Maurice Joel (1829 – 13 November 1907) was a prominent brewer and public figure 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 ...

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 ...

. Joel was born in North Shields, in northern England, one of seven children of

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

n-born Trytle Joel and his wife Jane Grace Joel (née Isaacs). His initial training was as an engraver. He formed a trading business with his brother, working mainly around the industrial cities of the north Midlands. In 1853 he emigrated to Australia, working as a gold buyer during the

Victoria gold rush The Victorian gold rush was a period in the history of Victoria, Australia approximately between 1851 and the late 1860s. It led to a period of extreme prosperity for the Australian colony, and an influx of population growth and financial capit ...

in Melbourne and Ballarat. With the advent of the Otago gold rush in 1861, he moved to Dunedin, where he continued in business, opening a general merchant storeMaurice Joel obituary
" www.cemeteries.org.nz. Originally published in the ''

Otago Witness The ''Otago Witness'' was a prominent illustrated weekly newspaper in the early years of the European settlement of New Zealand, produced in Dunedin, the provincial capital of Otago. Published weekly it existed from 1851 to 1932. The introduction ...

'', 20 November 1907. Retrieved 21 December 2018. and also became interested in local politics. During his first year in the city, he also helped found the Dunedin Jewish Congregation. From the 1860s through to the turn of the century he held several local political and public posts; he was on the committee of the 1889 New Zealand and South Seas Exhibition (1889), a member of the

Otago Harbour Board Otago Harbour is the natural harbour of Dunedin, New Zealand, consisting of a long, much-indented stretch of generally navigable water separating the Otago Peninsula from the mainland. They join at its southwest end, from the harbour mouth. It ...

, and a director of both an insurance company and a coal company. Joel's main business venture in Dunedin was as founder and owner of the Red Lion Brewery. As head of Red Lion, Joel had built one of Dunedin's most prominent public houses, the Captain Cook Tavern.Lost Dunedin #1: Eden Bank House
" ''Built in Dunedin'' 3 August 2012. Retrieved 21 December 2018. In 1859, Joel married Katherine (Kate) Woolf, originally from

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 ...

Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when i ...

. Together they had nine children, among them the artist

Grace Joel Grace Jane Joel (28 May 1865–6 March 1924) was a New Zealand artist best known for her ability as a portraitist and figure painter. Early life Grace Joel was born in Dunedin, New Zealand on 28 May 1865, the sixth of nine children. Her Englis ...

Thomson, J. (ed.) (1998) "Southern people: A dictionary of Otago Southland biography."Dunedin: Longacre Press. p. 254. and cricketer

Louis Joel Louis Joseph Joel (12 September 1864 – 6 May 1949) was a New Zealand cricketer who played for Otago. He was born and died in Dunedin. Lou Joel made a single first-class appearance for Otago, during the 1899–1900 season, against Auckland ...

. Joel's grandson, Maurice Andrew Joel was a prominent barrister in Dunedin. The Joels lived at Eden Bank House, a prominent structure in Regent Street,

Dunedin North Dunedin North, also known as North Dunedin, is a major inner suburb ''Inner suburb'' is a term used for a variety of suburban communities that are generally located very close to the centre of a large city (the inner city and central bus ...

, before moving to Onslow Street in the south of the city where they lived until Joel's death in 1907. Joel is buried in the Jewish section of the

Dunedin Southern Cemetery The Southern Cemetery in the New Zealand city of Dunedin was the first major cemetery to be opened in the city. The cemetery was opened in 1858, ten years after the founding of the city in an area known as Little Paisley. This area lies at the ...

References

1829 births 1907 deaths People of the Otago Gold Rush Businesspeople from Dunedin New Zealand Jews People from North Shields Businesspeople from Tyne and Wear Burials at Dunedin Southern Cemetery {{NewZealand-business-bio-stub