A very interesting read on what it was like in MASTERTON, Wairarapa when the town went "dry" in 1909
MASTERTON UNDER NO-LICENSE
The November 1908 licensing poll saw Masterton electorate introduce ?no-license' and vote itself ?dry?.
Its 15 pubs closed on 1 July 1909 and remained shut until the town voted to restore liquor licenses in 1946.

Not everyone agreed. Critics argued that Masterton's population was falling. Some people ignored the law, and there were regular prosecutions for making and selling liquor. Others brought alcohol into town from outside the district, which was perfectly legal (if it was for personal consumption).

ATTEMPT TO UPSET THE POLL
... taken from the WAIRARAPA DAILY TIMES 14 December 1908
- put here into alphabetical order for easier finding.
(However, my listing same-names together does not necessarily mean they were of the same family)

The following counter-petition was filed in the Masterton Courhouse today by Mr P. L.HOLLINGS, solicitor, in connection with the attempt to upset the No-License poll, in which No-License was carried, on 17th November last:-

We, the undersigned, being electors in the Masterton Electoral District, in respet of the Licensing Poll, taken on the 17th day of November, 1908, hereby give notice of our intention to oppose the petition to voi the said poll, file in the Magistrate's Court, Masterton, on the 4th day of December, 1908:-

N.B. - In the appended list of names, where no place of residence is mentioned, the locality is in every case Masterton.

J. ACKERMAN, store, Eketahuna

Isaac ALLEN, jnr, engine driver, Upper Plain

Nils ANDERSON, sheep farmer, Mauriceville

Katherine ANSELL, spinster

J. APPERLEY, builder
M. APPERLEY, married

B. ARNOT, Lansdowne

P. AULIN, storekeeper, Eketahuna

Alice BAILLIE, married, Eketahuna
James F. BAILLIE, contractor, Eketahuna

Nellie BANKS, spinster

James George BARRETT, railway guard

A. H. BAYLISS, farmer, Eketahuna

H. BEALE, plumber

Richmond BEETHAM, settler

James S. BERRIMAN, builder

G. A. BRUCE, farmer, Kopuaranga

J. BULPITT, freeholder

J. Newmau BUTTLE, methodist clergyman

H. BYFORD, builder
William BYFORD, carpenter

Bernard BYRN, motor engineer

Allan CAMERON, sheep farmer
H. J. CAMERON, sheep farmer
R. CAMERON, sheep-farmer, Mauriceville
Walter CAMERON, sheep farmer

James CANDY, music seller

J. CARPENTER, bootmaker

E. M. CARTER, married, Eketahuna
John CARTER, farmer, Eketahuna

Lillie CHAPMAN, married
Emma CHAPMAN, spinster
William CHARMAN, storekeeper

Ethel M. CHURCH, spinster
Lily S. CHURCH, spinster
Maude CHURCH, spinster
R. B. CHURCH, carrier

Lena COLLINGE, married woman

James COLWAY, resident

Herbert John CONDER, tablet porter, Hukanui

George Sydney CONNELL, railway guard

Helen S. COWIE, medical practitioner
J. A. COWIE, phusician and surgeon

H. CROSS, married

Margaret E. CRUICKSHANK, married woman
W. H. CRUICKSHANK, commission agent

William Edward CULLEN, dealer, etc

Henry H. CURRY, farmer, Eketahuna

Lydia DEVONPORT, married

Thomas DIXON, woodworker

Albert DONALD, saddler
Alex. DONALD, tailor
D. DONALD, farmer
Donald DONALD, machnery merchant
H. H. DONALD, merchant
Vivian E. DONALD, merchant

W. M. EASTHOPE, insurance agent

James ELLIOTT, saddle

Thomas EVANS, company manager

James EWART, stock agent
N. EWART, married

J. C. EWINGTON, coach builder

F. EXELL, carter

R. FALLOON, sheep farmer

D. FINLAYSON, bootmaker

Thomas FLAWS, engine driver

A. E. FRANKS, engine driver
J. S. FRANKS, married

A. M GARDNER, manager Gardner an Sons

J. H. GLEDSTONE, clerk

J. V. GORDON, chemist
Peter GORDON, retired farmer

C. S. GRAHAM, merchant

A. GREEN, married woman

A. HANSEN, painter, Eketahuna

A. H. HERBERT, Mayor, Eketahuna

John F. HEYHOE, draper

Thomas Edward HIGGS, labourer

Robert HILL, carpenter
Ellen HILL, married, Eketahuna
G. F. HILL, blacksmith, Eketahuna

