THE EARLY ALDERMEN.
H. W. Mortimer
Who was one of the first Aldermanic quartette, was also ultimus Romanorum, the last man of the original dozen, who, under manifold] difficulties, lent a hand in floating the little cock-shell craft of a Corporation, which has since become a stately clipper. H e was intelligent and conscientious, but had a precise and pragmatical mannerism, which prevented him from becoming popular. H e did not remain long connected with the Corporation, from which he retired to take part in the management of the Patriot newspaper. In the course of years hefilledthe post of Registrar of Births, Deaths, and Marriages, in Fitzroy. For many years he resided at Geelong, but shortly after passing hisfour-scoreyears and ten, he went to that " bourne from which no traveller returns."
John Orr,
One of an old mercantile firm, known as Turnbull, Orr and Co, another of the first Aldermen, was a pleasant, mild-mannered young man, too quiet for the early rowdyism of the T o w n Council, and always out of his element there. H e sold off and left the colony many years ago, and has been dead some years.
John Stephen
Was a remarkable man in his yvay. He was an early settler in Melbourne, and one ofthe first Secretaries of the Mechanics' Institute. A sfinea looking fellow as one yvould meet in a day's walk, with a plausible tongue, aflexibledisposition, and a smattering of general information, he frequently contributed to the early newspapers. Obtaining high rank as a Freemason, he might have acquired a position of note; but though not by any means so great a " trimmer" as Greeves, there yvas an unsteadfastness about him which often created distrust, and people did not believe in him. H e belonged to a branch of that Stephen family so well known in the Australian Colonies, and once he publicly declared " that he had been rocked in the cradle of the law." N o family ever settled at the Antipodes has produced more members of the legal profession than the Stephens ; and the prestige so obtained no doubt gained for Alderman John Stephen a privilege which he enjoyed until his death, viz, practising as an advocate in the Melbourne Police Court, where his coolness and good temper often made him more than a match for the regular " limbs of the law," who were anything but pleased at the locus standi to which he attained.
Whomsoever he fell foul of, John Stephen always took good care to keep right with the Justices, upon whom his oily, gentlemanly manner had such an effect, that no attempt to displace him would have had the slightest chance of success.
Of all the mediocrities forced by circumstances to the surface of public affairs,
John Hodgson
Attained the highest place, considering that he was very deficient in those qualities which bring men to the front. A very old colonist, he was connected with all the speculative undertakings, real or imaginary, lasting or ephemeral, for which the old times were distinguished. Financially speaking he must have had as many lives as the proverbial cat; and like that animal, whenever he did fall it was always on his feet. He was late in his appearance in the City Council, but he made his way to the top of the tree in an unusually short time. H e rapidly obtained an Aldermanship, and was Mayor in 1853-54, when he had the honour of entertaining Governor Sir Charles Hotham, at a grand dinner at the old Royal, then changed to the Criterion Hotel. Politically he was eminently successful. H e represented Melbourne in thefirstLegislative Council, and was the premier member of the Upper House (through heading the poll for the Central Province at thefirstelection in 1856). W h e n a second Chamber was added to the Victorian Legislature, it was said he aspired to the Presidency of that Chamber, but had to give yvay to an ex-Mayor (Dr. Palmer)
