the nominee mortgage company and the Williams & Kettle on demand mortgage competed very favourably with the Banks and produced a result that was sometimes two percentage points clear of the return from the ordinary trading banks. The con-tributory mortgage market became heavily regulated by the Law Society and the requirements for lending became long-winded and burdensome to the extent that decisions on lending could not be made quickly where the banks were able to respond rapidly in comparison. After more than 100 years of offering loan monies to the public through client investments,1148 the partners of Sainsbury Logan & Williams resolved in 1992 that the mortgage portfolio be assigned to the Guardian Trust. In 1996 it was resolved that the solicitor nominee company be liquidated as at 30 June 1997.1149

Amongst Allan’s extra-curricular interests was his involvement in Jaycees (including being Napier President in 1976), Napier Lions, Princess Alexandra Hospital Trust (as Trustee), United Building Society (as a Director). He was appointed to the posi-tion of Assistant Secretary to the Hawke’s Bay District Law Society in 1969 and on Graham Cowley’s retirement became Secretary in April 1970.1150 He married his wife Suzanne (“Sue”) in 1969. Sue came from a timber family background and recalls coming to Napier where her mother-in-law had the household meat and groceries delivered weekly. It was often a challenge to fi t into an environment where everyone was expected to enter-tain visiting Judges and other dignatories. Allan and Sue have three adult daughters. Allan retired as a partner of Sainsbury

1148 Refer to the regular advertisements in the Hawke’s Bay Herald placed by George Sainsbury and then Francis Logan in the 1880s. See Chapter 1 and also Hawke’s Bay Herald 11.1.1878. Hawke’s Bay Herald, 17.12.1880, Hawke’s Bay Herald 24.11.1881and Hawke’s Bay Herald 2.2.1883.

1149 Sainsbury Logan & Williams Partnership Minutes 1992 and 1996.1150 Hawke’s Bay District Law Society Minutes, 30.4.1969 and 13.4.1970.

and swamp areas) such as Pirimai and Tamatea. Allan recalls the Waipukurau offi ce which was visited every Tuesday (to coincide with the saleyards). Initially Allan used to go down there with Buck Amyes. Allan vividly remembers the hogget sales in January and the overwhelming stench of sheep manure but it was a way to get amongst the well-off rural clients and that meant getting to know the meat schedules like the back of your hand. When negotiating and talking about land sales and leases, the prices



opinion came back and confi rmed that the value in the stamps (as collector items) remained with the families of the clients who were originally responsible for their production (and not the fi rm). Allan was given the job of looking after his father’s affairs when he retired in 1975.

P R G CHETWIN (1938 – )

(C10_46)Image source: Maree Chetwin

Peter Richard George Chetwin was born in 1938, admitted as a Solicitor in the Dunedin Supreme Court in 1962, became

(C10_44): Allan McLeod’s Celebration Dinner at the Hawke’s Bay Club on

1st April 1965 when he became a partner of Sainsbury Logan & Williams. The

reverse of the card has his leaving function (same venue) on 27 March 1981

signed by Jim Zohrab and Rosemary, Andrew Morrison, Steve and Jenny Lunn,

Magnus Macfarlane, Gerry and Stephanie Sullivan. The last two named guests

are Francophiles and would be mildly horrifi ed to observe that the Maître d’

has in preparing the programme (a) incorrectly masculinised the main dish of

Fillet de Sole Bonne Femme (a classic French fi sh dish accompanied by shallots

and mushroom in a creamy mushroom sauce grilled under a salamander)

and (b) mistaking the second “v” “Veuve” and omitting the second “c” in

“Clicquot” in the name of that famous champagne from Epernay. Regardless

of the spelling, the meal for that evening was bound to be delicious. Image

source: Allan McLeod.

Logan & Williams in 1981 and left Hawke’s Bay with his fam-ily for Kerikeri where he went into partnership with a Mr Welch and formed the legal fi rm of Welch & McLeod, which subsequently became McLeod & Partners in 1986. Allan retired as a partner of that fi rm in 2003 but kept up his involvement in the law by serving as Coroner from 1988 and retaining his offi ce as a Notary Public. During his time at Sainsbury Logan & Williams he was responsible for preserving a good many of the original documents, which now make up the historical record. He says that at one point the partners obtained an opinion from George Barton QC in relation to the ownership of the ad valorem stamps1151 which were affi xed to numerous (and by then obsolete) documents stored in the strong room. The

1151 An example can be seen on the Order of Probate for William Colenso’s Will and Codicil which represented over £1850 in stamp duty – see Chapter 7 under the heading The Estate of William Colenso.

(C10_45): Reverse side previous image. Image source: Allan McLeod.



a partner in 1965, and retired in 1969 when he moved to Christchurch.

Peter was educated at Otago Boys High School from 1951 to 1955, was a member of the 1st XI from 1953 to 1955 and was captain in his fi nal year.

Peter completed his solicitor’s requirements for admission as a solicitor at Otago in February 1962 and as a result of extramural study graduated LLB from Victoria University on 6th May 1966. He represented Otago University at cricket for several years and gained a blue in 1958. He was subsequently selected for the New Zealand Universities team following a Universities tournament in Wellington.

Peter was employed by the Public Trust Office in Dunedin and after qualifying as a solicitor he was appointed as District Solicitor for Gisborne and subsequently for both Napier and Gisborne where he gained valuable training in both trust admin-istration and the operation of the lending practice in respect of the Common Fund lending of that organisation.

Peter was admitted as a partner of Sainsbury Logan & Williams along with Allan McLeod as from 31st March 1965 and his duties involved general legal work (apart from any common law) but with an emphasis on trusts, wills and administration.

Peter subsequently retired from partnership and moved to Christchurch for family health reasons in 1969. He was later engaged as a partner from 1 October 1972 by the Christchurch fi rm of Anthony Polson & Robertson (now Anthony Harper). Peter retired from that partnership some years ago.

PETER JAMES TONG (1943– )

(C10_47): Image source: Peter Tong

Peter James Tong was born in 1943, admitted as a barrister on 24 February 1967,1152 became a partner in 1968, and retired in 1986.

In 1960 in his last year at Napier Boys High School, Peter was selected to play cricket for Hawke’s Bay and met Jim Zohrab, then a partner in the fi rm, the team’s opening fast bowler.

1152 Roll of Barristers currently held in the Registry Offi ce in the High Court, Wellington.

Jim suggested to Peter he might like to come and work for the fi rm as a law clerk to see if the law appealed to him so Peter joined the fi rm in this capacity in 1961.

The partners at that time were Bill McLeod, Buck Amyes, Milton Grant, Gibb Stewart and Jim Zohrab. The fi rm was much as it had been for years with hand written ledgers, partners writing a daily fee diary and a sign saying ‘There will always be an England’ on the front glass door! There was no such thing as dictaphones or copiers in those days. All the secretaries were profi cient at shorthand.

The partners (apart from Jim Zohrab) had a leisurely approach to practice.Morning teas were lengthy affairs with the partners toasting muffi ns over the gas heaters in the winter! It was not considered appropriate for partners’ wives to work and Peter recalls that Rosemary Zohrab was the fi rst one who did!

Peter recalls that Jim Zohrab in those days had a thriving crimi-nal jury trial practice. Some of his clients looked distinctly out of place sharing the waiting room with the fi rm’s rather patrician Hawke’s Bay farming clients!

Peter left the fi rm at the end of the year and in 1962 began study-ing for a law degree at Victoria University which he completed in 1966.

Peter returned to the fi rm in 1967 and became a partner in 1968. His fellow partners at this time were Bill MacLeod, Jim Zohrab, Allan MacLeod and Peter Chetwin. Andrew Morrison joined the fi rm shortly afterwards. Peter recalls Peter Chetwin as being the most exquisite draftsman he ever met in legal practice as well as a classic leg spin bowler continuing the fi rm’s tradition of partners who were successful cricketers.

