CLICK HERE TO GO BACK

W HAYWARD

The death occurred last Saturday week of Mr William Hayward, well known throughout the Dominion for the prominent part he took in politics, local body affairs, and sporting activities. Mr Hayward earned an unrivalled reputation for his many acts of generosity and the interest which he manifested in all affairs pertaining to the good of the community.

Born in Christchurch in 1868, Mr Hayward was the son of the late William Hayward, who was one of the founders of the transport industry in Canterbury. He was educated at St Leo's High School, Christchurch, and started work with his father in the Rink Stables, a company which later became the present firm of Rink Taxis, Ltd. As a youth he worked for his father on the old Sumner coach. When the motor-car was beginning to usurp the place of the horse in transport Mr Hayward's company was the first to introduce motor taxis in Christchurch.

Mr Hayward retained his connections with the transport industry until the time of his death. For many years he was chairman of directors of Rink Taxis, Ltd and was keenly interested in all new developments in the industry. He was chairman of directors of Hayward Brothers and Company, Ltd., and of Lamb and Hayward, Ltd. His other business interests were wide and varied, and he was respected as a man of sound and upright judgement.

Mr Hayward took a very prominent part in local body affairs in Christchurch. At various times he was a member of the Christchurch Tramway Board (of which he was chairman in 1929) and of the Technical College Board of Governors. In 1931 he contested the Mayoralty against the Hon. D G Sullivan, and in 1935 was elected a member of the Christchurch City Council. In 1923 to 1925 he was president of the Canterbury Employers' Association, and from 1926 to 1927 chairman of the Christchurch Citizens' Association. In 1915 he was president of the Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Association.

In 1934 Mr Hayward was appointed a member of the Legislative Council, but was not reappointed at the expiry of his term of office. He was chairman of the Christchurch branch of the National Party and on the executive of the National Club. About five years ago he was appointed a sinking fund commissioner for the City of Christchurch, and at the time of his death was chairman of the commission.

Of an outstandingly generous nature, Mr Hayward was the benefactor of many deserving causes in the city. For many years he was a member of the committee of the Nurse Maude District Nursing Association and was directly associated with many philanthropic and charitable organisations. A member of the Roman Catholic Church, he did not confine his acts of generosity to the organisations of any one church. He was actively associated with the work of his own church in many diffent spheres, the most notable of his contributions to its social work being the part he played in founding St Christopher's Boy's Club at St Mary's Church, Manchester Street. Mr Hayward endowed one of the 'houses' of this club in memory of his brother and perioically gave lectures to the boys for whom the club was founded.

Dating from the earliest years of his career, Mr Hayward's interest in the sport of trotting was maintained throughout his life. He first took part in the sport as an amateur driver and trainer of his own horses. Later he became well known a club member, owner, and as a member of the board of the NZ Trotting Association, of which he was vice-president and at one time chairman of the licensing committee. Since about 1918 he had been a steward and member of the committee of the NZ Metropolitan Trotting Club. The last horse he raced was The Toff, a winner at Addington. Mr Hayward was much in demand as a judge of light horses at agricultural shows and was himself a successful exhibitor.

In his young days Mr Hayward was one of the best athletes in Canterbury and won races in all parts of NZ, competing successfully as a sprinter in Dominion championships.

In 1895 Mr Hayward married Miss Anne Harrington. He is survived by his widow, three sons and four daughters.

Credit: NZ Trotting Calendar: 16Jun1943

J Bryce & R Morten after the 1925 NZ Cup

JAMES BRYCE

One of the greatest trainers of light-harness horses the Dominion has ever known, James Bryce has been retired from active participation in the profession in which he was such an outstanding success, for several years now; but his interest in the sport remains high and he still possesses a keen eye for a good horse.

Trainers of the calibre of James Bryce do not come along every day.

James Bryce is the head of a family of horsemen who have written their names, large and bold, on the pages of 40 years of the Dominion's light-harness history. Bryce trained the winners of six NZ Trotting Cups, an all-time record for the race, and twice as many as any other trainer before him or since.

