John Rutherfurd Blair (8 February 1843 – 25 November 1914) was the

Mayor of Wellington The Mayor of Wellington is the head of the municipal government of the City of Wellington. The mayor presides over the Wellington City Council. The mayor is directly elected using the Single Transferable Vote method of proportional representati ...

, New Zealand from 1898 to 1899.

Biography

Blair was born in Airdrie,

Lanarkshire Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark ( gd, Siorrachd Lannraig; sco, Lanrikshire), is a historic county, lieutenancy area and registration county in the central Lowlands of Scotland. Lanarkshire is the most populous county in Scotlan ...

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 ...

, and was a paper merchant. His career started with a large

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paper merchant firm. In 1860 he migrated to

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, where he was appointed in charge of the printers

Sands and McDougall The Sands Directories, also published as the Sands and Kenny Directory and the Sands and McDougall Directory were annual publications in Australia. They listed household, business, society, and Government contacts in Melbourne, Adelaide and Syd ...

. In Melbourne he met and married Jean Cowan of

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 ...

, New Zealand, in 1869. That same year they moved to Wellington where Blair was to be Sands and McDougall's representative, and he remained there for the rest of his life, living first in Vivian Street, and later on The Terrace. In Wellington he entered into partnership with bookseller William Lyon, opening a premises called Lyon and Blair on

Lambton Quay Lambton Quay (once known as The Beach) is the heart of the central business district of Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand. Originally, as the name implies, it was the high-water line of the foreshore, and sometimes the sea would roll ...

in 1874. When William Lyon died, Lyon's son Horatio joined the business. Blair brought Lyon out and continued the business under the name of Lyon & Blair. Lyon & Blair was purchased by

Whitcombe and Tombs Whitcoulls is a major New Zealand book, stationery, gift, games & toy retail chain. Formerly known as Whitcombe & Tombs, it has 54 stores nationally. Whitcombe & Tombs was founded in 1888, and Coulls Somerville Wilkie in 1871. The companies mer ...

in 1894. Blair went on to pursue his education interests and directorships of various businesses and institutions.Death of Mr J R Blair, '' Evening Post'', volume=LXXXVIII, issue=127, 25 November 1914, Page 8 In 1880 he was appointed to the Education Board, becoming its chairman in 1882. This led to involvement with the Technical Education Board, and his eventually becoming chairman of the

Wellington College Wellington College may refer to: *Wellington College, Berkshire, an independent school in Crowthorne, Berkshire, England ** Wellington College International Shanghai ** Wellington College International Tianjin *Wellington College, Wellington, New Z ...

board of governors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organi ...

until 1899. He was also a member of the school commissioners. The Wellington Woollen Manufacturing Company factory in Petone ATLIB 274198

From 1899 to 1902 he was the first chairman of the reorganised

Bank of New Zealand Bank of New Zealand (BNZ) is one of New Zealand's Big Four (banking), big four banks and has been operating in the country since the first office was opened in Auckland in October 1861 followed shortly after by the first branch in Dunedin in D ...

. At the time of his death he was chairman of the Wellington Investment Trustee and Agency Company, the Paparoa Coal Mining Company, and the Wellington Woollen Manufacturing Company. He was also a director the Gear Meat Company, E W Mills and Company, and the local director of the

New Zealand Shipping Company The New Zealand Shipping Company (NZSC) was a shipping company whose ships ran passenger and cargo services between Great Britain and New Zealand between 1873 and 1973. A group of Christchurch businessmen founded the company in 1873, similar ...

. From 1898 to 1899 he was elected

and a member of the

Wellington Harbour Board (Strong but true) , predecessor = , merged = , successor = , formation = , founder = , founding_location = , dissolved = , merger = , type ...

. He was visiting Justice to Wellington gaols and a member of the Prisons Board. Blair died at his residence of The Terrace, Wellington aged 71 years old after a fairly long illness. He was survived by his wife and son. Blair Street in Wellington is named after him.

Notes

References

* *''No Mean City'' by Stuart Perry (1969,

Wellington City Council Wellington City Council is a territorial authority in New Zealand, governing the country's capital city Wellington, and ''de facto'' second-largest city (if the commonly considered parts of Wellington, the Upper Hutt, Porirua, Lower Hutt and ...

) includes a paragraph and a portrait or photo for each mayor.

External links

John Blair; photo, his business interests, and his involvement in the development
of Kelburn {{DEFAULTSORT:Blair, John Rutherford 1843 births 1914 deaths Burials at Bolton Street Cemetery Mayors of Wellington British emigrants to New Zealand Wellington Harbour Board members