Peter married Lesley Davey in 1967 and they subsequently had three daughters Louise, Caroline and Catherine.

Initially Peter was engaged in criminal and civil work but then concentrated on general conveyancing commercial and trust work

The fi rm did not have a conveyancing practice of any note and Jim Zohrab and Peter concentrated on building this up with considerable assistance from nominee company mortgage funds. Mortgage funds from any other source were extremely diffi cult to come by. As a result a thriving residential conveyanc-ing practice was established.

During the 1970s and 1980s Peter acted for a number of corpo-rate and institutional clients amongst them the Angus Group Ltd, one of New Zealand’s major construction companies, the Hawke’s Bay Hospital Board, the Daily Telegraph Co. Ltd and the Waiapu Board of Diocesan Trustees as well as developing a substantial farming practice amongst the fi rm’s second and third generation farming clients.

Peter also developed a specialized town planning practice and in later years appeared on numerous town planning appeal hearings notably representing the Hawke’s Bay County Council in hearings seeking consent to establish the fi rst regional refuse collection centre – unfortunately on a farm next to a property owned by one of Napier’s leading litigators. Another notable case and one of the fi rst of its kind in New Zealand was appear-ing for the Hospital Board applying for consent to establish a psychiatric half way house in a residential area on the Napier



Hill which drew objections and appeals from over 300 people many of whom were friends of Peter’s. Fortunately the appeal was successful and the resident’s fears were never realized. Peter also appeared before a number of liquor licensing and other tribunals.

In the mid 1970s Peter was appointed a director of the Napier Building Society and later served as Chairman until his retire-ment in 1986.

The 1970s and early 1980s represented a period when the fi rm was prosperous with the partners who now included Stephen Lunn and later Gerry Sullivan and Magnus MacFarlane at their most productive.

Peter recalls that during the mid 1970s consideration was given to moving premises as space was at a premium and plans for a new offi ce building on the other side of town were prepared by the Angus Group. However nothing eventuated and the then partners purchased the offi ce building from the Logan family and an adjacent building.

Two notable employees of the firm with whom Peter had a close association were Norman Shearn, a retired Englishman, who worked in various capacities for many years and Trevor Cardo who worked directly for Peter handling his estate and conveyancing practice. Norman was of very conservative politi-cal persuasion and he, Jim Zohrab and Peter had many vigorous debates over the years usually over a glass of gin! Trevor had a delightful bedside manner particularly suited to dealing with estate clients.

In 1977 Peter stood for and was elected to the Napier City Council. In 1980 he topped the local body poll and was elected Deputy Mayor. Peter served as Chairman of the Council town planning committee for a number of years.

Peter and stood against Dave Prebensen in the mid-1980s but was unsuccessful in securing the top spot, remaining as Deputy Mayor until he left Hawke’s Bay in 1986.

Peter continued his sporting interests playing cricket for Napier Old Boys until the mid 1970s and becoming an active member of the Napier Golf Club and the Hawke’s Bay ski club. Peter served on the committee of the Napier Golf Club Club for a number of years and was also a keen squash and tennis player. Many tennis matches were fi ercely competed on Jim Zohrab’s court at his home on Napier Hill.

He competed in the legal profession’s Devil’s Own Golf Tournament at the Manawatu Golf Club for over twenty years winning this tournament in 1977.

Peter recalls practice in Napier over these years as being very busy but enjoyable. Fellow practitioners could be trusted implic-itly and a number were personalities in their own right which brought colour to the legal profession.

In 1986 Peter left the firm and moved to Auckland, having been appointed General Manager of the Angus Group Ltd a then public company with its Head Office in Auckland. In 1989 Peter returned to the law and joined Russell McVeagh, then New Zealand’s largest law fi rm, as partner in charge of the trust specialty.

In 1992 he accepted a position as Head of Compliance with Standard Chartered Bank based in Hong Kong and held a variety

of senior positions with that bank including Chief Executive of the Bank’s global private trust group. His early training under Jim Zohrab as a trust lawyer stood him in good stead in these positions!

On returning to New Zealand in 1995 Peter represented the Bank of Bermuda in New Zealand and established a successful consultancy practice, acting as a negotiator for a number of prominent media personalities. Peter was appointed a director of a number of private and public companies and is presently chairman of the University of Auckland School of Medicine Foundation and chairman of a specialist medical company.

Peter has retained his sporting interests as a very active member of the Royal Auckland Golf Club and is a keen fl y fi sherman.

ANDREW MACLEAN MORRISON (1944– )

(C10_48): Image source: Morrison Daly website.

Andrew MacLean Morrison was born in 1944, admitted as a solicitor on 24 February 1967 and as a barrister on 23 February 1968.1153

Andrew joined Sainsbury Logan & Williams as a solicitor on 24 November 1969,1154 and became a partner in 1970.He retired in 1996 to become a partner in Buddle Findlay and later Izard Weston before launching out and forming the two person part-nership of Morrison Daly with offi ces in both Wellington and Hastings.

He is the son of N A Morrison who was senior partner of Wellington fi rm Chapman Tripp & Co for many years. At the time he decided to move to Napier in 1969, Andrew was working for Chapman Tripp under Tom Eichelbaum (later to become Chief Justice Sir Thomas Eichelbaum).

Andrew acted for Hawke’s Bay Farmers Co-op (based in Hastings) and was involved in the merger of that company with Dalgety

1153 Roll of Barristers and Roll of Solicitors currently held in the Registry Offi ce in the High Court, Wellington. He married Kate-Mary Smith on the same day he was admitted as a Barrister.

1154 The partnership minutes at the time (recording the backdated deci-sion on 11.2.1970) show the (then partners (Bill McLeod, Jim Zohrab, Allan McLeod and Peter Tong) resolving that Andrew was “1. To be employed as from 24.11.69 at a salary of $4400-00 per annum. 2. To be advised not later than December 1970 whether a partnership is avail-able and if so on what terms”.



NZ which then became HBF Dalgety, and included the stock and station company de Pelichet McLeod & Co. Andrew was also involved in Hawke’s Bay Harbour Board work (latterly Hawke’s Bay Regional Council, following local government reorganisa-tion in 1989) the Hawke’s Bay Hospital Board and establishment of Royston Hospital (now part of the Wakefi eld Group).

Andrew also had an active involvement in the rural sector acting for Williams & Kettle Limited, East Coast Fertiliser Company (including its merger with Ravensdown), East Coast Gas (which involved the securing of a franchise for Hawke’s Bay, developing a corporate structure and public fl oat).

One of Andrew’s notable achievements (commented on below by Hamilton Logan) was his involvement with Richmond Limited during its period of remarkable expansion and the 1977 litigation which issued as a result of a takeover bid by Brierley Investments. Restructuring ensued as a result of the de-licensing of the industry which brought constant questions around ‘capacity’ and ‘unions’. The fi rm at the time was also involved in the famous injunction proceedings brought against the Meatworkers Union when certain factions threatened New Zealand export markets by placing stickers on product in protest over the restrictions imposed by management on the amount of time that could be spent in the conveniences. Andrew was Lead Counsel in a groundbreaking case before the Commerce Commission to do with the meat industry restructuring.

In terms of Andrew’s involvement in community matters, he represented Hawke’s Bay in cricket, represented New Zealand in a number of national and international yachting events, was Chairman the Napier High Schools Boards (covering fi ve separate secondary schools), Vice Commodore of the Napier Sailing Club and a Life Member of the Hawke’s Bay Branch of the NZ Deerstalkers Association.

He was President of the Hawke’s Bay District Law Society from 1992 to 1994.

Hamilton Logan recalls his contact with Andrew Morrison in the following way:1155

Some of the major issues that Andrew had to deal with during my time as a director of Richmonds are set out below. Richmonds had fi rst call on his time whenever it was needed.