The story was told in Glasgow that Bryce's father had a peculiar genius for a horse. James relates that even among Scottish horse-dealers his father was known as a 'hard man.' In all his long experience he has never seen his father's equal in doctoring up a horse. He would pick up a steed that looked as though it was ready for the 'boneyard' and after treating it for a couple of months or so, he would have it in condition that would make it unrecognisable by its original owner. He usually got four or five times what he paid for these horses, which were mostly draughts.

James Bryce rode his first winner in Glasgow when he was 18. By the time he was 20 he was established as a trainer in a modest way at Govan, just outside Glasgow. "In those days," he said with a reflective smile, "they used to start trotting races with a pistol, and I was getting left. So I made a study of the starter and the way he raised the pistol and fired it. In the end I got to know his ways so well that I could tell to a fraction of a second when the report was due. After that, I never got left," grinned Bryce.

Bryce was soon training some of the best horses in Scotland and England. Like NZ horses the ones in the Old Country were nearly all American-bred on one or both sides. Trotting did not make the progress Bryce had hoped for, however, and one day, after reading about trotting in NZ in 'The Referee,' and seeing some pictures of Addington in the 'Weekly Press,' he decided Maoriland was the place for him. And it was thus that the neat little man with the raw Gaelic accent came to be standing on the Wellington wharf on a dull, cheerless morning in 1913...friendless? Well, not quite. Gathered around him were his wife, his belongings and five children...A stranger approached. "Are you Mr Bryce?" - "Yes." "Well, I have some bad news for you. Your two horses have been shipwrecked, and are still in England." The day seemed even bleaker to the little man from Caledonia. Not a promising start in a new land. When he reached NZ after paying passages for himself and his family and freight for two horses, Bryce had £300 left. He did not know a soul in NZ.

He was waiting on the wharf, pondering the future, when he was told that the two mares, Our Aggie and Jenny Lind, both of whom he had seen safely shipped on the Westmeath, an old troop transport, a fortnight before he left England, were still in the Old Country. The vessel had gone aground in the Mersey, and had to put back to port, but they had been transhipped to the Nairnshire, and after a rough passage to the Dominion they arrived - strapped to the deck, after the mate had suggested putting them overboard.

Our Aggie and Jenny Lind arrived two months after the Bryce family, who had decided to go to Christchurch. When they arrived at Lyttleton and saw the hills there, 'Scotty's' first question to himself was: "Where could you race trotters?" The family was taken to a boarding-house in the city but left after his wife had discovered that the woman of the house drank 'phonic' which is the Gaelic for methylated spirits.

Bryce's first home in NZ was Woolston, where he received a horse called Little Arthur, owned by Mr Wm Hayward, to train. Bryce relates that Little Arthur was a poor, dejected animal, and that he turned over in his mind that if this was a fair sample of the horses he was going to get, the future looked pretty bleak. "But I misjudged him," he continued. "I discovered he was asthmatical. I then included in his feed cod-liver oil, beaten-up eggs and sweet milk, and this helped his lungs. He did well and won at the Met. He was my first winner in this country."

A few months after arriving in the Dominion, Our Aggie struck form and won several races. Years later she became the dam of Red Shadow, considered by 'Scotty' to be the best-performed horse he ever drove. Red Shadow won the Great Northern Derby in 1930, and the NZ Cup and Metropolitan Free-For-All in 1933, taking all four principal races at the Cup meeting. Red Shadow sired Golden Shadow, winner of the Great Northern Derby Stakes in 1943, and Shadow Maid who won the Auckland Cup in the same year.

After a short time at 'Coldstream Lodge,' Fendalton, Bryce shifted to 'Oakhampton Lodge,' Hornby, then an 'unkept, dirty place.' Hard work promptly put that right, and soon the stables - 20 stalls to begin with - were built. The amenities included hot and cold water, a swimming pool for the horses, shelter sheds, railed yards, etc; so grew up the most modern trotting establishment seen up to that time in this country. And from this faithfully-harnessed source came an ever- swelling stream of fast pacers and trotters. Out of 'Oakhampton's' stalls were led superbly-conditioned horses that put Bryce at the head of his field only two short years after his arrival from Scotland. For seven consecutive seasons, from 1915-16 until 1921-22 and again in 1923-24, Bryce was leading trainer - eight times in all. He was also leading horseman in the 1915-16, 1918-19, 1921-22, 1922-23 and 1923-24 seasons and his son James, Jnr headed the horseman's list in the 1935-36 season.

