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Manawatu Standard, Volume XII, Issue 1739, 21 June 1886, Page 4

|f The Old Colouißts' A^soeiation If have had brought under their notice

-the case of one who claims to be the |- oldest colonist m Victoria . John Nichols states that he landed m Port j| ; Phillip at the end of the year 1855, |p more than half a century ago. He &;* came from Lnunceston, and was with $ his uncle, William Vincent, a black- ¥ ' : smith, and among others for whom he ; v subsequently worked was John Batman ?; one of the founders of the colony. ■In 1839 he want -to Geeloug, and X lifter tra veiling with sheep, h«j returned ,■;- to his parents m T.-ismania wheie, [% after finishing his schooling, he was apprenticed to a cabinetmaker. In j: 1874 he returned to Melbourne, and I:} worked at his trade. In 1851 he \0 went to AlUiry, reeling there for 17 !#■' years, and acquiring property worjjjr I^lo,ooo. He erected the Hvalfttteyffc graph office _at apiroflfeied K^to th« Grovßrti:entu~t4ijioniinal rent. was thus the means of establishing, own expense, telegraphic com* IT iriunication between Victoria and New "South VVnles. The first message was £ transmitted from Melbourne to Sydney m 1858, passing through^the Albufy |^ telegraph office* spoken of above, aud gvVwa* furwarded by Kichols hj horse | express to Gunduga, si distant of 120 |i miles, the nearest office on the Sew F South Wale* side then established. : Subsequently, through ill-health, he ■ »'as obliged to sacrifice his property .m times of depression ; and ill-fortune ■ pursninjrhim, he has now unwillingly, iy.and for tlie sake of hi« family, tose»'k the assistonce of the Old Colonists' Association.