In the early 1970s Andrew was asked by the Richmond Board to look at and if necessary rewrite some of the Company’s articles, because it was perceived that the existing ones wouldn’t with-stand a move on the Company by an aggressive party.

This he did, but not before time because in 1977 Brierleys, rec-ognising that Richmonds was under-capitalised and had a low share price made an offer for a strategic holding. What they hadn’t realised was that Richmonds was an unlisted public company that required all share transfers to be approved by the Board. The Board also had the power of veto and the power to ascertain who had the benefi cial interest. Brierleys were forced to relinquish their shares and undertake not to attack Richmonds in the future. It would have been one of the rare occasions when Brierleys were beaten off and Andrew must take much of the credit for that.

Much was happening in the meat industry and Richmonds and

1155 Hamilton Logan, personal recollection.

Dawn Meat were at the forefront. Andrew had a signifi cant input into the case before the Licensing Authority, for a sheep and lamb slaughtering and export licence for the two companies. The application was unsuccessful, but the companies weren’t going to allow the matter to rest there.

Richmonds and Dawn now put pressure on the Government to deregulate the meat industry and by the end of year this had been achieved with the passing of the Meat Amendment Bill. This brought to an end 80 years of Meat Board control, the Meat Industry Authority was abolished in 1981. Andrew didn’t take a leading role in presenting the case but provided much valuable research and back-up support.

Richmonds major expansion took place in 1986 when Dawn Meat and the assets of Hawke’s Bay Farmers Meat Company, except the Whakatu plant, which was permanently closed, were acquired. Due to a huge blunder, beyond Richmond’s control, in informing Whakatu management about its impending fate, Richmonds was subjected to unnecessary and unwarranted criticism. As Chairman I had to deal with the full wrath of the public and press during this time. Andrew was extremely busy dealing with the many legal matters that arise from a takeover. He gave the Richmond Board good advice and much assistance during this risky and turbulent time. I much appreciated the help he gave me at all times, he also made himself available night or day – surely rare service today.

Richmonds was Andrew’s largest client, in fact it was probably the Firm’s largest. Richmonds was now the largest Hawke’s Bay company and Andrew did all the legal work, on certain occasions he called upon outside advice, but otherwise he was responsible for negotiating through some thorny issues.

In my 15 years involvement with Richmonds I never saw him trumped. He held his own against the best in the metropolitan areas and in my opinion is an excellent corporate lawyer.

Andrew himself recalls an incident1156 involving a meeting of the region’s mayors to discuss the prospect of a southern satel-lite suburb in the Poraiti Hills to cope with future expansion of the region. The meeting was convened at the Napier Wool Exchange Building (now no longer standing but a place of intense commercial activity in its day when wool prices were set and tons of wool was bought and sold). The signifi cance of the venue becomes obvious with the telling of the story. It had raked seating in a lecture theatre style and a central desk at the lowest level from where proceedings were directed (or not, as the case may be). Andrew Morrison was invited to Chair the meeting which involved the mayors of Napier, Hastings, Havelock North, the Chairman of Hawke’s Bay County Council and the Commissioner of Works (a man by the name of Peter Norman). The focus of the meeting was to achieve some unity in the services and community planning for the Napier/Hastings area.

In the middle of a very large crowd and whilst the Mayor of Hastings was addressing the assembled crowd, I inadvertently turned on a switch (which I believed to turn on the heater, but was wrong about that) and it seems that a large neon sign above

1156 Andrew Morrison, personal recollection, 7.7.2010.



the Chairman’s seat on the wall then swung forth with the words “STOP TALKING” which caused great amusement.

STEPHEN PETER LUNN (1951– )

(C10_49) Image source: Steve Lunn

Stephen Peter Lunn was born in 1951, admitted to the Bar in 1975, became a partner of Sainsbury Logan & Williams in 1978 and retired from partnership in October 1990 to join in the Napier fi rm Elvidge & Partners.

Steve was born in Clyde and educated at Ranfurly District High School and then Otago Boys’ High School where he played rugby in the First XV. He attended Otago University from 1970 to 1974 and then took a job in 1974 with Chrisp, Caley & Co. He spent 18 months there and was approached by Messrs Zohrab, Morrison and Tong (via Rob Elvidge) to come and work for Sainsbury Logan & Williams in 1975. He became Partner in 1978 and a Notary Public in 1983.

Steve recalls playing a curtain raiser at Carisbrook for Otago Boys’ High School against King’s College of Sydney. That day he scored a try for Otago Boys’ High School. The main game was played by New Zealand Universities against a Japan XV in which Steve Reaney scored four tries. A young Steve Lunn approached Reaney for his autograph and has suffered the ignomy of being reminded about it ever since.1157

Steve went on to play for Otago in 1970 and 1972. He was also heavily involved in senior athletics and competed at national level. He still holds (jointly with Bruce Hunter, Stuart Melville and Dick Taylor) the 4 x 800 metre New Zealand record.

When Steve came to Hawke’s Bay he played sub-union rugby and then commenced a rugby refereeing career in 1984 ending with over 30 fi rst class games to his credit. He occupied a place in the top 15 referees in New Zealand for a period of three years and when he gave up refereeing became Chairman of the Hawke’s Bay Rugby Football Union. One of his achievements in that role was to disband the Vikings team (an amalgamation between Manawatu and Hawke’s Bay) which he strongly believed dis-enfranchised Hawke’s Bay. Later he became a member of the New Zealand Rugby Football Union Board. He remains on the

1157 Steve Reaney is a Director and Shareholder of Gardiner Reaney Limited an old established accounting fi rm in Hawke’s Bay having regular deal-ings with solicitor fi rms within the province.

Board of Hawke’s Bay Rugby Football Union. Steve’s father was an All Black (Bert Lunn). Steve and his wife Jenny have two boys. Steve’s particular professional career interest has been in Trusts and the Law of Torts.

MAGNUS EDWIN JAMES MACFARLANE (1953– )

(C10_50) Image source: Sainsbury Logan & Williams Archive.

Magnus Edwin James Macfarlane was born in 1953 in Singapore, came to New Zealand in 1957 with his parents where he attended Te Mata Primary School for a brief period then Hereworth and Christs’ College. He attended Victoria University and gradu-ated LLB and was admitted to the Bar in Wellington in 1976. He joined Sainsbury Logan & Williams in November 1975 and became a Partner in 1978. There was a rule within the fi rm that no lawyer could be made a Partner within three years of being admitted to the Bar unless a special application was made to the (then) Supreme Court for the purpose. An application was made on Magnus’ behalf, supported by (now) Sir Rodney Gallen QC and was duly granted.

Despite an early grounding in general practice which included two conveyancing transactions and one estate, Magnus’ focus was on litigation. There was then no real litigation practice at Sainsbury Logan & Williams apart from a smattering of cases run by Andrew Morrison. Magnus honed his considerable litigation skills doing legal aid and Family Court work, the odd jury trial and prosecutorial work (some with the Crown Solicitor) in Customs and Apple and Pear Board cases. Amongst Magnus’ more notable cases are Nation1158 and Ward1159 involving matrimonial property and trusts. He has appeared on a regular basis in the Court of Appeal and in the Supreme Court. DHL v. Richmond Limited1160 (concerning exclusion clauses in contracts) and East Coast Fertiliser1161 (involving the enforcement of a bill of writ) are interesting reported examples. In the early part of his career he ran a series of perpetuity cases which arose out of drafting issues in several deeds of trust. He also appeared for the Board of Hawke’s Bay Area Health Board to defend its decision

1158 Nation v Nation [2005] 3 NZLR 461159 Ward v Ward [2010] 2 NZLR 31 (SCNZ)1160 DHL International Ltd v Richmond Ltd [1993] 3 NZLR 101161 International Ore and Fertilizer Corporation v East Coast Fertilizer Co.