T. G. HOAR, sculptor

Alfred HODGE, Congregational minister

Edwin H. H. HOOPER, labourer

Alice HOSKING, married woman
Archer HOSKING, medical practitioner
Rupert V. HOSKING, dentist
William H. HOSKING, J.P., physician and surgeon

J. L HUGHES, hairdresser

H. T. HUME, farmer

G. HYDE, cabinetmaker

Eliza INGRAM, married
J. C. INGRAM, settler

Arthur IORNS, stock agent

Charlotte JACKSON, married
Florence JACKSON, spinster
H. J. JACKSON, sheep-farmer
Hugh W. JACKSON, farmer
Keith C. JACKSON, electrician
Murray J. H. JACKSON, settler

Robert Gale JAMIESON, engine driver

Jane JOHNSON, married

A. K. JOHNSTON, insurance agent
J. JOHNSTON, cordial maker

Leonard Walter JONES, engineman

Robert KEAU, accountant

Samuel KINGDON, plumber
Samuel R. KINGDON, plumber

Mabel LEATHWICK, married

W. LETT, builder

Lewis Henry LEWIS, carpenter

J. H. LYTTLE, motor engineer
F. W. LYTTLE, motor engineer

M. K. MALCOLM, private school, Lansdowne

E. McEWEN, blacksmith

J. D. McGREGOR, commission agent

D. McKENZIE, farmer

J. B. McKEUZIIO, farmer

Lachlan Donald McLEAN, railway fireman

Catherine D. McMASTER, widow

James MILLER, sheep farmer
M. MILLER, married

R. J. MITCHELL, married

Selina MOORE, married
James MOORE, cooper

Sidney A. MORTON, salesman, Eketahuna

S. A. NOBLE-CAMPBELL, dentist

A. O'CONNOR, spinster

H. J. O'LEARY, blacksmith

Albert J. PARTON, plumber

H. L. PEARSE, carpenter, Eketahuna

John PICKETT, jnr labourer

J. E. POND, dairyman

E. A. POWER, shop assistant, Eketahuna

Orlano B. C. PRAGNELL, law clerk

J. PRENTICE, builder

R. PRIEST, farmer, Eketahuna

S. H. RASMUSEN, farmer, Ihuraua

Alfred P. RAWSON, surveyor

J. N. B. RAYNER, farmer

L. O. REDMAN, married

Francis James ROBERTSON, engine driver

W. S. ROSS, physician and surgeon

A. C. ROWSE, printer, Eketahuna

R. RUSSELL, dealer

Frederick Ernest SEFTON, engine fireman

G. W. SELLAR, accountant
M. E. SELLAR, married

W. F. SHAW, men's outfitter
M. A. SHAW, married woman

F. A SHEATH, sheep farmer

A. SMALL, farmer, Eketahuna

Francis A. SMITH, stationer

Henry Benjamin STIMPSON, labourer

H. C. SWAN, dentist

C. J. TAYLOR, contractor

F. W. TEMPLE, manager (C. E. DANIELL)

William THOMSON, accountant, Eketahuna

A. T. THOMPSON, Presbyterian minister
T. J. THOMPSON, ironmonger
M. THOMPSON, spinster, Eketahuna

W. H. TOOHILL, chemist, Eketahuma

Elsie TRUSCOTT, shop assistant
W. H. TRUSCOTT, painter

V. R. VIGGERS, married, Eketahuna

C. WAGLAND, farmer
- Charles (1860-1926)
- married Elizabeth EYLE (1871-1943) in 1888
- buried together Archer St cemetery

K. WATERS, married

H. G. WELLINGTON, carpenter
- Hart Grose (1878-1949)
T. W. WELLINGTON, photographer
- probably Thomas Udy Wellington (1874-1943)
- brothers, sons of John WELLINGTON & Emmeline (nee) WELLINGTON

R. WHITSITT, carpenter, Eketahuna
- Richard (1887-1968)

Fanny WHITT, widow
- (1849-1934), wife of William Henry Christian Whitt (1844-1898)

B. J. WILLIAMS, married
Richard WILLIAMS, farmer

Edmund R. WILSON, dentist
J. WILSON, spinster

A. E. WINZENBERG, photographer
- Albert Edward (1865-1931)
- married Frances JONES in 1887

C. F. WILTON, farmer
- Charles Francis Wilton (1853-1940)
- married Mary MATTHEWS (1855-1951) in 1876

G. WYETH, storekeeper
- William 'GEORGE' Runnalls Wyeth (1841-1916)
Mary WYETH, married
- Mary nee HORSFALL (1841-1911)
- married George in 1895, Masterton hen they were both 55

R. J. YOUNG, bookseller