Bryce trained and drove the winner of almost every important handicap and classic event in NZ. His sons Andrew and James carried on the family traditions. Andrew drove the 1927 NZ Cup winner Kohara; in 1921 he drove Man o' War to victory in the Auckland Cup, and in 1928 and 1929 he won the same race with Gold Jacket. James, Jnr, has driven two NZ Derby winners in Double Great and Twos Loose, four Auckland Cup winners in Shadow Maid, Sea Born and Captain Sandy twice, a November Free-for-all winner in Plutus, a National Cup behind De Soto, a Dominion Handicap on Waikato Prince, two Timaru Nursery Stakes on Highland Scott and Shadow Maid, a NZ Champion Stakes and a Wellington Stakes on Gallant Chief, a Great Northern Stakes on Highland Scott, a Great Northern Derby on Golden Shadow, and hosts of other good races; he still brings home the odd winner.

Few very big dividends were paid by horses driven by 'Scotty' Bryce. That speaks for itself. "They soon tumbled to me," he explained naively. Way back in 1923, horses driven by the old master had earned more than £100,000 in stakes for their owners; his full total must be nearer £250,000. When verging on three score and ten he was still a skilled reinsman. Much of this skill was in Bryce's hands. Only as a last resort did the whip come into play on a good horse 'Scotty' was driving.

Bryce considers Cathedral Chimes the gamest horse he ever drove. Catherdal Chimes won the Auckland and NZ Cups in successive years. Taurekareka was the first horse in the Dominion to win the trotting (or pacing, as you will)'triple crown,' the NZ Sapling Stakes, NZ Derby and Great Northern Derby. Bryce still affirms that he was unlucky not win a second Cup with Great Hope and a third with Ahuriri. Ahuriri was interfered with by Padlock or, in Bryce's opinion he would have won instead of going down to Peter Bingen and Great Bingen in a blanket finish in 1928.

He also thinks Matchlight, with an ounce of luck, would have won the NZ Cup. "I had a lot of time for Matchlight," said Bryce. "He won the President's Handicap at Forbury Park giving Trix Pointer 60 yards start, and then won both the big handicaps at the Canterbury Park June meeting when that club raced at Sockburn. He won those three races on end. Author Dillon was a bit lucky to beat Matchlight in the NZ Cup," declared Bryce. "Hendriksen, who drove Matchlight for me that year - I broke a leg and was in hospital - admitted he made a mistake in the way he drove him. Next day Matchlight won the Courtenay Handicap easily from the backmark," said Bryce.

"I always feel I had two horses that could have beaten two minutes," continued Bryce. "Red Shadow, from a standing start went 2.04 4/5 for third. Ahuriri was the other. As a 2-year-old before the 1922 Sapling Stakes he worked a mile in 2.10, his last half in 62sec. That was good work for any 2-year-old," remarked Bryce, who went on to say that he did not like the idea of sending his horses against time because there was so little inducement to do so.

J Bryce's principal training successes were in the NZ Cup (Cathedral Chimes 1916; Great Hope 1923; Ahuriri 1925 and 1926; Kohara 1927 and Red Shadow 1933); Auckland Cup (Cathedral Chimes 1915; Admiral Wood 1916; Man o' War 1920 and 1921; Ahuriri 1927 and Shadow Maid 1943; NZ Sapling Stakes (Ahuriri 1922; Taurekereka 1923 and Kohara 1924); NZ Derby (Great Hope 1922; Taurekereka 1923 and Kohara 1925); Great Northern Derby (Chid 1916; Tuarekareka 1923, Red Shadow 1930 and Golden Shadow 1943); NZ Champion Stakes - Metropolitan (Queen Chimes 1918; Great Hope 1922; Taurekareka 1924 and Kohara 1925); Taranaki Futurity Stakes (Queen Chimes 1918; Lochnagar 1919 and Ratana 1922); NZ Trotting Stakes - Forbury Park (Katute 1926); November Free-For-All (Admiral Wood 1916; Cathedral Chimes 1917 and Red Shadow 1933); Dominion Trotting Handicap (Whispering Willie 1916; Whist 1919; Moneyspider 1928 and Waikato Prince 1937); National Handicap (Matchlight 1918; Man o' War 1921 and Alto Chimes 1923); Timaru Nursery Stakes (Shadow Son 1938; Shadow Maid, division 1940); New Brighton Challenge Stakes (Shadow Son 1938); NZ Trotting Gold Cup - Wellington (Taraire 1923); Canterbury Handicap (Cathedral Chimes 1918 and 1919); and Rowe Cup - Auckland (Bluewood 1919), a record unapproached by any other trainer, past or present.