Limited [1987] 1 NZLR 9



to establish a regional hospital located in Hastings. There was considerable opposition in Napier. The Board succeeded in its defence of all main causes of action which included bias except in respect of the consultation whereby the Board was directed to go back, consult and make a fresh decision.

Magnus decided to give up his criminal practice when he began attracting a number of clients who might not be considered by him or the (then) Partners to be suitable people to wait in the reception area with the fi rms commercial, local body and farming clients. He recalls acting for one woman who was charged with indecent exposure for having sex on her suburban front lawn. She pleaded rape as her defence without success. Following reports of this case on the front page of New Zealands leading tabloid “Truth” there was a sizeable increase in the number of sex offenders seeking Magnus’ services.

Magnus moved to a more settled commercial litigation and arbi-tration practice branching out into Resource Management1162 litigation and developing a speciality in Fisheries Law.

He was rescued on one occasion by Steve Lunn when he had an older Mäori couple in his offi ce who wanted to adopt their granddaughter, the basis for which had to be that their daughter was not fi t to be the child’s mother. He had advised them that they would have to produce evidence that their daughter was a bad person and not fi t to look after the child. At that suggestion, the couple became very angry and upset to the extent that their raised voices were clearly audible through the walls of the offi ce and gained the attention of Steve Lunn who burst into Magnus’ offi ce and rescued him from an uncertain fate.

When they were newly admitted as Partners, Magnus and Steve Lunn were caught up in an ‘old school’ culture that governed the relationship between Senior and Junior Partners. In an endeavour to effect a paradigm shift, they spent time late at night obtaining information (to which they were entitled) to see who was producing the fees and how the Partners were paid in relation to that. When they put the information to the older Partners they were upbraided for daring to obtain the informa-tion. In any event they were told that what they would be paid, and if they didn’t like it they could “bugger off”.

Magnus confesses that when he arrived at Sainsbury Logan & Williams he had long hair and a moustache and smoked “15–20 a day”. Sometimes he worked crazy hours (in excess of 100 hours a week) and late at night went unnoticed searching through the offi ce for cigarettes when he had run out. He is unsure now, when approached, how desperation could have driven him to menthol cigarettes, cadged off Anna King (at that time Andrew Morrison’s secretary) and other menthol addicts.

He recalls that Jim Zohrab’s offi ce had a heater with a cover-ing over it. For some reason a large rat made its home there unbeknownst to Jim or anyone else. Magnus suspects that it was because Jim used to eat his lunch in his offi ce and may not always have fi nished the last crumb. Somehow the rat died. Magnus believes it was because of Jim’s tobacco smoke. Stephen Greer swears the rat electrocuted itself by biting the power

1162 Including the Cape Kidnappers case in which Julian Robertson, a US billionaire sought and was refused permission to build a luxury lodge and a leading case in odour prosecutions Hawke’s Bay Regional Counil v Hawke’s Bay Protein Limited.

cable. In any event, over the next days and weeks an appalling smell developed and it took some considerable time to discover the cause of it until the cover was removed and the decomposing corpse of the rat was found. It is not known how many clients noticed the smell but were too afraid to ask.

GERARD JOHN SULLIVAN (1951– )


Gerard John Sullivan was born in Westport in 1951, admitted to the Bar in Wellington in 1978, and became a partner 1983. Napier Building Society (Director).

Gerry’s father Des Sullivan was a practitioner on the West Coast for a time before moving to Palmerston North in 1962 to set up a practice on his own. From there he was appointed to the District Court Bench in 1967.

Gerry went to Palmerston North Boys High School until the family moved to Wellington on his father’s appointment to the Bench in 1967. Des eventually became Chief District Court Judge.

Gerry went to Victoria University where he excelled himself at sport and was a member of the Victoria University Rugby Club Senior A Team playing alongside Graham Mourie and also played in the University Cricket 1st XI.

After graduating LLB, Gerry was admitted to the Bar in 1978 and then spent 18 months overseas before returning to work in Wellington doing court work at Sievwright & Quinn.

He then came to Hawke’s Bay to take up a job with Sainsbury Logan & Willias engaging himself in lease work and general conveyancing under Peter Tong and Andrew Morrison.

Gerry has kept up his sporting interests in a variety of fi elds1163 including golf and basketball and cricket coaching.

Gerry has been a director of Napier Building Society for over 10 years and has served on the St John’s College Board of Trustees.

Gerry met and married Steph in 1981. They have three boys and a girl together.

1163 He has the most extraordinary hand-eye coordination the Author has ever experienced and is well know as a “burglar” at golf.



Gerry recalls in his fi rst year as partner being given a special draw of $5700 only to be told immediately afterwards by the accountant that this was the amount of his terminal tax for that year and he would have to pay it all to the Commissioner straight away.

STEPHEN ALEXANDER GREER (1956– )


Stephen Alexander Greer was born in Hastings in 1956 and attended Mahora Primary, Heretaunga Intermediate, Lindisfarne and then Auckland University for a brief time before enrolling at Otago University graduating LLB in 1980. He was admitted to the Bar in 1980 before Mr Justice Gallen (as he then was) and returned to Hawke’s Bay that same year to work for Sainsbury Logan & Williams. Stephen married Denise Townshend in November 1980 and later became a Partner of the fi rm in 1985 working closely alongside Jim Zohrab learning the tools of trade predominantly in the trust area which has made him a recognised expert in that area of practice. He acts for a number

of significant farming interests in Central Hawke’s Bay and elsewhere.

He is well known for his rugby talents and played at the highest level of club rugby in Hawke’s Bay. Often the pressure of working in a busy practice and raising a young family was balanced with hard-fought battles on the rugby fi eld. That often saw Steve turning up to work with a black eye or some other scar to show for it including one he received in a game against MAC in which the perpetrator was charged with assault.

Steve is also well-known for his lethal left hand tennis game which was and still is much feared throughout the province. Steve famously participated in the “Round the Mountain”, an event that was organised by the New Zealand Army and typi-cally involved a team of 10 runners who would begin running at 2am in the morning up the Desert Road from Waiouru in a tag-team individual 16km sprint north to Rangipo and then west passed Tongariro and back to the Army base at Waiouru some 160km later. The infamous leg was “Leg No 9” which started on a gentle hill climb and gradually got worse, without relief until the end of the 16km section of road. The use of two-sided coins over copious volumes of beer and wine the night before seems to have been responsible for Stephen’s disproportionate share of Leg No 9.

In terms of community involvement Steve was on the Napier City Council L.A.T.E. which was responsible for the establish-ment of the National Aquarium.

Also a keen golfer, Steve recounts the amusing story of one day visiting Jim Zohrab after Jim had retired as a Partner. Steve was nominated by the remaining Partners to deliver some bad news to Jim, suggesting that the Partnership curtail the arrangement whereby Jim would come to the fi rm sporadically to do consulting work for some of his former clients in return for a consultant’s fee. The word had got out that the clients were no longer prepared to pay Jim a mileage allowance to come from his home in Havelock North and upon hearing this news, Jim, who was practising his golf swing on the back lawn, lost his temper and stood there menacingly with his 9 iron raised, arguing the point with the (very) brave Stephen Greer for an extended period of time.

(C10_54): Steve Greer making it back to the finish line of the Tremains

triathlon characteristically in record time. Image source: Sainsbury Logan &

Williams Archive.

(C10_52): Gerry Sullivan in a familiar pose in the 1970s style tearoom. Image

source: Sainsbury Logan & Williams Archive.



