This group, lying between 50° 26' and 50 56' S, and between 165° 52' and 166 22' E, with a total land area of 220 sq. miles, is approximately 200 miles SSW of Stewart Island. In the group are one large and five smaller islands, with several detached islets and rocky pinnacles. The main island, in area 179 sq. miles, is some 24 miles long and from 3 to 16 miles wide, with Adams Island (35½ sq. miles) in the south, Enderby Island (1,770 acres) in the north, and Disappointment Island off the west coast. All the islands are of volcanic origin with a maximum height of just over 2,000 ft. The east coast of the main island is deeply embayed with long, narrow inlets, but on the west coast are long, unbroken lines of high, steep cliffs—hence the very good sheltered anchorages are in the east, notably in Carnley Harbour which divides Adams Island from the mainland. The climate is cool (temperature range 35°–65 F), humid, cloudy, and very windy. Nevertheless, most of the area is clothed with shrubby forest at lower levels; above about 300 ft are open patches of tussock and sub-Antarctic meadowland. Soils are peaty, waterlogged, and sour.

Abraham Bristow, a whaling captain, discovered the group in 1806, and whaling and sealing attracted temporary and intermittent populations up till 1852 when settlement was abandoned. Little notice seems to have been taken of the islands until ships sailing the great circle route from Australia to Cape Horn were wrecked there. Special interest was taken in the General Grant, carrying passengers and gold in 1866. Following this wreck, depots for castaways were set up to be maintained until 1929. Attempts to find and salvage the gold of the General Grant seem to have done more than anything else to keep public interest in the island alive.

In the 1890s cattle and sheep were grazed with some success, but the isolation of the islands caused this venture to be abandoned. A few wild cattle, pigs, and goats still survive. Oceanic birds (e.g., petrels, penguins, and shags) are plentiful; there are still a few fur seals; sea lions breed there, and such other sea mammals as the sea elephant and the sea leopard are regular visitors.

The main island groups within the territory of New Zealand, and usually described as “sub-Antarctic”, are the Auckland and Campbell Islands, almost due south of Stewart Island, and the Antipodes and Bounty Islands farther out to the south-east of it. They all stand above the submarine platform surrounding New Zealand. The Macquarie Islands belonging to Australia are separated from it by deep water.

In May 1891 a meeting of Dunedin citizens, “in hearty appreciation of the distinguished public services so ungrudgingly rendered at all times by the late Reverend Dr Stuart”, decided to erect “a memorial in some degree worthy of his services”. This took the form of a portrait statue in bronze, the artist being W. L. Morrison, Wellington. The statue, which stands in the Queen's Gardens, was unveiled on 22 June 1898.

by A.H.McL. AND B.J.F.

• History of Otago, McLintock, A. H. (1949)
• History of Knox Church, Dunedin, Hislop, J. (1892)
• Otago Daily Times, 14 May 1894 (Obit).

(1819–94).

Presbyterian minister.

A new biography of Stuart, Donald McNaughton appears in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography on this site.

Donald MacNaughton Stuart was born on 5 February 1819 in Kenmore Parish, Perthshire, Scotland, the son of Alexander Stuart, a farmer, and of Janet, née MacNaughton. He was educated at the parish school and began teaching in order to put himself through St. Andrew's University. In 1843 he was involved in the upset following the Disruption and was one of those who organised the election of Thomas Chalmers – the noted Presbyterian divine – as Lord Rector of the University. The senate expelled the students concerned but they were soon reinstated by a Royal Commission. He continued his theological studies at New College, Edinburgh, and in London. The Kelso Presbytery licensed him to preach and, about July 1849, he was inducted at Falstone Presbyterian Church, North Tyne, where he remained for 10 years. In November 1859 Stuart was appointed to the second (Knox) Presbyterian Church in Dunedin. He arrived at Port Chalmers in the Bosworth on 27 February 1860 and relieved Dr Burns until Knox Church was opened. On 6 May 1860 he was inducted at Knox Church, where he remained for the rest of his life. Early in his career Stuart formed a most successful Bible class which he conducted until 1891. During the 1860s he undertook many pastoral journeys through the Otago country districts and became extremely popular among the diggers on the goldfields.

