Sir James Mills (30 July 1847 – 23 January 1936) was a New Zealand businessman and politician. He founded the Union Steam Ship Company in

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 ...

in 1875.

Biography

Mills was born in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

and raised in Dunedin. He worked for Johnny Jones, starting as a shop assistant and working his way up to managing Jones' Harbour Steam Company. After Jones' death in 1869 he became the leading trustee of his estate. Between 1869 and 1871 he built up a shareholding in the Harbour Steam Company until he was able to control the company. He floated the Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand in 1875 with backing from Scottish shipbuilder Peter Denny in return for orders for his Dumbarton shipyard. The Union Company (as it was known) became a major shipping line, with a near-monopoly on trans-Tasman shipping, and was referred to as the "Southern Octopus". By 1914 it had 75 ships. It was the biggest shipping line in the southern hemisphere and New Zealand's largest private-sector employer. Mills sold the Union Company to the

Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company P&O (in full, The Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company) is a British shipping and logistics company dating from the early 19th century. Formerly a public company, it was sold to DP World in March 2006 for £3.9 billion. DP World c ...

(P&O) in 1917. He represented

Waikouaiti Waikouaiti is a small town in East Otago, New Zealand, within the city limits of Dunedin. The town is close to the coast and the mouth of the Waikouaiti River. Today, Waikouaiti is a retail trade and servicing centre for the surrounding distric ...

on 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 a ...

in 1870, and again from 1873 to 1876. Later, he represented the electorate in Parliament from a by-election in to 1893, when he retired. He was

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

ed in 1907, and appointed Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George in 1909. It was said in a tribute to Mills that these distinctions made him the first native-born, non-indigenous New Zealander to be so honoured. He died in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

on 23 January 1936, aged 88, having been a UK resident since 1907. He is buried in

Putney Vale Cemetery Putney Vale Cemetery and Crematorium in southwest London is located in Putney Vale, surrounded by Putney Heath and Wimbledon Common and Richmond Park. It is located within of parkland. The cemetery was opened in 1891 and the crematorium in 1938 ...

, south west London.See: Grave of Sir James Mills, Putney Vale Cemetery. Mount Mills in Antarctica is named after him.

References

Biography in the 1966 ''Encyclopaedia of New Zealand
' *''Ships of the Union Company'' by Gavin McLean (1989, GP Government Print, Wellington) {{DEFAULTSORT:Mills, James 1847 births 1936 deaths Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Members of the Otago Provincial Council New Zealand MPs for Dunedin electorates People from Wellington City New Zealand Knights Bachelor New Zealand Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George 19th-century New Zealand politicians Burials at Putney Vale Cemetery