Peter McNish McSkimming (1872–1941) was an

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for the Clutha electorate in the

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of New Zealand.

Biography

Peter McSkimming was born on 9 March 1872 in Dreghorn,

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, Scotland, and emigrated from there with his parents Peter McSkimming and Catherine (née Pelling) in 1878. They initially settled in

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before both Peters began work for John Nelson's clay pipe factory in Benhar, near Balclutha in 1881. McSkimming senior was a shrewd but humanitarian businessman, and bought the factory by the 1890s, turning it into a major manufacturer of ceramic sanitary products. The factory was renamed McSkimming Industries in 1917. When he died in 1923, his son took over the factory. McSkimming represented the Clutha electorate in the

New Zealand House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the sole chamber of the New Zealand Parliament. The House passes Law of New Zealand, laws, provides Ministers of the New Zealand Government, ministers to form Cabinet of New Zealand, Cabinet, and supervises the ...

as an Independent from 1931 until his retirement in 1935. In 1935, he was awarded the

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. McSkimming was chairman of the South Otago Freezing Co., Kaitangata Coal Co., Dominion Fertilizer Co., Bruce Woollen Co. and

New Zealand Refrigerating Company New Zealand Refrigerating Company Limited founded 1881 by a committee led by John Roberts killed New Zealand livestock at its Burnside Works built in 1883 in Green Island Dunedin, froze the carcasses and shipped them for wholesaling in Smithfie ...

Hunt, p.153; notes that McSkimming & Son with Todd & Lambert family interests became McSkimming Industries in 1917 McSkimming married Agnes Jane Lowery in 1904, and they had five children. Three of their sons remained involved in the family business, running it until it was taken over by

Ceramco Crown Lynn was a New Zealand ceramics manufacturer that operated under various names between 1854 and 1989. Early history The pottery's origins started with an 1854 land purchase at Hobsonville, near Auckland, by Rice Owen Clark. He had arriv ...

in 1980. Notable among their offspring was Robert McSkimming (1916-1992), who was awarded a DFC for his work with the

Royal New Zealand Air Force The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) ( mi, Te Tauaarangi o Aotearoa, "The Warriors of the Sky of New Zealand"; previously ', "War Party of the Blue") is the aerial service branch of the New Zealand Defence Force. It was formed from New Zeala ...

during World War II.

Notes

References

* * ''The Rich List: Wealth and Enterprise in New Zealand 1820-2000'' by Graeme Hunt (2000, Reed Books, Auckland) * * 1872 births 1941 deaths Independent MPs of New Zealand New Zealand Liberal Party MPs New Zealand businesspeople People from Otago Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand MPs for South Island electorates People from Dreghorn Scottish emigrants to New Zealand {{NewZealand-business-bio-stub