STUART JOHN WEBSTER (1961– )


Stuart John Webster was born in 1961 and attended Maungaturoto Primary School and then Otamatea District High School until he left for Victoria University in Wellington where he studied Law and graduated LLB (Hons) in 1984. He began practicing life in Whangarei with the fi rm Webb, Ross & Coe undertaking a variety of legal work including conveyancing and litigation. He was admitted to the Bar in a ceremony in the Whangarei High Court on 4 November 1984 presided over by Mr Justice Moller who chided the new admittee on falling standards of grammar and spelling amongst practitioners. He bemoaned the fact that an affi davit had been presented to him the previous week in which the deponent swore in evidence that he was in receipt of “wheels on meals”. At that same ceremony Stuart’s grandmother, Hazel Keyte, approached one of his female solicitor colleagues and asked her “how long have you been a secretary with the fi rm?” Stuart then left for Hawke’s Bay in 1987 with his (then) wife to start at Langley Twigg where he was involved exclusively in litigation. He was later approached by Andrew Morrison and invited to join Sainsbury Logan & Williams.1164 In the same year that he was admitted to partnership, Stuart took the lead role of (a very young) Juan Peron in the musical Evita produced by Napier Operatic Society in 1990. Apart from a brief subsequent appearance in a Maurice Shadbolt play, his thespian pursuits have been curtailed. One of his clients tells an amusing story about pursuing a receivership debt in the Kingdom of Tonga where the director of the defending company (whether by mistake or intention) insisted on calling him “Mr Wobster” in all correspondence. Unfortunately, the name stuck for quite some time afterwards.

1164 At that time, having recently arrived in Hawke’s Bay and new to the profession the author was sporting a small gold ear-ring in his left ear. That attracted more than a little interest from Jim Zohrab who, during a lunch time interview, stood up to shake hands upon leaving and positioned himself between the author’s left ear and the door, staring at the jewellery item for some time before allowing an escape. It is surmised (although awaits confi rmation) that if the fi rm was prepared in 1975 to take on a long haired, moustache-oed, chain-smoking litigator in 1975 then when 14 years later ear-rings became fashionable, who was to stand in the way of a bona fi de legal career on that basis?

Stuart was President of the Hawke’s Bay District Law Society from 2003 to 2005 and one of the four New Zealand Law Society Vice-Presidents (representing the North Island except for Auckland and Wellington) from 2005 to 2007.

ANDREW ROSS WARES (1960– )


Andrew Ross Wares was born in Napier in 1960 and attended Greenmeadows Primary, and Taradale Intermediate and High School before attending Otago University in 1979 where he graduated Bachelor of Commerce in 1983 and Bachelor of Laws in 1984. He began working in Wellington for Watts & Patterson and was admitted to the Bar in 1984. He spent some time overseas from 1987 to 1990 on an extended backpacking venture working for a time in London to catch his breath and to earn some money for further travel.

He returned to New Zealand in 1990 to work for Rudd, Watts & Stone in Auckland working in the company/commercial area including mergers and acquisitions. He moved back to Hawke’s Bay with his family in 1994 to work for Sainsbury Logan & Williams and became a partner in 1996 at the time that Andrew Morrison retired from Partnership and relocated to Wellington.

Andrew has been involved in a number of community based organisations including as President of the Hawke’s Bay Medical Research Foundation Inc and as Chairman of the Napier Central School Board of Trustees. In the latter role, he became famous at a certain prizegiving by giving an address which had as its climax the chopping off of the bottom half of his business tie. The parable is probably lost to time, but the effect of the tie-cutting gesture burns bright in the imagination of the pupils, teachers and parents who attended that day. Andrew is also an active participant in the Citizen’s Advice Bureau scheme operated by the Hawke’s Bay Branch of the New Zealand Law Society.

Andrew has been a keen participant in a number of triathlons involving Partners and staff of the fi rm. On one such occasion he and the author were involved in a successful sporting foray hosted by and known as the Fay Richwhite Triathlon held at Karapiro. A medical practitioner friend had been invited to participate as a “ring-in” and, being of a hardened South African disposition, the road trip back to Hawke’s Bay involved Andrew,



the South African doctor and the author drinking beer from quart bottles purchased at the Rangitaiki Tavern, smoking over-sized Cuban cigars and telling funny stories of dubious origin.

ADRIAN GRAHAM BARCLAY (1967– )


Adrian Graham Barclay was born in 1967. He attended Clive Primary School, Hastings Central, Hastings Intermediate and Hastings Boys High School. He was a prefect in his 6th and 7th Form years. He made the 1st XV whilst in the 5th form and the 1st XI cricket team when he was in the 4th form.

He left at the end of the 7th Form to attend Offi cers Cadet School in Waiouru1165 and graduated in 1986 as a Second Lieutenant in the New Zealand Army. He then spent two years with the Royal New Zealand Electrical and Mechanical Engineers Corp, includ-ing periods in Papakura and Trentham Military Camps.

1165 Rank 53775.

He attended Victoria University from 1989 to 1994 completing a BA (majoring in Education) and an LLB and was admitted to the Bar tin 1995.

He came back to Hawke’s Bay to work for Bramwell Grossman and moved to Sainsbury Logan & Williams in 2000 and became a partner in 2003.

Amongst Adrian’s extra-curricular interests are coaching the Juniors at Ocean Beach Kiwi Lifesaving Club, swimming, cycling and deer stalking.

NATHAN TODD GRAY (1969– )

Image source: Sainsbury Logan & Williams Archive.

Nathan Todd Gray was born in Palmerston North in 1969 and attended school at Waiopehu College in Levin. He attended Otago University from 1988 to 1991 and was admitted to the Bar in the Wellington High Court. He worked in the general litiga-tion area for Hornblow, Karran, Curta & Bell from 1992 to 1994 and then Chapman Tripp from 1994 to 1997 mainly involved in

C10_58a: Recent publicity and marketing shot, January 2011 loosely nicknamed (“The Flying Tennyson Street Wedge”.



Maritime Law with Tom Broadmore (now Judge Broadmore, a District Court Judge). He then travelled overseas and worked for Herbert Smith in London from 1997 to 1999 (maritime law) and returned to New Zealand to work for Izard Weston from 1999 to 2003 (civil litigation and maritime law). He then came to Hawke’s Bay with his family, by reason of lifestyle choice in 2003. He has been involved in Citizen’s Advice Bureau and has coached soccer.

He recalls his early maritime experience arresting a ship in Wellington which had connections to local “Italian mafi a”. He received threats including the legendary “concrete gumboots” but a call to the lawyers on the other side fi xed the problem and a large tray of food was delivered to Nathan as a peace offering. Whilst at Chapman Tripp Nathan was involved in the arrest of a tugboat in Wanganui. The outgoing tide was about to break the back of the tug which was then carrying iron ore. It involved an urgent Hearing. Tom Broadmore was so impressed with the effort that he paid for a meal out to get the tug moved while under arrest to prevent the loss of the vessel and cargo, which was successfully achieved.

Nathan now practices general civil litigation.

Stories about transport by shopping trolley on the streets of Port Douglas are fi ctional and have no sound evidential basis.

PARTNERSHIP MEETINGS, MINUTES AND FINANCIAL ACCOUNTS

Regrettably not all of the fi rm records are intact. It seems that, apart from small snippets of information extracted from folios, special deeds packets, partial minute books and accounts, that much of the day to day records have been disposed of after their (presumed) useful life.

What we do know is that it was the habit of the partners to hold their partners meetings on a regular monthly basis at their beloved Hawke’s Bay Club. This was probably for two very important reasons: confi dentiality and proximity to the comfort of food and beverage. Truth be known, in the confi guration of the premises (in all its three forms – the southern side of Tennyson Street (from 1875 to 1886) where George Sainsbury started out, to the Robert Lamb designed premises (the same premises having been built twice because of the 1886 fi re) on the northern side of Tennyson Street at the corner of Tennyson and (then) Church Lane and the Finch & Westerholm designed premises which were completed in 1932) there was never any provision for a proper boardroom where the affairs of the partnership could be discussed in a full and frank way without fear of being overheard by staff.

