Isaac Richardson Vialou

Isaac Richardson Vialou (1816 – 31 October 1884) was a builder, architect and the first Mayor of Hamilton, New Zealand. He was born in England and emigrated to New Zealand in 1858.

Isaac Richardson Vialou
1st Mayor of Hamilton
In office
5 February 1878 – 18 December 1878
Succeeded byJohn Blair Whyte
Personal details
Born1816
Died31 October 1884
Ohinemutu
Spouse(s)
Elizabeth Wood
​
(m. 1838)​

Early life and family
Isaac Richardson Vialou in 1878
Isaac's house, shop and factories covered 2 acres on Victoria St, between Hood and Collingwood Streets from 1872 to 1886.[1] The other building in the photo is the National Bank of New Zealand, opened in 1873[2] and transferred to this building in 1874[3]

Isaac was born in 1816,[4] married Elizabeth Wood on 28 January 1838[5] and was recorded as a bankrupt[6] builder and decorator at 37 Fish Street Hill, London in 1856.[7] He described himself as an architect for the London Armoury Company,[8] presumably when they built their factory in 1856.

Their family consisted of at least two daughters, Emily[9] and Louise,[10] and a son.[11]

Auckland

He emigrated to Wairoa in 1858[12] and by 1859 he was selling a farm near Otahuhu[13] and a J R Vialou ('J' was often used for his first initial, even including his probate)[14] was advertising as an architect at Smale's Point.[15] He built several prominent buildings, including the Auckland courthouse on Chancery St in 1860.[16] An 1863 advert for his Sanitary Depot in Victoria Street was for ‘‘importers of stone, cement and building materials, manufacturers of bricks pipes etc, stockists of closets, lavatories, hand basins etc’’.[17] The brickworks was at Point Chevalier.[18] Isaac must have returned to London, as he returned from there in 1863.[19] By 1864 Isaac was running the Auckland Hotel.[20] He also took on the Greyhound Hotel in 1867,[21] but transferred it to I Vialou later that year[22] and then, largely due to the recession, went bankrupt,[23] though his family still owned property.[11] His pig farm at Point Chevalier was sold under a court order in 1868[24] and he was in the Debtors' Prison that year.[25]

Hamilton

Isaac's fortunes must have improved quickly, for he sold a Panmure hotel in 1872[26] and was architect for Alfred Cox, to build the now listed, Lake House,[27] at Hamilton the same year.[28] Another of his houses on the NZ Historic Places Register is Maungawhare in Otumoetai, built in 1878.[29] In 1872,[30] he built his house and carriage works on Victoria St, between Hood and Collingwood Streets.[31] In 1873 that Hamilton builder, wheelwright and blacksmith partnership with Thomasson & Co came to an end and became Vialou & Co,[32] which made agricultural implements, mattresses, cabinets and picture frames, as well as being a builder, timber merchant, millwright, wheelwright, painter, surveyor and architect.[33] He had one of his apprentices sentenced to 48 hours in the lock-up, with bread and water.[34] However, he also hosted an annual dinner for his staff.[35]

Mayor of Hamilton

He was elected to Hamilton Town Board in 1876,[36] the same year that his architectural work was criticised in court.[37] Voting was 90 : 72 : 8 when Isaac was elected as Hamilton's first mayor in 1878.[38] The main issues during his term as mayor were a bridge over the Waikato[39] and extension of the railway towards Thames.[40] During the ceremony marking the end of his term as mayor, he started driving the first pile of the Union Bridge.[41]

Retirement and death

After leaving office he remained on the council,[42] until he resigned in 1882.[43] He also continued with his business, such as building the Waikato Hotel[44] in Hamilton East in 1879.[45] An 1880 guide said, "whatever he does is done in such a first-class style as cannot be excelled in Hamilton, or Auckland. . . his establishment, taking it as a whole, is the most complete one of the kind in the colony."[46] In 1881 he retired, passing his business on to others.[47][48][49] The premises were put up for sale in 1885[50] and sold in 1886.[1]

Isaac became ill and returned to Auckland,[12] before moving to Ohinemutu in 1884,[51] to manage Lake House Hotel. He died later that year, on Friday 31 October, after suffering, "delicate health, and apoplexy",[52] aged 68.[53]

Vialou Street

Vialou Street in Hamilton was named after their first mayor[54] in 1913.[55] The street was formed in 1917.[56]

