Mcgovern, Francis Joseph

Evening Post 21 October 1898
NOTICE OF APPLICATION FOR TRANSFER OF LICENSE.
I, FRANCIS JOSEPH McGOVERN, of Taita, near Wellington, being the holder of a publican''s License in respect of the house and premises situate at Taita, and known by the sign of the Taita Hotel, do hereby give notice that I desire to obtain, and will at the next Licensing Meeting to be holden at the Magistrate''s Court, Otaki, on the 1st day of December, 1898, apply for a Transfer of the said License from myself to Charles Bradshaw, my appointee.
Dated the 14th day of September, 1898.
F. J. McGOVERN.
MORISON & LOUGHNAN, SOLICITORS, WELLINGTON

Evening Post 29 August 1899
Mr. Justice Edwards gave judgment today in the case Taare Waitara v. McGovern, hotelkeeper, in which the plaintiff sought to set aside a lease of ground on which the Taita Hotel stands, and held by the defendant, on the ground that it was in contravention of the terms of the grant from the Crown. His Honour said the land was held under two grants, both issued under the provisions of the Land Transfer Act, the definition clause in each grant being to hold unto the grantee, his heirs, and assigns, for ever, provided always that the land shall be inalienable by sale or by lease for a longer period than 21 years, or by mortgage except with the consent of the Governor first obtained." His Honour said the question for the Court to decide "was whether the alienation effected by the lease was or was not an attempt to create a term to commence at a future date, and therefore in contravention of the terms of the Crown grant. His Honour was of opinion that the lease was not in contravention of the terms of the Crown grant. Further, it was clear that a contract even by a tenant for life, with a limited power of leasing, to grant a lease at a future day was valid, and was binding upon the remainderman. The lease had been properly registered, and the defendant was therefore entitled to the protection given by the Land Transfer Acts. Judgment was accordingly given for the defendant with costs according to scale. Mr. Brown was for the plaintiff and Mr. Treadwell for the defendant.

New Zealand Free Lance 13 June 1903
Host McGovern, of the Trentham Hotel and his family, had a busy time last week, for it was on the grounds behind their house that the first meeting of the Wellington and Suburban Coursing Club was held. Mr. McGovern has made great changes in Trentham since he went out there three years ago. He then had a large paddock covered with gorse, to-day that paddock is as clean as an English meadow. Towards the close of last year the original Trentham Hotel was destroyed by fire; the new Trentham Hotel is a commodious, up-to-date house equipped with a water service and an installation of acetyline gas. Mr. McGovern is well knowm as a licensed victualler. He has been Mine Host down the West Coast, at the Taita, and at Kaiwarra, and has a host of friends. He is keenly interested in coursing and has a hound or two of decent pace. Quite recently he had a very severe illness but showed by his activities last week that there is a lot of vitality left in him yet.

Hutt Valley Cemetery Record Francis Joseph McGovern, Date: 1906, St Joseph''s Roman Catholic, Upper Hutt, Burial Record, Reference: 43

Feilding Star 9 July 1906
McGovern.- On July 7th, 1906, at Trentham Hotel, Francis Joseph McGovern; aged 50 (sic) years. R.I.P.

Wairarapa Daily Times 9 July 1906
The late Mr Francis Joseph McGovern, of the Trentham Hotel, who died on Saturday, was in his fiftieth year. The late Mr McGovern, who was a native of Ireland, came to New Zealand twenty-seven years ago, and settled at Kaitangata. There he entered into business as a hotel-keeper, and also took some part in local politics. Coming north, Mr McGovern was for many years licensee of the Taita Hotel. Recently he relinquished that house, and became successiv lo (sic) licensee of the White Swan Hotel, Wellington, and of the Trentham Hotel.

New Zealand Free Lance 14 JUly 1906
Many city cyclists who any time during the past ten years were in the habit of pedalling to the Hutt Valley on summer days will miss the hearty voice of old Mr. McGovern, who held the lease of the Taita Hotel for some years, and then, after a spell at the "White Swan," in Cuba street, returned to the valley as licensee of the Trenthaan Hotel. Time was when a couple of hundred cyclists would dine at the "Taita" on summer Sundays, and "Old Mac" used to put on a dinner that "beat the band" and the boys of the wheel were a hungry lot. This is to say that all those boys will regret to hear of the passing of Mr. McGovern, which happened on Saturday last.
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Of later years, Mr. Francis McGovern became familiar to the "doggy" men of the city, through the coursing course that was laid out in the grounds attached to the Trentham Hotel, and at each annual meeting there was a lively crowd out there to see the hounds gallop and do justice to the McGovern table and cellar. He came to New Zealand from Ireland twenty-seven years ago, and settled in Kaitangata as a publican. After a stretch of years in the South he came North and squatted in the Hutt valley, which he found suited him to a nicety. He leaves a widow and three children - two adult sons and a little girl. He was only fifty years of age.

Probate Francis Joseph McGovern, Place: Trentham, Occ: Hotelkeeper, Date of Death: 7/7/1906, AAOM 6029 10276, Filed: 12/10/1906, Will, Archives NZ, Wellington