It can be seen from the next image that oftentimes notes requir-ing further action were handwritten on Hawke’s Bay Club stationery.

Throughout the history of the fi rm there are many times when the profi t share has had to be adjusted on account of a wide variety of circumstances: the sudden death of a partner (George Sainsbury in 1901 as an example and J H G Murdoch in 1918),1166 the war years when partners were called up for service, the paying of an

1166 See Appendix 1.

Hawke’s Bay Club (front entrance). Image source: Hawke’s Bay Club.

(C10_60): Hawke’s Bay Club (view from Marine Parade). Image source:

Hawke’s Bay Club.

Hawke’s Bay Club (billiard room). Image source: Hawke’s Bay Club.


annuity to the family of a deceased partner (J H G Murdoch), the 1931 earthquake which required adjustment to the partners current accounts, and on retirement of partners from practice where the capital (and goodwill) would be assessed (for example Gibb Stewart).

Francis Logan and Heathcote Williams were partners of the Hastings “branch” (in legal terms it was a separate partnership formed in 1902 by the name of Logan Williams & White) but obviously closely connected in profi t-share terms. The note refers to a memorandum prepared by A B Campbell which is not part of the record. It will be recalled that Heathcote Williams had gone to look after the Hastings offi ce in 1913 at the request of his Napier partners (he was an orchardist and his orchard



property was located there, but it is not known that that was the reason – see Heathcote’s personal letter to Francis Logan in 1928 which appears in Chapter 3). What appears to be intended by this note is that the practices would merge and a new partner-ship would be formed comprising Francis Logan, Heathcote Williams, A B Campbell, J H G Murdoch (who was killed in action four years later) and Ivan Logan commencing on 1st April 1914. The premises in Hastings were to be retained by Francis and Heathcote and rented to the new partnership at the rate of £150 per annum. Francis and Heathcote were to continue draw-ing Hastings profi ts until the end of 1915 in accordance with some formula proposed by A B Campbell and then a mechanism in place if any of the partners was to die within the next seven years. The profi t share between the partners is clearly set out on the right-hand side of the memo: both Francis and Heathcote as senior partners would get 19/70ths, A B Campbell 15/70ths, J H G Murdoch 10 ½ /70ths and the balance of 6 ½ /70ths to I B Logan. For whatever reason the proposal was not proceeded with and was cancelled. There is a pencil reference on the second page of the note which suggests that it was superceded by an arrangement agreed to on 22 May 1922.1167

1167 There is no note about that in the Sainsbury Logan & Williams Archive but there are other arrangements recorded in Chapter 5 in November 1925 when the death and retirement rules were amended and again in 1927 when the annuity arrangements for J H G Murdoch’s widow and family were recorded.

(C10_63): This note dealt with the question of preferential payments as between Napier and Hastings partners in 1914. Image source: Sainsbury Logan & Williams

Archive.


Later on, believed to be sometime in the 1940s or 1950s, a branch offi ce was established in Waipukurau. It was obviously intended to serve the Central Hawke’s Bay clients. Allan McLeod recalls travelling there on Tuesdays (saleyard days) with Buck Amyes.1168 The partners had contemplated purchasing a car for the purpose of making the travel to and from Waipukurau tax deductable. After a number of years of debate about whether to keep the branch office going, the Waipukurau office was eventually closed in May 1969.1169

We are fortunate to be able to extract from the records that we do hold information about how much it cost to run the practice and the profi t split between the partners. Bearing in mind that these were depression years, the earthquake had just occurred

1168 See earlier in this Chapter under the heading Allan Duncan McLeod.1169 Minutes of a Partners’ meeting, 6 May 1969.



the previous year and the fi gures are in pounds which would require careful CPI adjustment before they could be compared with relative income levels these days, the following extract gives a glimpse of how things were.

It may come as a surprise to many in business just how confi dent law fi rm partners have been over the years in practice about being the best placed of all people to manage and run their businesses. Not until it became fashionable and economical to have Practice Managers (and in the case of Sainsbury Logan & Williams that did not occur until 1997) was it widely accepted that spending partners’ collective chargeable hours discussing relative trivia was not a sensible way of conducting a seemingly profi table business. In the case of the current seven partners (billing at ordinary rates) that represents $2,275 (plus GST) per

hour which is potentially billable time lost to the fi rm. So to put things completely into perspective, a half hour discussion about whether to send a staff solicitor to a seminar out of town for a cost of $900 is simply bad economics.

When reviewing the documentation available in putting this book together, it came as a huge regret that we did not seem to have any partnership meeting minutes prior to 1 April 1965. Snippets of documents relating to ledger balances or “death and retirement” rules did survive but the records are not complete. It can only be assumed that it was intended that meeting minutes be discarded when it was no longer thought that they were use-ful. So, the record of partners’ meetings that might otherwise have surfaced on Hawke’s Bay Club letterhead are now lost to time. As mentioned earlier, the reason for meeting at the Club was probably because of the relative privacy and freedom from interruption it provided. It was not fashionable to have board-rooms in legal premises until much later. They were certainly not part of the original Finch & Westerholm design in 1932.

The Collins Series 274 Cathedral Minute Book, which recorded every meeting after 1 April 1965, is the only apparent survivor. The front page lists the partners as at that date (Messrs Amyes, W McLeod, Zohrab, A McLeod and Chetwin) and the additions as they occurred (Messrs Tong on 1.4.68 and Morrison on 1.4.70) and the absences through death or retirement (Amyes on 27.10.65 and Chetwin some time in 1969). The Minute

(C10_65): The passage from the last part of the previous page to the top of this page reads: “All accounts to be closed and drawings to take place on assumption

that net profi t from both offi ces would amount to £7000. If any falling off takes place in any one year the drawings for the next to be reduced so as to make up

the defi ciency”. Image source: Sainsbury Logan &Williams Archive.

(C10_66): Hawke’s Bay Club (foyer). Image source: Hawke’s Bay Club.



(C10_67): Hawke’s Bay Club (members bar). Image source: Hawke’s Bay Club.

(C10_68): Excerpt from the partnership records showing the handwritten adjustment made as a result of a resolution on 1 November 1944. It is not known what

that resolution said because the minute book cannot be located. Most likely it arose out of some circumstance to do with the War. Image source: Sainsbury Logan

& Williams Archive.



Book recorded the resolutions passed at each of the monthly partners’ meetings (typically held after work at 5.10pm sharp). One of the early entries may give a clue as to what happened to the earlier records:1170

That the partners attend the offi ce on 18th July to clear safe.

It is known that some time in the 1960s a good quantity of historical material was donated to the Hawke’s Bay Museum with the assistance of Allan McLeod but the precise date that that occurred is not known.

Technology was forever a topic of discussion. Apart from legal texts and casebooks, equipment was a major tool of trade for lawyers:1171

ADM reported the purchase of a new typewriter for £93/15/-…

That ADM make further enquiries into entering into a typewriter agreement with Armstrong & Springhall…

That two (2) new Grundig Dictaphones be purchased…

That WAM be authorised to enter into typewriter agreement…

1170 Minutes of a Partners Meeting held on 23 June 1965. The usual way of recording individuals in the minutes was to use their initials. So that WAM stood for William Aeneas McLeod (Bill McLeod), JHZ James Hadfi eld Zohrab; PRGC Peter Chetwin; ADM Allan Duncan McLeod; PJT Peter Tong and AMM Andrew Morrison. Initials are still widely used in partnership communications today probably because they are not too personal but not too formal.