Stuart took an active interest in many fields beyond the Church; he was interested in all aspects of education and strongly condemned the 1877 Act because it neglected Bible studies. He spoke feelingly on this subject from his pulpit and was for many years a leading member of the Bible-in-Schools League. As a result of his advocacy, the Presbyterian Synod established a Divinity Hall in Dunedin and Stuart was tutor in Church history there during its first year. It was characteristic of the man that he donated his salary from the position to endow the Stuart prizes in Church history and pastoral theology. He was a member of the Board of Advice which sat in 1875 to recommend reforms for the Boys' High School; and, two years later, was appointed to the Board of Governors of Otago Boys' and Otago Girls' High Schools, and was chairman until his death. Stuart was an original member of the Council of Otago University and was Chancellor from 1879 until 1894. Although never entirely reconciled to the surrender of the University's right to grant degrees, he served on the Senate of the University of New Zealand from 1873 until 1881. In 1872 he was awarded an honorary D.D. from St. Andrews University. He was also a keen supporter of the Patients' and Prisoners' Aid Society, the hospital, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the benevolent institution, and the industrial school. From 1879 onwards the Church authorities endeavoured to persuade him to have a permanent assistant to help him in his parish work. In 1889 the Rev. A. P. Davidson was appointed, taking up his duties in the following year.

In July 1850, at Slough, Stuart married Jessie Robertson, the daughter of the headmaster of a school where he had taught in his undergraduate days. She died in Dunedin on 16 April 1862 leaving three sons. Stuart died at the Manse, George Street, Dunedin, on 12 May 1894.

Six feet two inches in height, Stuart had a commanding presence which was enhanced by a shepherd's plaid invariably slung across his shoulder. Apart from high status in his own denomination, Stuart won a unique place among the community at large through his Christian unselfishness and kindly tolerance.

Stratford is situated on the Patea River and on the eastern slopes of Mount Egmont. The surrounding country is gently undulating. The New Plymouth – Wanganui highway passes through the town. Stratford is the junction for the railway connecting the Marton-New Plymouth section with the North Island Main Trunk line at Okahukura. New Plymouth is 26 miles north-west by road (30 miles by rail), Eltham is 5 ½ miles, and Hawera 18 miles south by road or rail. Okahukura is 99 miles north-west by rail.

The main rural activity of the district is dairy farming associated with sheep raising. Butter, cheese, and casein are manufactured in the district. Forestry is important in the hilly uplands north-east of Stratford and there are sawmills at Toko (6 miles east) and Midhirst (3 ½ miles north). Brick and field tiles are manufactured and there are stock saleyards at Douglas (10 miles north-east). Stratford is a servicing and distributing centre with a number of secondary industries which include the manufacture of butter, furniture and joinery, clothing, hosiery, and footwear as well as general engineering, motor-body building, timber impregnation, and milling. There are stock saleyards and a fellmongery and tannery outside the borough. Stratford is also a tourist traffic junction for visitors to Mount Egmont, and Stratford Mountain House is 9 miles north-west by road.

The site of Stratford is on or close to the Whakaahurangi war-track which in precolonisation times was the common inland route between North and South Taranaki. During the 1840s, working parties from the New Plymouth settlement had cleared a bridle track along this ancient trail but it later fell into disuse. In 1866 Major-General Trevor Chute's force reopened the overgrown track during the march through the bush to New Plymouth, and his men probably passed through or close by the town site. In June 1877 a block of 300 acres on the Patea River was surveyed and laid out for a township, the first sections being sold in 1878. The name chosen by the Taranaki Land Board was Stratford, which was that of Shakespeare's birthplace. Sawmilling was the first main activity of the town and district but the clearance of the bush saw the land converted to pasture for dairy farming, and the town grew as a market centre. By 1879 Stratford was linked to New Plymouth by coaching service. The same year the railway from New Plymouth reached Stratford, but it was not until 23 March 1885 that the town was linked by rail to Marton and Wellington. In 1901 work commenced on the Toko branch line which was to provide access to the North Island Main Trunk line, the connecting link being completed in 1932. A town board was formed in 1882 to administer municipal affairs. On 10 January 1893 Stratford was created a town district, and on 22 July 1898 it was constituted a borough.