James Bryce tells some good stories against himself. Can you imagine the worthy Scot trying to get over the fence at Addington? Bryce will tell you how he was caught in the act, and how he came to be on the outside looking in. Two days of the Addington Cup meeting had passed - this was in August, 1928 - and between the second and third days the Trotting Association fonally made a decision on Bryce's appeal against a term of suspension in connection with the much-fought Free Advice case. Bryce had to take his medicine. Thinking that all the suspension did was to prevent him from driving, he went on the third day with his team only to be told he was not allowed on the track according to the rules.

After being graciously allowed to pay his acceptance fees and to see that the stable boys knew how to gear the team, Bryce left. On an upturned bucket in Bill Tomkinson's yard, just across the road, 'Scotty' indulged in a little self-pity and sympathy for himself. "After a' the years a mon's been in the game, nae tae be alooed on the coorse," he soliloquised. Telling Claude Dunlevey, Tomkinson's head man, how anxious he was to see if Native Chief would stand on the mark for the umpteenth time, Claude told him that if he went through the motor paddock he could see the start over the gate. Away went Bryce, and before he reached the gate he saw a "mon wi' a bit o' timber" leaning against the tin fence having a free view, so Bryce joined him. But not for long. Soon appeared authority in the form of a gateman, who ordered the pair down, waxing sarcastic as he escorted Bryce through the motor paddock, at the same time delivering a homily about getting through the proper channels and paying his bob like a man. And once again Native Chief stood on the mark.

Bryce made a notable contribution towards placing training on a higher plane here. A fellow trainer of his pays him the compliment of saying that Bryce was years ahead of most NZ trainers in the conditioning and driving of horses in those days. "We must never lose sight of the fact," said this admirer of Bryce's methods, "that it took men like 'Scotty' to improve the spit and polish part of our training methods. He was as meticulous, clean and thorough as any trainer I've ever known. Detail was his second name. The horse had to be fit and healthy, inside and outside, and he was kind to his horses, was proud of the 'guid yins.' Those of us with any savy tried to copy him."

Bryce was a great believer in swimming exercise for his horses, especially unsound ones, and at "Oakhampton Lodge" he built a luxurious swimming pool, 18ft at its deep end, as part of his comprehensive training routine. Many a lame horse was kept fit or saved from early racing oblivion by this pool, which was availed of by other trainers in the district, men who continue to acknowledge the debt they owe to the many refinements of conditioning and gaiting, and to the profound horsesense that took James Bryce to the top of the ladder and kept him there year after year.


Credit: NZ Trotting Calendar 14Aug57

The honour of Honorary Life Membership of the NZ Metropolitan Trotting Club is not conferred lightly. Honorary Life Membership is granted in the main to Members of the Club, some of whom have given service to the Club, others to trotting generally, or are widows of deceased officers. From 1949 those who have been Members for 50 years of more are elected Honorary Life Members.

The first Life Member was Mr H Mace who was elected on 10th July, 1901.

It is reported that the NZ Metropolitan Trotting Club did not approve of the Canterbury Trotting Club’s action in electing 13 of its Committeemen as Life Members of that Club, and this action further delayed the amalgamation of the two Clubs.

