Arthur John Burns (22 October 1830 – 15 September 1901) was a prominent early settler of

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

, New Zealand, a member of the

Otago Provincial Council The Otago Province was a province of New Zealand until the abolition of provincial government in 1876. The capital of the province was Dunedin. Southland Province split from Otago in 1861, but became part of the province again in 1870. Area an ...

, a member of the

New Zealand House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the sole chamber of the New Zealand Parliament. The House passes Law of New Zealand, laws, provides Ministers of the New Zealand Government, ministers to form Cabinet of New Zealand, Cabinet, and supervises the ...

and founder of the

Mosgiel Mosgiel (Māori: ''Te Konika o te Matamata'') is an urban satellite of Dunedin in Otago, New Zealand, fifteen kilometres west of the city's centre. Since the re-organisation of New Zealand local government in 1989 it has been inside the Dunedin ...

Woollen Company,

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

Biography

Burns was born in

Monkton Monkton may refer to: Places ;United Kingdom *Monkton, Devon, England *Monkton, Kent, England *Monkton, Pembroke, Wales * Monkton, South Ayrshire, Scotland *Monkton, Tyne and Wear, England * Monkton, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales ;Canada *Monkton, Onta ...

South Ayrshire South Ayrshire ( sco, Sooth Ayrshire; gd, Siorrachd Àir a Deas, ) is one of thirty-two council areas of Scotland, covering the southern part of Ayrshire. It borders onto Dumfries and Galloway, East Ayrshire and North Ayrshire. On 30 June 2 ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. He was the only son and eldest child of Thomas Burns and Clementina Grant and the great-nephew of the poet

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...

. He came to Otago with his father in the ''

Philip Laing ''Philip Laing'' is a 19th-century sailing ship best known as the second immigrant ship to arrive in Dunedin, New Zealand, on 15 April 1848. Chartered by the New Zealand Company for this voyage the ship was carrying Scottish settlers, under the c ...

'' arriving in

Port Chalmers Port Chalmers is a town serving as the main port of the city of Dunedin, New Zealand. Port Chalmers lies ten kilometres inside Otago Harbour, some 15 kilometres northeast of Dunedin's city centre. History Early Māori settlement The origi ...

on 15 April 1848. He played a prominent part in provincial affairs and was a member of the Provincial Council from 1855 to 1859 and again from 1863 to 1870. On three occasions, he served on the Executive Council of the

Otago Province The Otago Province was a province of New Zealand until the abolition of provincial government in 1876. The capital of the province was Dunedin. Southland Province split from Otago in 1861, but became part of the province again in 1870. Area an ...

. He was also a member of the New Zealand House of Representatives on three occasions;

Bruce The English language name Bruce arrived in Scotland with the Normans, from the place name Brix, Manche in Normandy, France, meaning "the willowlands". Initially promulgated via the descendants of king Robert the Bruce (1274−1329), it has been a ...

1865–1866, Caversham 1866–1870 when he resigned, and Roslyn 1875–1878 when he resigned. He vigorously opposed the abolition of the

provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...

in 1876. On 6 April 1861 he married Sarah Scott Dickson, with whom he had 11 children. He founded the Mosgiel Woollen Company in 1871 in an area on the western outskirts of Dunedin. Burns named the town Mosgiel after his great-uncle Robert Burns's Mossgiel farm in

Ayrshire Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Àir, ) is a historic county and registration county in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine and it borders the counties of Re ...

. He imported skilled labour and specialised equipment from

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

to begin large scale clothmaking in 1873. This mill formed the backbone of the Mosgiel economy for decades. Burns died on 15 September 1901 and is memorialised in the names of two schools – Arthur Burns School in Mosgiel and the Arthur Burns Early Learning Centre. Arthur Burns School in Mosgiel has since been amalgamated with two other primary schools in the region. Burns Point and Arthurs Walk in

Vauxhall Vauxhall ( ) is a district in South West London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. Vauxhall was part of Surrey until 1889 when the County of London was created. Named after a medieval manor, "Fox Hall", it became well known for ...

are named after Burns, who lived on the site of the current White House.

Notes

References

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External links

''Arthur Burns' Mosgiel Woollen Mills – a view from Rentons Road circa 1875'' by John Toomer, 2005Ram's Head snuff mull from the Otago Settlers Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burns, Arthur John People from Mosgiel Members of the Otago Provincial Council Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives 1830 births 1901 deaths New Zealand people of Scottish descent New Zealand MPs for Dunedin electorates Burials at Dunedin Southern Cemetery Unsuccessful candidates in the 1890 New Zealand general election Members of Otago provincial executive councils 19th-century New Zealand politicians 19th-century New Zealand businesspeople Arthur John People from Monkton, South Ayrshire