POPULATION: 1951 census, 4,445; 1956 census, 4,811; 1961 census, 5,273.

by Brian Newton Davis, M.A., Vicar, St. Philips, Karori West, Wellington and Edward Stewart Dollimore, Research Officer, Department of Lands and Survey, Wellington.

(1844–1930).

Lawyer and statesman.

A new biography of Stout, Robert appears in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography on this site.

Robert Stout, the eldest son of Thomas Stout, a merchant and small landowner, and his wife Barbara, née Smith, was born at Lerwick, Shetland Islands, on 28 September 1844. He claimed descent from Sigurd the Stout, elder brother of the famous Viking Hrolf or Rollo, who became Duke of Normandy and ancestor of the Norman Kings of England; and in his later years, with his flashing eyes and silky white beard, closely resembled the traditional picture of a Viking warrior. He was educated at a Froebel kindergarten, at Lerwick Grammar School, and then at the parish school, of which he was dux in 1858. He became a pupil teacher and, whilst acting as such, qualified as a surveyor. As a young man he was already a temperance advocate, a radical land reformer, and, under the influence of his scientific reading, a strong opponent of dogmatic religion. Fired by reports of the Otago gold rush, Stout left Lerwick in 1863 for New Zealand and landed in Dunedin on 8 April 1864. Finding no vacancy as a surveyor, he turned to teaching and became second master at J. H. Shaw's “Grammar School” and, later, first assistant at North Dunedin District School. He was a leading organiser of the Otago Schoolmasters' Association, later the Otago Educational Institute. Rejected for a headmastership because he could not teach singing, in 1867 Stout became an articled clerk in the law office of William Downie Stewart. He completed his articles in three years and, on admission as a barrister and solicitor in 1871, formed the firm of Sievwright and Stout. Besides building up a large practice he wrote leading articles for local newspapers. Stout claimed to be the first student to enrol at the University of Otago and in 1873 became its first law lecturer although he did not hold a degree.

In August 1872, at a by-election for Caversham, Stout was returned as a member of the Otago Provincial Council. In May 1874 he became Provincial Solicitor in the Executive formed by Donald Reid. The abolition of the provinces soon became the great political issue of the day and Stout's return as member of the House of Representatives at another by-election for Caversham in August 1875 enabled him to take a conspicuous part in the opposition to the Abolition of Provinces Bill and thus to acquire a national reputation. The Bill was passed, but the minority, by its tenacity, secured a year's delay in its operation. At the intervening general election Stout was returned as one of the three members for Dunedin. The opposition to abolition was again tenacious, but unsuccessful. On 27 December 1876 Stout married Anna Paterson Logan, daughter of the clerk to the Superintendent of Otago.

On 13 March 1878 Stout joined the Ministry of Sir George Grey as Attorney-General, later becoming also Land Claims Commissioner and Minister of Lands and Immigration. He was responsible for a Trade Union Act and a series of measures reconstituting and endowing existing secondary schools. The illness of his law partner contributed to his resignation from the Ministry and the House on 25 June 1879; but it was concerted with John Ballance, now his closest political ally and his associate in certain financial speculations which had incurred the criticism of Sir George Grey. Their withdrawal gravely weakened the Ministry, which, after an election, was defeated early in October on a vote of no confidence.

