Treadwell Gordon

General information

One of the Oldest...

In March 1869 CH Borlase arrived from Wellington to practice in Whanganui, before joining WH Barnicoat to form Borlase & Barnicoat.

The firm’s telephone number was 1 in Whanganui’s earliest telephone directory.

Meanwhile, W J Treadwell set up practice in 1892, and shortly after joined T Lloyd to form Treadwell & Lloyd.

GS Gordon practised with C Burnett from 1904 to 1907.

1907 saw the firms come together and be known as Barnicoat Treadwell & Gordon. With Barnicoat passing away in 1909, the firm simply became Treadwell & Gordon.

Three generations of Treadwells practised with the firm over 80 years.

W J Treadwell was borough solicitor. His son C Treadwell joined in 1919 and practised until 1974, as City solicitor. His son J Treadwell joined in 1959, and carried on the family business until 1972.

GS Gordon's career could be rightly described as the "Father of the Legal Profession in Whanganui". GS Gordon’s grandson Gordon Swan joined us in 1951 and is still here. His daughter Jeannie Warnock was appointed to the partnership in 1983, and now practises for a prominent Wellington firm.

Three partners of Treadwell Gordon have been appointed as Judges.

Bryan Haggitt was appointed as a Judge of the Supreme Court in 1959, John Treadwell, a District Court Judge in 1972, and Michael Lance as a District Court Judge in 1988.

In 1989 the firm widened its provincial links to merge with Coleman & Co, a long established Waverley firm. Jim Coleman has been practising in Whanganui with the firm since 2007.

Since 2010 we’ve been growing in the region, merging with Flack Brown in 2014 and extending our offices to Taihape and Ohakune as well.