1171 Minutes of a Partners Meeting, 23 June, 7 and 21 July and 4 August 1965.

ADM reported typewriter agreement entered into…

Question of renting or buying Grundigs still under review…

Finances and economic health were ever to the fore:1172

JHZ gave a “state of the partnership” report and stressed that in view of new tax commitments every endeavour should be made to collect outstanding costs

Underemployed typists were a cause for concern:1173

Memo to typists that if they haven’t got suffi cient work to do, onus is upon them to fi nd some if possible.

Buck Amyes died in October 1965 and although he does not appear to have attended any partners meetings from 1 April there is an entry for 1 December as follows:1174

That the office pay the £30 bill for GB Amyes funeral expenses…

Building renovations (partnership, not owners’ expense) cropped up from time to time:1175

Approved the relinoing [viz. replacing the lino] of the typists’ lavatory. Suggested the work be done in the fi rst two weeks of January.

1172 Minutes of a Partners Meeting, 19 August 1965.1173 Minutes of a Partners Meeting, 22 September 1965.1174 Minutes of a Partners Meeting, 1 December 1965.1175 Minutes of a Partners Meeting, 15 December 1965 and 2 February

1966.

(C10_69): Profi t & Loss Accounts for the year ended 31 March 1932. Image

source: Sainsbury Logan & Williams Archive.

(C10_70): Balance Sheet for the year ended 31st March 1932. Image source:

Sainsbury Logan & Williams Archive.



(C10_71): Excerpt from the partnership records describing an arrangement for I B Logan’s retirement. Image source: Image source: Sainsbury Logan & Williams

Archive.

Insert 71a & b



Lino in women’s toilet was discussed and ADM apologised for not having seen to it to date.

It is diffi cult to appreciate the scale of pay and relative cost of living but as an example of wage levels in 1966:1176

New employees of the fi rm Carol White at £6.0.0 pw and Dianne Sims at £11.0.0 pw.

The prospect of joining forces with other fi rms was discussed from time to time. It is not known what spurred the following entry in March 19661177 but it should be remembered that A H Robinson was a former law clerk at Sainsbury Logan & Williams before he left with Tom Gifford to commence practice as a partnership across the other side of Tennyson Street:

The question of a proposed amalgamation with Robinson & Toomey was discussed. It was decided that before WAM approaches Robbie, JHZ should sound out Noel Toomey. JHZ said he had already told Noel we were interested. Noel was to talk to Robbie.

For whatever reason, the discussions appear to have petered out and it was not mentioned again.

1176 Minutes of a Partners Meeting, 2 February 1966.1177 Minutes of a Partners Meeting, 17 March 1966.

Staff issues were always to the fore and encapsulated in the following slightly naive entry in the Minute Book:1178

Staff: A memorandum was to be drafted by PRGC to contain1. hours of attendance2. availability of typists3. door shutting4. telephone conversations5. staying here till end

Offi ce equipment continues to occupy a signifi cant amount of partner time with the following quaint reference:1179

Electrolux: £6/-/- approved for purchase of electrolux from Mrs McLeod [presumably second hand and from Bill McLeod’s wife].

Heater: £3/10/- approved for purchase of heater for WAM from Mrs McLeod.

Wage relativities meant that careful thought was required on the issue of wage increases:1180

After discussion the following rises were approved to be wage levels on 14/9/66

1178 Minutes of a Partners Meeting, 23 June 1966.1179 Minutes of a Partners Meeting, 3 August 1966.1180 Minutes of a Partners Meeting, 31 August 1966.

(C10_72): Excerpt from the partnership records describing an arrangement

for I B Logan’s retirement (page 2). Image source: Sainsbury Logan & Williams

Archive.

(C10_73): Excerpt from the partnership records describing an arrangement

for I B Logan’s retirement (page 3). Image source: Sainsbury Logan & Williams

Archive.



D Sims increased to £11/10/- p.w. (10/- increase)

K Petersen increased to £12/-/- p.w. (10/- increase)

A Sweeney increased to £14/5/- p.w. (10/- increase)

…N.B. Keep in mind a large bonus (£25?) for Len Lister at Xmas.

The value of typists to produce fee-paying work was not to be underestimated and they were paid accordingly. For example, Ann Sweeney gave notice in September 1966 that she intended holidaying in Australia and a replacement was required until Christmas of that year. In October it was resolved that until she returned, Ann’s salary was to be split between two existing typists (Karen and Pam) but that at the fi rst salary date after her return her salary would be adjusted to £15 per week.1181

Several special partners’ meetings were convened in December 1966 including one at the Hawke’s Bay Club on 10 December 1966 to consider the admission of Peter Tong into partnership.

1181 Minutes of a Partners Meeting, 12 October 1966.

The terms of the offer of partnership were recorded in the partnership minutes of 14 December 1966.

Serious consideration was also given to relocation at that time to another building from which to continue the practice of law. The building (limited just to the corner site at that time) was owned by Ivan and Frank Logan. The partnership meeting minutes of 14 December 1966 record:

JHZ is to approach FB Logan on the basis that the building be purchased from the Logans for a fi gure not exceeding £15,000 at a rate of interest to produce the same as the present rental during the lifetimes of IB & FB Logan and that a tactful intimation be given that an early answer be given or it is our intention is to purchase another building.

Ironically at that same meeting the cost of the offi ce Christmas Party was hotly debated and it was resolved that:1182

This is to take place on Thursday 22nd December at 4.45pm. ADM to invite usual guests. An elaborate table is not to be prepared. [Emphasis added]

The following year the start and end time of the Christmas Party was carefully recorded as 4.45 to 6.15pm (lest the fi rm’s profi ts be consumed in one extended celebration).1183 The staff are to be told that it is to be merely a “cheese and biscuit” evening.1184 Such parsimonious attitudes to spending money on entertain-ment seem quaint today compared with the staff recognition that is now both expected and deserved.

The discussion about the building purchase was taken up again at the partners meeting in the New Year. Jim Zohrab reported that:1185

…he had sowed the seeds re Building to FBL. He was worried about the roof.

At times the partners supported certain charities and political allegiances. In April 1967 the partnership resolved to donate £30 to the National Party.1186 By July 1968 it was left to individual partners whether to contribute or not.1187

Professional indemnity insurance cover of £20,000 was consid-ered adequate.1188 A donation of £20 to the Waiapu Board was to be made for use of their carpark.

It has been a partnership convention for as long as partnership meetings have been recorded that the last partner to join the partnership has the responsibility of taking accurate partnership minutes. This period of time in the partnership was no excep-tion. The irony is that the Minute Book recording the previous partners’ deliberations about whether or not to admit the new partner to partnership were somehow immediately made avail-able to the incoming partner (typically following a stern chat from the most senior partner about the need to keep all of the partners’ deliberations – past, present, future – completely confidential). And so it was with Peter Tong’s admission to partnership in 1968 where:1189

1182 Minutes of a Partners Meeting, 14 December 1966.1183 Minutes of a Partners Meeting, 15 November 1967.1184 Minutes of a Partners Meeting, 13 December 1967.1185 Minutes of a Partners Meeting, 8 February 1967.1186 Minutes of a Partners Meeting, 12 April 1967.1187 Minutes of a Partners Meeting, 31 July 1968.1188 Minutes of a Partners Meeting, 26 June 1967.1189 Minutes of a Partners Meeting, 31 January 1968.

(C10_74): Excerpt from the partnership accounts for Year Ended 31 March

1966. A net profi t to gross income ratio of 59% is not a bad result by any cur-

rent standards. The partners at the time are likely to have practised judicious

parsimony at all times in particular in what it paid their non-partner solicitors

and clerical staff. An element of boarding school “fagging” has always been

prevalent between those “aspiring to partnership” and those who have “made

it there”. Image source: Sainsbury Logan & Williams Archive.



It was suggested that considerable thought should be given to the question of whether or not Peter Tong should be offered a partnership on 1/4/68 – one year earlier than anticipated. It was decided that WAM, PRGC and ADM should have a meeting and put forward proposals for consideration at the next partners meeting.