After five years of legal work supplemented by journalism and much public speaking, especially on religious questions, Stout returned to politics as member for Dunedin East in the general election of 1884. He proceeded to form a coalition with Sir Julius Vogel, who had returned to New Zealand after five years' absence in the hope of restoring the fortunes of the New Zealand Agricultural Company, of which he was the promoter and Stout the solicitor. Vogel had the larger following, but his poor health caused him to yield the premiership to Stout. This Ministry was soon defeated in the House, but, after H. A. Atkinson had failed in his turn, on 3 September Stout formed another Ministry with himself as Premier and Attorney-General and, later, as Minister of Education, Vogel as Treasurer, and with stronger representation of the North Island. Vogel's main interests lay in finance and railway construction. The Hospital and Charitable Aid Board Act, the reform of the Civil Service, the introduction of probation for first offenders bear the hallmark of Stout, as does the introduction at the request of the Maoris of liquor prohibition in the King Country, which the railway was now entering. The Ministry tried to open up trade with the Pacific Islands, in particular by securing British annexation of Samoa. But Vogel's financial policies did not stave off economic depression and Stout, influenced by the individualist philosophy of Herbert Spencer, refused to accept Government responsibility for relief measures. When the Ministry was defeated on Atkinson's motion of no confidence on 28 May 1887 he dissolved, but the elections went against the Ministry and Stout himself lost his seat to James Allen. His acceptance of a K.C.M.G. in the Birthday Honours of 1886 had perhaps lost him some support among the masses, and his association with Vogel was particularly unpopular in Dunedin. Other members offered to resign in his favour, but he refused. There was an element of pique in this fateful decision, but Stout, if not in office, could ill afford to neglect his legal practice for politics.

Stout's title had not affected his sympathy with the working classes. He supported the Rev. Rutherford Waddell in his campaign against “sweating” in the clothing trade and, as a member of the conciliation committee in the maritime strike of 1890, he is said by W. P. Reeves to have “stated the case for the unionists better than they ever stated it themselves”. He did not stand in the election of 1890, but Ballance, as Premier, relied much on his advice. He was consulted about the formation of the Ministry and the ministerial measure for women's suffrage. Ballance, whose health was deteriorating, hoped to find a seat for Stout and resign the leadership in his favour during the session of 1893; but he died on 27 April before he could carry out his plan. The ablest members of the Cabinet, Reeves and J. McKenzie, wanted Stout to succeed; but the majority preferred R. J. Seddon, who was strongly backed also by Sir George Grey who had a long-standing grudge against Stout. As a compromise it was agreed that Seddon should become Premier temporarily, that Stout should stand at a by-election for Inangahua, and that a party meeting before the next session should decide who was to be leader. Stout was duly returned for Inangahua on 8 June, but did not enter the Ministry. Seddon interpreted the understanding in his own way. He met Parliament as Premier, told the party caucus (which Stout and his principal sympathisers did not attend) that he had the full support of the Cabinet, and used the approaching general election to exact pledges of support from ministerial candidates.

Seddon in effect had challenged Stout to displace him; and Stout, keenly disappointed with the turn of events and deeply wounded by Seddon's conduct, took up the challenge. But Seddon was the cleverer tactician. He sidetracked Stout's Bill for local option in the liquor trade by a more moderate Bill. In the general election of 1893 Stout headed the poll for Wellington City and, having wound up his legal business in Dunedin, he moved his residence to Wellington and early in 1895 opened practice there in partnership with J. G. Findlay. He was again returned for Wellington City in 1896. Increasingly out of sympathy with Liberal legislation and with Seddon's autocratic tendencies, he seemed to be gravitating towards the Opposition. He devoted much of his energies to licensing reform and to the foundation of a university college in Wellington. Though the Victoria College Act of 1897 was Seddon's, Stout was the true founder of Victoria University College, Wellington. The contest with Seddon he gradually gave up as hopeless. Seddon's empirical “welfare state” philosophy corresponded better than Stout's more theoretical liberalism with the temper of New Zealand politics.