The membership records of the NZMTC show that some Members of the Canterbury Trotting Club who were Life Members at the time of amalgamation in 1901 became Life Members of the NZMTC and retained such membership until their death. Canterbury Trotting Club Life Members listed in the NZMTC’s first Membership records as Honorary Life Members were Messrs G Duke, G King, G McClatchy, H McIlraith, R Sunderland and Mrs E C J Stevens.

In November 1903 at a Special General Meeting of Members, a resolution was passed that Honorary Life Members be elected at the AGM and under the Rules of the Club, the name of a proposed Honorary Life Member must be submitted to and approved by the Committee of the Club before being submitted to the AGM.

The following were elected Honorary Life Members in the years shown and for the reason set out where obtainable.

Year Member Reason

1901 H Mace Services to Trotting and to the
Canterbury TC

W Tonks Services to the Club as a
Committeeman

1906 Mrs G H McHaffie Widow of deceased President

1908 T C M Rallinshaw Financial member ex the
Canterbury TC

Mrs T Marr Widow of deceased Treasurer

1910 Mrs G Payne Widow of deceased Vice-President

1912 Mrs W Tonks Widow of deceased Life Member and
Committeeman

Mrs J Harris Widow of deceased Treasurer

1914 H Reynolds Services to Trotting, in particular
to the development of his starting
machine and race starting generally

1915 G B Ritchie Services to the Club as Treasurer
and Vice-President

1921 J S Slade Services to the Club as
Committeeman and Steward and also
as a Committeeman of the Canterbury
TC

Mrs J S Williams Widow of deceased Treasurer

1922 E Clarkson

1924 Mrs C Louisson Widow of deceased President

Dr M G Louisson Son of deceased President

1934 A T Smith Services to the Club as a Steward

Mrs J S Slade Widow of deceased Committeeman,
Steward and Life Member

1936 W Hepworth

1937 W H Hollis Long Service to the Club

J Westerman Long Service to the Club

H F Nicoll Services to Trotting as President
of the NZ Trotting Conference

1940 Mrs J H Williams Widow of deceased President

F E Graham Services to the Club as Vice-
President and Treasurer

Hon. W Hayward Services to the Club as
Committeeman and Steward

1941 J S Berry Services to Trotting

E X Le Lievre Services to Trotting

1943 G W C Smithson Services to the Club as Treasurer
and Solicitor

1946 A L Matson Services to the Club on his
retirement as President

1949 J Way 50 Years Membership

1950 Sir John McKenzie Services to Trotting

G Rutherford Services to the Club

1952 C S Thomas Services to the Club on his
retirement as President

F R Leach 50 Years Membership

1956 Lady May McKenzie Widow of Sir John McKenzie
Life Member

C E Hoy Services to the Club on his
retirement as President

E F Nicoll Services to the Club as a
Committeeman and 44 Years Membership

C Lange 53 Years Membership

1958 Mrs A L Matson Services to the Club and widow of
a Life Member

1959 D Spence 50 Years Membership

1960 W M Ollivier Services to the Club on his
retirement as President

1963 D F Glanville Services as a Committeeman and
Steward since 1934

E E Luttrell 51 Years Membership

1965 J K Davidson Services to the Club on his
retirement as President

E Rutherford Services to the Club as a
Committeeman and Steward

1969 Mrs C S Thomas Services to the Club

1973 J L Holmes 50 years Membership

1974 G W Blaxall Services to the Club since 1953
and on his retirement as President

1975 C Dawson 50 Years Membership

1979 E T McDermott Services to the Club on his
retirement as President

Mrs L M Hoy Services to the Club, widow of
Past President

Mrs K M Saunders Services to the Club, widow of
Past President

D C Parker Services to the Club as an
employee from 1938 to 1979 on his
retirement as Secretary/ Manager

1981 H M S Dawson Services to the Club as a
Committeeman and to Addington
Raceway Ltd as a Director and
Chairman of Directors

1984 D E Dalzell Services to the Club on his
retirement as Treasurer

M L Taylor Services to the Club on his
retirement as President

1989 D R McCormick Services to the Club on his
retirement as President

T H Davis Services to the Club as an
employee from 1960 to 1989 on his
retirement as Secretary/ Manager



Credit: NZMTC: Historical Notes compiled by D C Parker