Sir James Lawrence Hay (17 May 1888 – 26 March 1971) was a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

businessman, local politician and philanthropist.

Early life and family

James Hay was born in

Lawrence Lawrence may refer to: Education Colleges and universities * Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States * Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States Preparator ...

South Otago South Otago lies in the south east of the South Island of New Zealand. As the name suggests, it forms the southernmost part of the geographical region of Otago. The exact definition of the area designated as South Otago is imprecise, as the area is ...

, New Zealand, on 17 May 1888 to Scottish parents, Isabella McLean and her blacksmith husband, William Hay. William Hay was killed in an accident when James was aged 7. He received his education at Lawrence District High School, until age 13 when he left school to support his family. He worked for drapers in rural Otago and South Canterbury and eventually joined J. Ballantyne and Co, Christchurch's leading department store then moved to management in Beath's. His brother was judge and

Lower Hutt Lower Hutt ( mi, Te Awa Kairangi ki Tai) is a city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand. Administered by the Hutt City Council, it is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington metropolitan area. It is New Zealand's sixth most p ...

mayor

Ernst Peterson Hay Ernst Peterson Hay (1886 – 13 December 1955) was a New Zealand lawyer and judge who was the Mayor of Lower Hutt from 1947 to 1949. Biography He was born in Lawrence in 1886 to William Hay. He was educated at Lawrence District High School and lat ...

. Hay married Davidina Mertel Gunn, a New Zealand Nurse, in England in 1917 while running YMCA support services for 20,000 New Zealand Division troops in the Middle East and Europe. He stayed with YMCA after the war as their general secretary then took his organising ability to Ballantyne's in 1925.

Hay's department store

Hay joined an Auckland manufacturer and wholesaler to create an entirely new Christchurch retail outlet. They built a new store at the remote end of Gloucester Street and opened it in 1929. Hay's organising skills and flair for publicity, elephants were hired to advertise a sale, helped the new store become profitable but in 1933 in the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

the Auckland parent company collapsed. He managed to find enough financial support to buy out the former parent and raise the capital to pay for it by public subscription. Branches were opened in Otago and the West Coast. Hay's built Christchurch's first shopping centre in Upper Riccarton in 1960 and Northlands in 1970. Haywrights, the nation's second largest department store chain, was the result of a merger with stock and station agents Wright Stephenson & Co. Haywrights is now

Farmers A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer mi ...

Local politics and community activities

Hay was first elected onto

Christchurch City Council The Christchurch City Council is the local government authority for Christchurch in New Zealand. It is a territorial authority elected to represent the people of Christchurch. Since October 2022, the Mayor of Christchurch is Phil Mauger, who ...

in the 1944 local election. He served until 1953, when he unsuccessfully challenged the incumbent

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

, Robert Macfarlane, for the mayoralty. When an incorporated society, Town Hall Promotion Inc., was formed for the promotion of a

Christchurch Town Hall The Christchurch Town Hall, since 2007 formally known as the Christchurch Town Hall of the Performing Arts, opened in 1972, is Christchurch, New Zealand's premier performing arts centre. It is located in the central city on the banks of the A ...

, he became its first president.

Death and legacy

Hay died on 26 March 1971 at his home in Christchurch, and was buried in Waimairi Cemetery. The town hall was opened some 18 months after his death, and the second largest performance space was named the James Hay Theatre in his honour. His son,

Hamish Hay Sir Hamish Grenfell Hay (8 December 1927 – 7 September 2008) was a New Zealand politician, who served as Mayor of Christchurch for fifteen years, from 1974 to 1989. He was Christchurch's longest-serving mayor. Early life and family Hay was one ...

, was later the Christchurch mayor for 15 years.

Honours

Hay was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

as of 1 January

1918 This year is noted for the end of the First World War, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, as well as for the Spanish flu pandemic that killed 50–100 million people worldwide. Events Below, the events ...

for services as

Young Men's Christian Association YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...

secretary to the New Zealand Division in Egypt and France, and was promoted to Officer of the same order in the 1918 King's Birthday Honours only a few months later in connection with the same work. In 1935, he was awarded the

King George V Silver Jubilee Medal The King George V Silver Jubilee Medal is a commemorative medal, instituted to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the accession of King George V. Issue This medal was awarded as a personal souvenir by King George V to commemorate his Silver J ...

, and in the 1961 Queen's Birthday Honours he was appointed a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are the ...

for civic and charitable services.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hay, James Lawrence 1888 births 1971 deaths 20th-century New Zealand businesspeople New Zealand social workers New Zealand philanthropists New Zealand Presbyterians People from Lawrence, New Zealand Christchurch City Councillors New Zealand people of World War I New Zealand Officers of the Order of the British Empire New Zealand merchants New Zealand Knights Bachelor Burials at Waimairi Cemetery 20th-century philanthropists YMCA leaders