In 1898 Stout resigned once more from the House, mainly to attend to his financial interests. He was never to re-enter it, for on 22 June 1899 he accepted the Chief Justiceship. As the acknowledged leader of the New Zealand Bar he had a good claim to the office, which he retained for 26 years. Stout believed in a liberal interpretation of the law and this caused some of his decisions - for instance on the extra-territorial operation of New Zealand legislation – to be overruled on appeal. But he was a sound and most industrious Judge, even if not a profound lawyer, and was highly respected by the legal profession for his courtesy and impartiality. He was particularly strong in criminal law, in procedure, and in family-protection cases. In 1921 he was made a Privy Councillor and heard some appeals in the Judicial Committee whilst in England. He took a leading part in the consolidation of the New Zealand statutes, which was completed in 1908. Stout's other great interest in these years was in the affairs of the University of New Zealand, of which he was Chancellor from 1903 to 1923. Though he had been a university reformer in his youth, as Chancellor he found himself out of sympathy with the academic point of view. He placed the emphasis on teaching rather than on research. He also stood for lay rather than academic control, even over academic policy, and for external rather than internal examination. His speeches at graduation ceremonies, which were apt to be lengthy, sometimes caused trouble with the students.

Stout resigned the Chief Justiceship early in 1926. In August of that year he was called to the Legislative Council and he took some part in its debates until 1929, when his health began to fail. He died in Wellington on 19 July 1930 and was survived by his widow, four sons, and two daughters.

Stout was a man of commanding presence, natural dignity, and genuine kindliness of heart. As a debater in Parliament and as advocate in the Courts of law he has had few, if any, equals in New Zealand history. He was strong in logic and quick in perception; his wide if rather miscellaneous reading gave him a great store of knowledge of many kinds to draw upon; he used all the tricks of the advocate, including his hearty laugh, to disconcert his adversaries; but there was no malice behind the blows he inflicted in the cut and thrust of debate. His time as Attorney-General and Premier was not as long as it had promised to be; but he proved himself capable of drafting and carrying through important legislation. He was an ardent champion of many causes, most of them good. His early success had given him great self-confidence, but it made this early opponent of dogmatism dogmatic in his old age; he seldom thought it possible that he might be mistaken. The times moved on and the young radical came to appear a high and dry Conservative. He was much inferior to Seddon as a politician and, had he succeeded Ballance, his government would not have lasted as long; but he had set his face against the materialism which was beginning to dominate New Zealand politics and he did not despise ideas as Seddon did. His premiership might have been no bad thing for the Liberal Party or for New Zealand.

One of Stout's sons, Sir Thomas Duncan MacGregor Stout, C.B.E., D.S.O., E.D. (1885– ), has had a distinguished career as a consulting surgeon. In 1962 he was knighted for his services to Victoria University of Wellington.

by William Parker Morrell, M.A.(N.Z.), D.PHIL.(OXON.), Professorial Fellow, History and Political Science Department, University of Otago.

• Life of Sir Robert Stout, Dunn, W. H., and Richardson, I. L. M. (1961)
• The University of New Zealand, Beaglehole, J. C. (1937).

(1858–1931).

Feminist and social reformer.

A new biography of Stout, Anna Paterson appears in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography on this site.

Anna Paterson Stout was born on 29 September 1858 in Dunedin and was the daughter of John Logan, clerk to the Superintendent of Otago, and of Jessie, née Pollock. As both her parents were deeply interested in prohibition and other social reforms, it was little wonder that she should grow up sharing their views. On 27 December 1876, at Dunedin, she married Robert Stout. Thereafter her public interests closely paralleled her husband's and she began to take increasing part in a wide variety of women's political and social groups. She became a foundation member of the Women's Christian Temperance Union in 1885 and joined the New Zealand Alliance on its formation a year later. She lent her vigorous support to the early campaigns for women's franchise and for the political education of women. These interests led her to become a foundation member of the National Council of Women and of the Southern Cross Society. In these she campaigned strongly for equal pay for equal work and equality in the application of the laws. She constantly stressed the necessity for educating women in economic and social affairs.

Although the feminist movement claimed her first allegiance, Lady Stout was also very active in the field of women's welfare, being a founder of the Society for the Protection of Women and Children, the Plunket Society, and of the Women's National Reserve. She visited England with her husband in 1909 and remained there for three years. During this period she interested herself in the English suffragette movement and joined the International Council of Women, the London Lyceum, and the Women's Suffrage League. In the latter her forthright advocacy of women's rights soon won her the friendship of the Pankhursts and other feminist leaders and she was always a welcome speaker at their meetings.

