John Orr (7 January 1858 in

Benburb Benburb ()) is a village and townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It lies 7.5 miles from Armagh and 8 miles from Dungannon. The River Blackwater runs alongside the village as does the Ulster Canal. History It is best known, in his ...

County Tyrone County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six Counties of Northern Ireland, counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional Counties of Ireland, counties of Ireland. It is no longer used as an admini ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

- 30 June 1932 in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, Ireland) was an Irish South African businessman who founded the department store

John Orr's John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

, eventually sold to

Mr. Price Mr Price Group is a cash-based fashion-value retailer, and is a public company listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Established in 1985, the retailer has 2,543 stores which are mainly in South Africa South Africa, officially the Re ...

.James Gird, "Today in Kimberley's History 7 January", 7 January 2019, ''Kimberly City Info'', SA City Guides
/ref>

Biography

Orr emigrated to South Africa in 1883, at age 25. He worked for

Garlicks Garlicks was a department store chain in South Africa. John Garlick started his first store on May 3, 1875, on the corner Bree and Strand Streets, in the central business district of Cape Town. In the 1880s, Garlick expanded with branches in the ...

department store in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

and then opened his own store in that city. In 1885, he moved to

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia * Kimberley (Western Australia) ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley * Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania * Kimberley, Tasmania a small town * County of Kimberley, a ...

and opened a drapery (in South African parlance, clothing and fabrics) store on Jones Street (now Phakamile Mabija Street) for many decades.

opened branches across South Africa as well as Lourenço Marques (now

Maputo Maputo (), formerly named Lourenço Marques until 1976, is the Capital city, capital, and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. The city has a popul ...

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

). In 1951, it became a public company with 2,500 employees.

Other work and honours

Source: "Today in Kimberley's History" *Mayor of Kimberley (1909–1910 and 1916–1918) *MBE (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 ...

), 1918 *Board member of the Alexander McGregor Memorial Museum *Founder, Kimberley Horticultural Society

Personal life

John Orr was born to Dickson and Letitia Orr and educated in Ireland. In 1892, he married Mary Ellen Harper, with whom he had three sons and two daughters. Orr's house on Lodge Road, Dunluce, or Lillienville as it was first known, was designed by D. W. Greatbatch for Gustav Bonas, a diamond buyer, in 1897. In 1902, Orr bought the house for the sum of £6 400, and gave it the name Dunluce. In 1974, Barlow Duce bought the house, restored it and donated it to the McGregor Museum."Restoring one of Kimberley's grandest homes in 1976", ''The Heritage Portal'' (news and information platform for the South African Heritage Sector)
/ref>

Patrick Lambie Patrick Jonathan Lambie (born 17 October 1990) is a retired South African professional rugby union player who last played for in the French Top 14. He announced his retirement in January 2019 due to multiple concussions. Early life Lambie at ...

, the Springbok rugby player, is a Orr's great-great-grandson; Orr's granddaughter is Lambie's grandmother, Alizanne Labuschagne, whose husband was Nic Labuschagne of KwaZulu-Natal rugby and a Scotland rugby International.

References

{{reflist Orr, John Orr, John Orr, John Businesspeople from County Tyrone