References
  1. "The Waikato Times and Thames Valley Gazette". 6 November 1886. p. 2. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  2. "Page 3 Advertisements Column 3". Waikato Times. 11 September 1873. p. 3. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  3. "Page 3 Advertisements". Waikato Times. 6 August 1874. p. 3. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  4. "Records Available For Isaac Richardson VIALOU". www.myheritage.com. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  5. "Isaac Vialou". search.ancestry.com.au. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  6. "London Standard, Jan 16, 1858, p. 4". NewspaperArchive.com. 16 January 1858. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  7. "Fish street hill, London bridge in 1856". pubshistory.com. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  8. "Page 3 Advertisements Column 2". Waikato Times. 15 June 1872. p. 3. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  9. "Marriages". New Zealand Herald. 19 October 1872. p. 2. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  10. "Married". New Zealand Herald. 28 December 1865. p. 4. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  11. "Meeting of I. R. Vialou's Creditors". New Zealand Herald. 1 October 1867. p. 4. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  12. "Death of Mr I. R. Vialou". Waikato Times. 1 November 1884. p. 2. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  13. "Page 2 Advertisements Column 4". New Zealander. 12 October 1859. p. 2. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  14. "Law and Police". New Zealand Herald. 20 December 1884. p. 3. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  15. "Page 2 Advertisements Column 1". New Zealander. 16 November 1859. p. 2. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  16. "New Zealander". 13 June 1860. p. 3. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  17. "Page 5 Advertisements". Daily Southern Cross. 30 October 1863. p. 5. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  18. "Provincial Council". Daily Southern Cross. 1 March 1865. p. 4. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  19. "Police Court.—Tuesday". New Zealander. 10 June 1863. p. 4. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  20. "Arrival of the S.s. 'claud Hamilton' from Sydney, with the English Mail". New Zealander. 25 March 1864. p. 3. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  21. "The Daily Southern Cross". 4 March 1867. p. 4. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  22. "Licensing Meeting". Daily Southern Cross. 4 September 1867. p. 4. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  23. "Page 1 Advertisements Column 5". Daily Southern Cross. 4 October 1867. p. 1. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  24. "Pt Chevalier Times No. 12 - History". DocGo.Net. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  25. "Coroner's Inqqest". New Zealand Herald. 21 February 1868. p. 3. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  26. "Page 1 Advertisements Column 6". Daily Southern Cross. 4 June 1872. p. 1. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  27. "Lake House". www.heritage.org.nz. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  28. "Lake House". Hamilton. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  29. "Tauranga's hidden gem". www.theweekendsun.co.nz. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  30. "PressReader.com - Connecting People Through News". www.pressreader.com. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  31. "Vialou's carriage factory". Hamilton. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  32. "Page 3 Advertisements Column 2". Waikato Times. 27 February 1873. p. 3. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  33. "Vialou's and Co.'s Agricultural Implement and General Manufactory". Waikato Times. 24 June 1875. p. 3. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  34. "Police Court Hamilton. Before W N Searancke, Esq, R M. Monday, Dec 11th". Waikato Times. 12 December 1876. p. 2. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  35. "Waikato Times". 1877. p. 2. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  36. "Hamilton Town Board District Meeting". Waikato Times. 1 August 1876. p. 2. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  37. "District Court. [before His Honor Judge Fenton.] September 6th, 1876". Waikato Times. 12 September 1876. p. 2. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  38. "Waikato Times". 7 February 1878. p. 2. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  39. "Hamilton Borough Council". Waikato Times. 7 March 1878. p. 2. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  40. "Thames and Waikato Railway". Thames Advertiser. 27 April 1878. p. 3. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  41. "Installation of Mayor". Waikato Times. 19 December 1878. p. 2. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  42. "Borough of Hamilton. Installation of Mayor". Waikato Times. 22 December 1881. p. 2. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  43. "Hamilton Borough Council. Nomination of Candidates". Waikato Times. 27 June 1882. p. 2. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  44. "Waikato Hotel". Hamilton. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  45. "The Waikato Hotel Building, Hamilton". Waikato Times. 5 July 1879. p. 3. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  46. "Descriptive handbook to the Waikato : its condition and resources, to which is added A short guide to the Hot Lakes, Province of Auckland, New Zealand". Hamilton. 1880. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  47. "Waikato Times and Thames Valley Gazette". 17 February 1881. p. 2. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  48. "Page 3 Advertisements Column 1". Waikato Times. 17 February 1881. p. 3. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  49. "Page 3 Advertisements Column 5". Waikato Times. 17 February 1881. p. 3. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  50. "Page 3 Advertisements Column 6". Waikato Times. 28 May 1885. p. 3. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  51. "Ohinemutu". Bay of Plenty Times. 10 June 1884. p. 2. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  52. "Obituary". New Zealand Herald. 10 November 1884. p. 2. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  53. "Deaths". New Zealand Herald. 1 November 1884. p. 4. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  54. Lanum, John. "Vialou Street". ketehamilton.peoplesnetworknz.info. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  55. "Hamilton Borough Council". Waikato Argus. 2 October 1913. p. 2. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  56. "Hamilton Borough Council". Waikato Times. 10 March 1917. p. 4. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
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