In spite of her many political and welfareinterests, Lady Stout was very active in social and cultural bodies. She was a founder of the League of Nations Union and of the English Speaking Union and was a member of such organisations as the Society of Fine Arts and Wellington Women's Club. In addition to these she often served on numerous educational and charitable committees. Nor was her encouragement of education limited to serving on committees, for, in 1920, she gave the University of Otago £500 to establish the Anna Paterson Stout Scholarship, for women, in Economics, History, and Home Science. Six years later, to commemorate her golden wedding, she donated £50 to Victoria University of Wellington to provide a small bursary for women undergraduates.

Although, to a large extent, her career has been eclipsed by that of her husband, Lady Stout deserves to be remembered as one of New Zealand's most ardent champions of women's rights. She died at Hanmer Springs on 10 May 1931.

by Bernard John Foster, M.A., Research Officer, Department of Internal Affairs, Wellington.

• Sir Robert Stout—a Biography, Dunn, W. H., Richardson, I. L. M. (1961)
• Temperance and Prohibition in New Zealand, Cocker, J., Murray, J. M. (1930).

(c. 1810–80).

Surveyor and runholder.

Very little is known of Robert Stokes' antecedents and early life. He was born in England about 1810 and trained as a surveyor – probably specialising as a building surveyor. For some years he practised as an architect in Cheltenham and London. On 10 April 1839 he approached the New Zealand Company for a position and was attached to Mein Smith's survey staff. Stokes sailed for New Zealand on the Cuba, arriving at Port Nicholson on 3 January 1840. During the next few months he carried out surveys in Wellington -Hutt Valley district, where he gave his name to Stokes Valley. In August 1840 Colonel Wakefield sent him, together with Heaphy and E. J. Wakefield, to report on the potentialities of the Wanganui district for settlement. Early in 1842 Stokes resigned from the Company's service in order to enter business on his own account. He visited South America in 1843, but returned to Wellington in time to join Petre and Clifford as founders of the New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Straits Guardian. According to McLintock, Stokes in the Crown Colony period was a scribbling toady, with little capacity and less principle. As the willing tool of Sir George Grey, he “dressed” his paper with a view to presenting the official case to the best advantage at the Colonial Office. From 1845 until 1858 Stokes produced the paper at his printing works in Manners Street and, from about 1850 till 1865, when he disposed of his type, he was sole proprietor.

Stokes represented Wellington City in the Provincial Council from 1857 to 1865 and Wairarapa East from then until 1867. In 1858 he carried a Bill through the Council to establish municipal government for Wellington and, in the same year, advocated the construction of a railway across the Rimutaka Range. Although his scheme was derided at first, Stokes continued his agitation. In 1863 he induced the Council to agree to accept Robert Mudge Marchant's tender to build the first 18 miles of the line for £150,000; however, as the contractor wanted a 7 per cent return guaranteed on his outlay or, alternatively, a land grant of 100,000 acres, the deal fell through. Four years later Stokes endeavoured to revive the project, but nothing was done until Vogel incorporated it in his public works scheme in the early seventies.

Between 1858 and 1861 Stokes and his brother, Dr John Milbourne Stokes, bought the large Manganuka and Milbourne stations, near Te Aute, in Hawke's Bay. They also held jointly extensive town lots in Clive. On 12 July 1862 Stokes was summoned to the Legislative Council, where he remained until his membership lapsed through absence on 24 September 1879. In the Legislative Council he became well known for his forthright opinions on the major political issues of the day. Notwithstanding his extensive interests in Hawke's Bay, Stokes continued to reside in Wellington. He was one of the Commissioners for the Wellington City Reserves in 1862. Throughout his life he gave much encouragement to agriculture and was, for some years, treasurer of the Horticultural and Botanical Society. From 1871 to 1878 he was a member of the Senate of the University of New Zealand. In the latter year he returned to England, settling permanently in London. Stokes died at 1 Clanricarde Gardens, Bayswater, on 20 January 1880. He left no family, his wife having predeceased him by about 25 years.

by Bernard John Foster, M.A., Research Officer, Department of Internal Affairs, Wellington.