A special meeting was then held on 22 February at 8pm and:

After much discussion in regard to the advisability and desirability of taking in a new partner and the resultant division of profi ts it was RESOLVED 1/ That a partnership be offered to Peter Tong commencing on 1st April 1968…

This resulted in Peter Tong arranging his own brass nameplate, addition to the backboard at the foot of the stairs and advertise-ments and notices placed in the Dominion, Daily Telegraph, Herald Tribune and Law Journal and a letter to the Law Society advising of his elevation to partnership status.1190

At this same time the partners considered disestablishing the Waipukurau branch offi ce or purchasing a fi rm motor vehicle if they were to continue with the branch offi ce. The matter of the branch offi ce was fi nally decided in May 1969:1191

JHZ moved that the branch offi ce be closed…[and] suggested that a letter be written to CHB clients advising them of the closure of the branch. It was agreed that the name plate be left. The motion was carried.

Curiously, there is an entry in July 1968 which reports the theft of stationery from the offi ce:1192

ADM reported a spate of thefts of pens and pencils. The cleaner was approached and it was found to be her young son. He was reprimanded by WAM and paid restitution. Mrs Wight was told her children must not be in the offi ce when she cleans.

In the meantime, the fi rm had been busy working on its suc-cession planning and recruited Andrew Morrison to come and work as a staff solicitor. The offi cial minute records that Andrew was:1193

1. To be employed as from 24.11.69 at a salary of $4400-00 per annum.

2. To be advised not later than December 1970 whether a part-nership is available and if so on what terms.

It is very clear from the minutes that a young and ambitious Andrew Morrison was keen to make his mark and within five months of commencing employment he was invited to join the partnership as from 1 April 1970. The minutes of 11 February 1970 record that PJT and ADM were “favourably inclined to admit Andrew into partnership” subject to discus-sion around entry terms and profi t share. Not only that, but based on the principle (in true boarding school fagging style) requiring the newest partner to take the partnership minutes, Andrew introduced a paper recommending some changes in the administration of the fi rm (most of which were largely adopted

1190 Minutes of a Partners Meeting, 27 March 1968.1191 Minutes of a Partners Meeting, 6 May 1969.1192 Minutes of a Partners Meeting, 31 July 1968.1193 Minutes of a Partners Meeting held on 11 February 1970 but obviously

ratifying a decision already made because he started three months ear-lier than the date of the formal resolution.

without amendment)1194 and started having the partnership minutes produced in typewritten form. It is not clear which of the secretarial staff was sworn to utter secrecy suffi cient to permit her to perform this function but it seems certain that it was not Andrew who typed them up himself.

These same minutes recorded the fi rst appearance of Trevor Cardo1195 who was invited to work for the fi rm and be in charge of the National Insurance Agency.1196 He was to be employed by the fi rm at a commencement salary of $3000 per annum from 2 June 1970 and like Ann Eaton (nee Sweeney) still works for the fi rm at the time of writing (both having greater than 40 years service, respectively).

LAW SOCIETY INVOLVEMENT

The partners of Sainsbury Logan & Williams have had a long and involved period of service for the Hawke’s Bay Law Society and New Zealand Law Society. This is not to take away from the voluntary service of other fi rms and individuals.

The Roll of Presidents held by the Hawke’s Bay Branch of the New Zealand Law Society records the following:

George Sainsbury 1895

Francis Logan 1897, 1907, 1923

Heathcote Williams 1898, 1906, 1916

Alexander B Campbell 1909, 1917

Bill McLeod 1959–1960

Andrew Morrison 1992–1994

Stuart Webster 2003–2005

Stuart Webster was one of the four New Zealand Law Society Vice-Presidents (representing the North Island except for Auckland and Wellington) from 2005–2007.

SPORTING PROWESS: INDOOR CRICKET1197

In the early/mid 1980s, indoor cricket was the sporting rage. Teams were organised from fi rms, social clubs, professional associations, law fi rms and “played” at the ICA Centre at Thames Street, Pandora (now the Napier indoor sports centre).

Interest was keen as games were scheduled for 6pm, 7.30pm, 9pm and the last game at 10.30pm.

It was not uncommon for players to participate in two or three teams a night, for such teams as “Flower Power” sponsored by Specifi c Orchards. “Sandwich Factory”, “Molar Men”, (HB Dentists) and “SLOWS” (Sainsbury Logan & Williams). There was also a team from the dark side “WTR” – Willis Toomey Robinson.

1194 Minutes of a Partners Meeting, 8 April 1970.1195 See Chapter 10 under the heading Trevor Cardo.1196 Minutes of a Partners Meeting, 8 April 1970. The Agency arrangement

was introduced as a companion service alongside conveyancing and involved a commission payment if a client was introduced by the fi rm to that particular insurance company.

1197 Notes kindly provided by David Arnott, Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeon, personal friend of Andrew Morrison and keen sportsman (23.10.10).



Stuart Webster’s graduation. Pictured here with his parents Mavis and Ken Webster.

Stuart Webster’s was admitted as a Barrister and Solictor before Justice Moller in Whangarei High Court. His admission was moved by Mr F. Brady pictured here

on theleft. July 1985.



The games consisted of limited overs, both batting and bowling for prescribed periods, and the teams were limited to eight players.

Thus, the action was fast, adrenaline packed and furious (and this word is used most advisedly!!)

The leader of SLOWS was Andrew MacLean Morrison and included Gerry Sullivan, Magnus Macfarlane and invited mem-bers including Doug Knight and David Arnott amongst others.

Needless to say, Andrew sought a team who had all played cricket to a serious level – at both the provincial or senior club stage. For Andrew, losing was not an option!

Magnus was a player of class, elegant, languid with a sense of sartorial elegance. Who cannot remember his immaculate attire of cream cricket trouser and v-necked cricket jersey? Both Gerry and Magnus were somewhat akin to November fi reworks – at times brilliant in performance; at other times duds. The instruc-tions on the fi reworks were also appropriate, because if they were angered (as commonly occurred to all players), then it was a case of “once the fuse is lit, then retire to a safe distance”.

But back to our leader, Andrew Morrison, who had a way of expressing himself that refl ected on both his legal and sporting backgrounds.

When he spoke, it was in calm measured terms, but it was hard to differentiate if he had a smile or snarl in his expression.

He produced some memorable quotes (at least in the mind of this scribe) which included the following:

Ye Gods: here we are in the middle of the night, in the middle •of winter, in the middle of the Pandora Industrial Estate, at

the apex of our sporting careers, being beaten by a team called Sports Dorks – how absolutely depressing.

When enquiring of one of his team, why he was talking to a •hyper-active opposition member and being told that it was the opposition player’s 18th Birthday, he replied, “never talk to the enemy in a friendly fashion – you might like them” and then following this up with a comment, “Ye Gods, I could have sired him.”

When playing against a mixed team of male and female •players, he stated “that thing may look like a female, smell like a female, and act like a female but as far as I’m concerned, it is a batsman, so bowl as fast and as evilly as you can, [name suppressed], and get the bugger out as many times as you can.” As an aside, if a player was dismissed by the usual methods, that is; bowled, caught, stumped or run out – they were not dismissed from the pitch, but had fi ve runs deducted from the team score. Consequently, it was possible for a pair batting within the restricted innings period to achieve a negative total.

And fi nally, our leader would give defi nitive instructions of •the batting and bowling order, and then once followed them up with the following game pep talk: “You may think that we are here to enjoy ourselves – absolute crap – we’re here to win; that’s right? WIN [scribes emphasis] and I mean, BLOODY WIN! So don’t forget it. Now let’s go out and enjoy ourselves!” Maybe it this attitude that allowed Andrew MacLean Morrison to leave Sainsbury Logan & Williams to continue his successful law career, to where he is now, the senior partner of Morrison Daly.


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