Havelock in 1896 had a population of about 350, and Hastings 3200.
Dillon and Hoy’s Hastings store was on the corner of Heretaunga and Warren Sts. The shop was rented, and all shop fittings, plant, horses and carts were on bailment (transfer of assets where possession is handed over to a person(s) who undertake to keep and redeliver the items) from past owner Charles Hughes.
Ellen Hughes, Charles’ wife, acted on his behalf and executed the bailment in September 1895.
Included in the bailment were three delivery horses — Punch, Tommy and Darkey — of which two would cause all manner of grief to Dillon and Hoy (and the Hugheses).
The bailment arrangement quickly went sour and ended up in the Hastings Stipendiary Magistrate’s court during February 1896.
Two of the horses, Tommy and Punch, escaped from their Hastings holding paddock on November 7, 1895, and when they could not be found, the Hugheses demanded they be found or given compensation for the loss. Their respective values in today’s terms were $3600 and $7200.
Tommy and Punch had been recently bought from Masterton, and upon their escape, from accounts they appeared to be heading back to their homeland.
Thomas Hoy stated the paddock in which the horses were placed on November 5,1895, was secure, and upon checking the next day, the top bar of the gate was broken and the two horses gone.
A drover, Mr Hunt, told Hoy the horses had passed him trotting near Te Aute.
Wasting no time, Hoy caught a train to Waipukurau hoping to head off Punch and Tommy there, only to be told the horses had been seen 2 miles (3.2km) past there.
He then returned to Hastings and engaged Adam Mundell to find them — who was paid £3 (2024: $725) for the search as far as Takapau — but Mundell did not find them.
Under cross-examination, Mundell said he had asked 50 or 60 people if they had seen the horses. He did not go off the road from Waipawa to Takapau. He told the the court he was not going to go to Masterton, where he thought the horses were heading.
Another train journey, this time to Norsewood, was made by Hoy, but the horses had gone past it too, according to a bullock drover.
Meanwhile Arthur Dillon wrote to all possible pound keepers he could find — ultimately, with no luck.
He also advertised in the Hawke’s Bay Herald for them.
Charles Hughes, as the court evidence revealed, had accused Thomas Hoy of not properly looking for the horses. Thomas replied he had, and he was away a week looking for them and lost business because of it.
An angry Hoy then told Hughes to leave the butcher shop premises, and admitted to the court after this that “he might have promised to break Hughes’ head”.
Defendants Dillon and Hoy’s lawyer stated they had done their best to keep the horses secure and made their best attempts to find them. On the contrary, the plaintiff’s lawyer argued they had not done this and had not offered sufficient reward for their return. and delayed proper advertising and sending notices to pound keepers.
The bench found for the defendants, Dillon and Hoy, on the basis that Hughes had failed to show sufficient negligence. Hughes was to pay £45 ($11,000) in compensation to Dillon and Hoy for court costs, who in turn had to return all the items held under the bailment and give up possession of the shop.
Tommy and Punch were never found and it’s assumed they both made it back home to Masterton.
The partnership between Arthur Dillon and Thomas Hoy ended in October 1896, and Dillon carried on the Havelock butchery on his own.
Dillon sold his Havelock butchery in December 1896 to Davis and Gimblett and immediately opened a butchery in Heretaunga St, Hastings,
This business lasted only until June 1897 when he again sold out to Davis and Gimblett.
He was back as a butcher when he bought Havelock butcher P. Palmer’s business in December 1898.
This butchery lasted until mid-1901, and stopped for an unknown reason.
And yes — he was back butchering in Heretaunga St, Hastings, in May 1902, when he thanked the public for their past support and “solicits their patronage in his new venture”.
His supply of meat was secured from the Stortford Lodge saleyards.
This business lasted the longest for him, although he was plagued by misfortune and missteps along the way.
His store was robbed in March 1907, and the thieves cleaned out all the meat, valued at £150 (2024: $31,000).
Bad debts plagued him — a Paki Paki boarding house owed him £150 ($32,000) in May 1909 after the owner went into bankruptcy. Bad debts were quite common.
When the Inspector of Factories noticed Dillon was open outside legal hours in June 1910, he was charged and fined in court, after being previously warned of the offence.
The Weights and Measures Act 1868 gave power to Labour Department inspectors to check the scales of shops. Arthur was fined in August 1910 for having “an incorrect weighing machine”.
Policing of retail business by the government was strict then.
The last trace of Arthur Dillon appeared in May 1911 when he advertised he had not sold his business, despite rumours in Hastings that he had. He stated he was suffering bad health and had appointed a manager.
Dillon died in 1912, his estate notice stated he was a butcher and mental patient.
Dillon was a plucky butcher who never gave up despite the various challenges he had, and which may have ultimately taken a toll on his health.
He served his community of Hastings in many ways, and took part in organising many charitable events and deeds.
I would have expected he would have also been very generous and trusting in his business dealings.
Michael Fowler is a Hawke’s Bay writer and historian mfhistory@gmail.com. He will be giving a talk at the Havelock North Function Centre at 2pm on Saturday, June 15, titled Havelock North: A light-hearted history.
Book at https://www.eventfinda.co.nz, door sales, if available.
All proceeds to the MTG Foundation for the new archive and storage facility in Hastings.