• Crown Colony Government in New Zealand, McLintock, A. H. (1958)
• Early New Zealand Engineers, Furkert, F. W. (1953)
• The Times (London), 22 Jan 1880
• Evening Post, 4 Nov 1929.

(1812–85).

Early hydrographer.

A new biography of Stokes, John Lort appears in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography on this site.

John Lort Stokes was born in 1812 at “Scotch-well”, near Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, the second son of Henry Stokes, whose father, John Rees, assumed the surname Stokes. His mother was Anne, daughter of George Phillips, M.D., and grand-daughter of John Lort, of Prickeston Pembrokeshire. Stokes first entered the Navy in 1824 as a first-class volunteer on the Prince Regent at Sheerness. Almost immediately he transferred to the Beagle, in which vessel he served through all ranks from midshipman to commander. During the next 18 years Beagle was exploring and surveying the coasts of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, and charting the Straits of Magellan and the little known regions about Torres Strait, the Timor Sea, and Western Australia. On these voyages Stokes worked under FitzRoy and became the friend and companion of Charles Darwin. While exploring the Victoria River, on the north-west coast of Australia, Stokes received a severe spear wound and suffered from the effects of this until the end of his life.

In September 1843 Stokes returned to England. During the next two years he wrote Discoveries in Australia (two volumes, 1846) which covered the voyages of the Beagle between 1837 and 1843 - the period of his command. On 4 July 1846 he received his captaincy and, in October of the following year, was appointed to command HMS Acheron. For the next four years he surveyed the New Zealand coastline, charted Foveaux Strait accurately, and made major corrections on existing charts of the South Island. In this connection he reported that only the portions surveyed by Cook had been charted accurately. At this time Stokes and W. J. W. Hamilton explored much of the Murihiku Block. He was very fulsome in his praise of this area as a site for future settlement, but this opinion was challenged by Tuckett. While Stokes was exploring Foveaux Strait he reported to Sir George Grey of the desire of the local Maoris to sell to the Government certain areas of their land. The outcome of this was that, shortly after the Acheron left New Zealand, Mantell began negotiations to purchase the Murihiku Block.

When the Acheron was paid off in Sydney, Stokes returned to England. From 1860 to 1863 he surveyed the coast of Devonshire. In 1864 he was promoted to Rear Admiral, in 1877 to Vice-Admiral, and, six years later, to Admiral. He retired from the Navy in 1878 and lived at Scotch-well, where he was made County Magistrate.

Stokes was twice married. He died on 11 June 1885. As a hydrographer Stokes was noted for the accuracy of his surveys, and charts based upon his work have remained in use until comparatively recent years.

by Bernard John Foster, M.A., Research Officer, Department of Internal Affairs, Wellington.

• Journal of the Royal Geographic Society, Vol. 21 (1851), “Survey of the Southern Part of the Middle Island of New Zealand”, Stokes, J. L.
• Proceedings of the Royal Geographic Society, Vol. 7 (1885) (Obit)
• The Times (London), 13 Jun 1885 (Obit).

Stock exchange procedure in New Zealand differs in some important respects from the procedure of the large exchanges overseas. Members meet, usually twice a day, in a “call” room, the meeting being known as the “call”. The name aptly describes the method of operation. An official of the exchange calls over the names of securities as an invitation to members to make either buying or selling bids. Competition in the bidding is frequently spirited and, when the buying and selling bids coincide, a sale is effected and the current market price established. Bids, or more correctly, buying and selling quotations, are published daily as are sales made or, in the case of some but not necessarily all sales made outside the “call”, sales reported.

