TODD, William

1842 - 1912  (70 years)

• Name	TODD, William
  Born	5 Jun 1842	Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland
  Gender	Male
  Died	28 Dec 1912	Bluff, Invercargill, Southland, New Zealand
  Person ID	I19655	My Genealogy
  Last Modified	16 Sep 2023

  
  

  Family	BROWN, Catherine Ann,   b. 26 Sep 1840, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia ,   d. 30 Sep 1911, Bluff, Invercargill, Southland, New Zealand  (Age 71 years)
  Married	15 Jun 1869	Hokitika, Westland, West Coast New Zealand, New Zealand
  Children	1. TODD, Fanny Rachel,   b. 13 Apr 1870, Hokitika, Westland, West Coast New Zealand, New Zealand ,   d. 21 Jul 1926, Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand  (Age 56 years)  [natural]   2. TODD, William Skuse,   b. 17 Oct 1871, Hokitika, Westland, West Coast New Zealand, New Zealand ,   d. 31 Oct 1944, Invercargill, Southland, New Zealand  (Age 73 years)  [natural]   3. TODD, George Charles Alexander,   b. 8 Sep 1873, Hokitika, Westland, West Coast New Zealand, New Zealand ,   d. 21 Jun 1920, Invercargill, Southland, New Zealand  (Age 46 years)  [natural]   4. TODD, Richard George,   b. 7 Apr 1875, Hokitika, Westland, West Coast New Zealand, New Zealand ,   d. 9 Apr 1875, Hokitika, Westland, West Coast New Zealand, New Zealand  (Age 0 years)  [natural]   5. TODD, Archibald Paterson,   b. 20 Jan 1876, Hokitika, Westland, West Coast New Zealand, New Zealand ,   d. 21 Apr 1876, Hokitika, Westland, West Coast New Zealand, New Zealand  (Age 0 years)  [natural]   6. TODD, Robert Nicholas,   b. 4 Sep 1877, Hokitika, Westland, West Coast New Zealand, New Zealand ,   d. 21 Oct 1953, Invercargill, Southland, New Zealand  (Age 76 years)  [natural]   7. TODD, Mary Wood,   b. 20 Aug 1880, Invercargill, Southland, New Zealand ,   d. 15 Oct 1958, Invercargill, Southland, New Zealand  (Age 78 years)  [natural]
  Last Modified	16 Sep 2023
  Family ID	F5293	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Photos

  William Todd

  
  

• Notes

  Founder of one of Invercargill’s longest-lasting businesses, he has been described as ‘a man of infinite and dynamic energy’. He was born in Glasgow on 5 June 1842, the son of George Todd, a storekeeper, and Mary née Paterson. In 1853 his family emigrated to Australia and William spent 10 years in the goldmining area of Bendigo. In 1863 he travelled to New River on the Gothenburg, and pitched a tent in the bush at Invercargill. Soon afterwards he took a wagon-load of goods to Kingston, sailed up Lake Wakitipu to Queenstown, and kept a store there when the gold rush was at its height. He then came back to Invercargill and began working for G.W. Binney’s auctioneering firm. Before long he took over the business, and was granted his first auctioneer’s licence in 1865. In 1868 he was drawn to the West Coast gold rush, setting up another auctioneering business and taking part in public life as mayor of Hokitika, and Westland provincial councillor 1874-76. During this time he married Catherine Ann Brown; they would have seven children. Returning to Invercargill in 1878, he resumed the auctioneering business which during the next 20 years moved from Dee St, to the corner of Esk and Kelvin Streets, then to the south side of Esk St. However he kept his enthusiasm for minerals. During Steward Island’s tin rush in 1889 he hired the Invercargill to take a party of 50 possible investors to look over the prospects. (The Belltopper Falls near Pegasus are said to have been named when his silk hat was entangled in a tree above the falls.) He later led a party to Preservation Inlet where gold had been discovered. In 1896 he went to another gold rush at Coolgardie, Western Australia, although remained only a year. His mining speculations were often unsuccessful, but he retained an incurable optimism. ‘We are only doing the preliminary work,’ he said. ‘The money’s not wasted, others will get the benefit….’ After returning to auctioneering in Invercargill, in 1898 he moved his business to the site fronting Dee St where it still stands today. He named the new auction rooms ‘The Rialto’ for Shakespeare’s line, ‘Now what news on the Rialto?’ The Saturday auctions were a hub of activity, a meeting-place for country and town people, and all manner of livestock, produce, plants, furniture and machinery were bought and sold. For a time a branch office was operated in Orepuki. William Todd was also involved in salvaging many shipwrecks and auctioning the assets. A dramatic auctioneer, he always wore a frock suit and bell-topper, had a lively sense of humour, and ‘could infuse animation into the dullest sale’.