John Graham

MARRIED
At Caversham, Dunedin, Otago, by the Rev. Thomas Burns, John Graham, Mail Contractor, youngest son of the late William Graham, Esq., of Glasgow, to Margaret, fifth daughter of James Marchbank, late of Moffat, Dumfriesshire, Scotland.⁸

Resident Magistrate's Court, Outram.

John Graham, of Dunedin, appeared against John Currie, of Maungatua, for having assaulted him on the 18th inst., at the residence of Mr Murray, schoolmaster, Maungatua. At the request of the plaintiff the witnesses were ordered out of court. Defendant pleaded "Not guilty."

The plaintiff made a rambling statement as to his being the father of a girl who was living with her grandfather at Maungatua. That he went to fetch her away, and that instead of getting the child the defendant had hit him on the nose and made it bleed, and had also hit him a second time on the brow. He called Messrs Murray and George Duncan whose evidence, however, went to show that plaintiff raised the stick produced (a rather formidable looking one) in a threatening manner, and that if defendant had not prevented him he might have done some serious mischief.

The defendant admitted having struck the plaintiff, but pleaded provocation in justification. He called Mr Marchbank, the grandfather of the child, and Miss Marchbank, who both bore him out in his plea.

Mr Fulton said that he was not called upon to decide as to the paternity of the plaintiff, but the case before him was simply one of assault, and the evidence of the plaintiff's own witnesses proved beyond a doubt that the defendant had received such provocation as to justify him in what he did. He would dismiss the case, with costs against the plaintiff.⁹

OBITUARY.
DUNEDIN, November 23.
The death is announced of Mr John Graham, a prominent figure in provincial politics in the early sixties. He had been an inmate of the Benevolent Institution since 1886.
[From our Correspondent]
DUNEDIN, November 23.
Mr John Graham, who had reached the ripe age of eighty-eight, was the first postmaster in Dunedin, and had unsuccessfully contested the superintendentship.¹¹

John Graham, better known in old identity days as Jock Graham, who died at the Benevolent Institution early on Wednesday, was a well-known character in the early days of Otago. On the discovery of gold he was engaged by the late Mr A Barr to carry the mails to Gabriel's Gully, Wetherstones, and other fields as they were discovered, and he performed some wonderful journeys on foot over an almost trackless country, and with dangerous creeks and rivers to ford. When Cobb and Co secured the mail contracts he took to selling cheap carcases of mutton, commencing business first in the Commercial Saleyards in Rattray street, then belonging to Mr Duncan, and now portion of the D.I.C. premises. He afterwards had a kind of stall fixed up in the Octagon. He took an active interest in politics, and was first induced to seek election to the Provincial Council as a foil to the late Mr JGS Grant, but, of course, his candidature was never taken seriously, and he was always found at the bottom of the poll. He became more ambitious, and sought a seat in the House of Representatives, opposing the late Mr J Bathgate and the late Mr Reynolds, but he only received 64 votes. In 1873 he was a candidate for the superintendency, when feeling ran high, Mr J L Gillies having resigned the Speakership of the Provincial Council to oppose Mr James Macandrew. He then took to selling newspapers, but the hardships which he had endured in the early days were beginning to tell on him, and his legs gradually failed him. He tried Rotorua for some months, only obtaining slight relief, and eventually he had to seek admission into the Benevolent Home, where he died at the age of 87 years. Almost to the last he took an interest in all public affairs, and he liked nothing better than to have a chat about the good old days with those who knew him in those strenuous times.¹⁰