For the purposes of the “call”, stocks, shares, and debentures are grouped according to the business of the respective companies – for example, loan and agency, shipping, timber, wool and textile. For the purpose of quotation the Stock Exchange Association divides securities into three classes – official, unofficial, and vestibule. The majority of quotations are for shares on the official list. In the case of shares officially listed, this means that the companies concerned, about 250 at present, have requested official listing and have met the Stock Exchange Association's conditions. To obtain listing a company must: (a) Be of sufficient magnitude, and its share-holding must be sufficiently well distributed to ensure that there is a free market for its shares; (b) Undertake to supply promptly to the association, as well as to its shareholders, all information relative to declaration of dividends, proposed alteration to its capital structure, changes in the directorate, and matters of a similar nature for publication in the daily press; and (c) Adopt articles of association (under the Companies Act) which comply with the exchange's requirements. In brief, these requirements are designed to ensure that reasonable information about the company is available to shareholders; to enable a majority of shareholders (in terms of value of issued capital) to control the company; and to protect the interests of minorities.

Official listing is, therefore, an indication that a company's capital structure and its articles of association comply with the stock exchange's requirements and that information which may affect the market price of its securities will be immediately made known to investors throughout the Dominion. It does not, however, indicate that the Stock Exchange Association of New Zealand necessarily believes that a company will achieve its promoters' claims.

Shares of a public company, which either has not applied for official listing or has applied but has not had it granted, are quoted on the unofficial list, provided there is evidence of a free market for the shares. Buying and selling quotations and sales are published in the same way as for officially listed shares. A company may be refused official listing for one of several reasons. For example, the number of shareholders may be too few to ensure a free market; control of voting strength may rest with one individual; or the company's articles of association may not comply with the stock exchange's requirements. The fact, however, that a company's securities are quoted on the unofficial list does not imply that they are less sound than those officially listed. Dealings in securities on the unofficial list carry a higher rate of brokerage.

Securities classed as vestibule are those which, for some reason, cannot be quoted on the official or unofficial lists. The reason may be that the number of shareholders in a company is too few to ensure a free market. In theory, deals in such securities cannot be made in the “call” room but only in the vestibule, hence the name. In practice, however, deals are made in the “call” room after the official “call” has concluded. The stock exchange does not record quotations or sales of vestibule securities.

In buying and selling securities as agents for their clients sharebrokers earn their income from brokerage charges, which are controlled by the association and are uniform for all five exchanges. Income is also earned from underwriting and valuation fees and from commissions on new issues and on placements of new issues.

Another feature of the New Zealand stock exchanges is the system of trading in “odd lots”, that is, in parcels of shares which do not fit into what has been defined as “marketable” or “round” parcels for trading at the “call”. For shares that do not exceed £2 in price, a “marketable” parcel is 100 shares, for example. “Odd lots” (for instance 67 shares at a price of 15s. 6d. each, would be an “odd lot”) are usually dealt with after the main call over, the prices being generally less than for “marketable” parcels. On some overseas exchanges one broker is appointed to specialise in “odd lot” dealing and, in order to provide the volume of turnover necessary to make such business worth while, all “odd lots” are channelled through him. There is at present no “odd lots” specialist dealer in New Zealand.

In recent years, partly as a result of publicity by the exchanges themselves, there has been a marked increase in public interest and participation in the share market. Other contributing factors have been higher levels of income, a greater appreciation of the possibility of “hedging” against inflation by investment in equity shares of growing companies, and the trend towards shares of smaller denominations, 5s. or 10s. instead of £1 or higher. A small investor can buy a marketable parcel of low-priced shares for a comparatively modest outlay. For example, £50 would buy 100 5s. shares with a market value of 10s. each. The formation of unit trusts and of investment clubs and the introduction of monthly investment plans is evidence of the growing interest which seems likely to continue.

In New Zealand the market which the stock exchange provides is essentially an investment market, not a speculative one. As the accompanying graphs illustrate, share prices do fluctuate but large movements, reflecting substantial selling or buying operations aimed at securing quick profits, are difficult to discern. In this country the stock exchange may lack something of the mystique, occasional drama, and colourful jargon of some overseas exchanges, but the seeming absence of prominent “stags”, “bears”, and “bulls”, of clamorous dealings and of publications by successful speculators, is not necessarily something to be deplored.

by Robert John Familton, M.COM., Economist, Reserve Bank, Wellington.

• Official Record of the Stock Exchanges of New Zealand (published monthly)
• New Zealand Investment Guide, Marris, E. C. (1959)
• Equity Investment, Franklin, E. C. (1961).