Sir John Andrew Charles Allum (27 January 1889 – 16 September 1972) was a New Zealand businessman and engineer, and was

Mayor of Auckland City The Mayor of Auckland City was the directly elected head of the Auckland City Council, the municipal government of Auckland City, New Zealand. The office existed from 1871 to 2010, when the Auckland City Council and mayoralty was abolished and ...

from 1941 to 1953.

Biography

Early life and career

Allum was born in London and educated at

Goldsmiths College Goldsmiths, University of London, officially the Goldsmiths' College, is a constituent research university of the University of London in England. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by the ...

. He became a clerk and on 5 March 1908, he married Annie Attwood at

Lewisham Lewisham () is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified in the London Plan as one ...

, and they emigrated to New Zealand the following year. He settled in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

briefly before working 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 ...

for four years before returning to Auckland in 1914. His stay was intended to be temporary, but he ended up living there the rest of his life. Allum was elected to the council of the

Auckland Chamber of Commerce Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about It ...

in 1919. An electrical engineer, Allum founded Allum Electrical in Auckland in 1922. He was the managing director of the company for many decades until his son Robert took over.

Political career

He was a member of the

Auckland City Council Auckland City Council was the local government authority for Auckland City, New Zealand, from 1871 to 1 November 2010, when it and Auckland's six other city and district councils were amalgamated to form the Auckland Council. It was an elected b ...

from

1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War in 1920: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its own ma ...

to 1929 when he was defeated. He was defeated again in 1931 trying to reclaim a council seat. He then contested the in the electorate for the Reform Party. That year, there was a coalition between the Reform and United Parties, and both Allum and Hugh Ross Mackenzie for United claimed to be the official coalition candidate. In the end, Mackenzie was the official candidate, and Allum came third, with the electorate being won by the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Michael Joseph Savage Michael Joseph Savage (23 March 1872 – 27 March 1940) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 23rd prime minister of New Zealand, heading the First Labour Government from 1935 until his death in 1940. Savage was born in the Colon ...

. He then served a second term on the city council from 1938 to 1941 when he was also deputy mayor. He was on other local bodies (Transport Board, Drainage Board, Harbour Bridge Authority etc.) and associations, e.g. the New Zealand Employers Federation of which he was twice president and cultural organisations for ballet and opera. He was elected as

at the 1941 mayoral election. Allum is known as the person who championed the Auckland Harbour Bridge, sometimes referred to as Jack Allum's Bridge. He became the inaugural chairman of the Auckland Harbour Bridge Authority in 1950 and only relinquished this role in 1971 at the age of 82. Due to the power and influence he had at the head of multiple Auckland bodies Allum was known derisively by Members of Parliament as the nickname "His Imperial Highness". As chair of the Drainage Board he was the proponent of a sewage dumping scheme (known as the Browns Island plan) that proposed to discharge untreated effluent into

Waitemata Harbour Waitemata or Waitematā may refer to: * Waitematā Harbour, the primary harbour of Auckland, New Zealand * Waitematā (local board area), a local government area in Auckland, New Zealand ** Waitematā Local Board, a local board of Auckland Council, ...

. Allum was vehemently opposed by the Auckland and Suburban Drainage League over his sewerage scheme. He dismissed their leader

Dove-Myer Robinson Sir Dove-Myer Robinson (15 June 1901 – 14 August 1989) was Mayor of Auckland City from 1959 to 1965 and from 1968 to 1980, the longest tenure of any holder of the office. He was a colourful character and became affectionately known across New ...

as a "noisy crank" which was a political mistake. Robinson backed

John Luxford John Hector Luxford (28 May 1890 – 8 April 1971) was a New Zealand lawyer and Mayor of Auckland City from 1953 to 1956. Biography Born in Palmerston North, Luxford qualified as a solicitor in 1913 and then during the World War I, First World ...

in his challenge to Allum at the 1953 mayoral election. Allum was defeated and became the first incumbent in Auckland that century who failed to secure re-election. After losing the mayoralty Allum was pressured to accept the National Party nomination for the new parliamentary seat of ahead of the , but he declined.

Death

Allum died in

Takapuna Takapuna is a suburb located on the North Shore of Auckland, New Zealand. The suburb is situated at the beginning of a south-east-facing peninsula forming the northern side of the Waitematā Harbour. While very small in terms of population, it ...

on 16 September 1972, and his body was cremated at Purewa Crematorium.

Honours

In 1935, Allum was awarded the

King George V Silver Jubilee Medal The King George V Silver Jubilee Medal is a commemorative medal, instituted to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the accession of King George V. Issue This medal was awarded as a personal souvenir by King George V to commemorate his Silver J ...

. He was appointed a

Commander 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 ...

for patriotic and social welfare services in the

1946 New Year Honours The 1946 New Year Honours were appointments by many of the Commonwealth Realms of King George VI to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and to celebrate the passing of 1945 and the beginnin ...

, and a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are ...

in the 1950 King's Birthday Honours. In 1950 he was also appointed a

Commander of the Order of St John The Order of St John, short for Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (french: l'ordre très vénérable de l'Hôpital de Saint-Jean de Jérusalem) and also known as St John International, is a British royal order of ...

. In 1953, he was awarded the

Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal (french: link=no, Médaille du couronnement de la Reine Élizabeth II) is a commemorative medal instituted to celebrate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II on 2 June 1953. Award This medal was awarded ...

. In the

, Annie Allum was appointed a

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 o ...

, for services in connection with women's patriotic activities, and in 1953 she was awarded the

Notes

References

* *''Who’s Who in New Zealand,'' 10th edition 1971 {{DEFAULTSORT:Allum, John 1889 births 1972 deaths Mayors of Auckland Deputy mayors of places in New Zealand English emigrants to New Zealand Alumni of Goldsmiths, University of London New Zealand Commanders of the Order of the British Empire New Zealand Knights Bachelor Reform Party (New Zealand) politicians New Zealand National Party politicians Unsuccessful candidates in the 1931 New Zealand general election 20th-century New Zealand engineers Commanders of the Order of St John