When we 'hung out our shingle'
Thomas Bannatyne Gillies was already a well known lawyer and national politician before leaving Otago for Auckland in 1865. He travelled the whole journey on horseback and on arrival formed a legal practice with John Richmond. Gillies was a real character with a forceful personality and one of Auckland’s oldest streets, Gillies Avenue, is named after him. Gillies left the partnership in 1869 after being elected superintendent for the Auckland province. After leaving politics in 1873, he was appointed the Supreme Court judge for the Auckland district.
On the departure of Gillies, Edwin Hesketh joined in 1870 and the firm became known as Hesketh Richmond. The population of Auckland at the time was about 12,000.