John Endean (1 December 1844 – 3 January 1925) made his money in gold mining in three countries. He settled in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, New Zealand, where he was a hotel proprietor. The Endeans Building built for him on Auckland's Queen Street is a landmark that is registered with

Heritage New Zealand Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga (initially the National Historic Places Trust and then, from 1963 to 2014, the New Zealand Historic Places Trust) ( mi, Pouhere Taonga) is a Crown entity with a membership of around 20,000 people that advocate ...

; his private residence in

Symonds Street Symonds Street is a street in Auckland, New Zealand's most populous city. The road runs southwest and uphill from the top of Anzac Avenue (originally Jermyn Street), through the City Campus of University of Auckland, over the Northwestern Motorw ...

is also a registered heritage building.

Early life

Endean was born in

Tywardreath Tywardreath (; kw, Ti War Dreth, meaning "House on the Beach" (or Strand)) is a small hilltop village on the south coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, about north west of Fowey. It is located in a sheltered spot overlooking a silted up ...

, Cornwall, England in 1844. He went into mining in his home country, but emigrated to Australia in 1863, where he got into gold mining. The following year, he went to California and from there silver mining on

Treasure Hill Treasure Hill () is a community in Taipei, Taiwan. Originally an illegal settlement, it was founded by the Kuomintang military veterans at the end of the 1940s and served originally as an anti-aircraft position. After cooperating with non-g ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

. He left San Francisco in 1870 for the

gold rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New Z ...

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

Coromandel Peninsula The Coromandel Peninsula ( mi, Te Tara-O-Te-Ika-A-Māui) on the North Island of New Zealand extends north from the western end of the Bay of Plenty, forming a natural barrier protecting the Hauraki Gulf and the Firth of Thames in the we ...

, New Zealand. In the following year, he married Ellen Phillips, the daughter of Harry Phillips, an early settler of Thames. He became a hotel proprietor in Grahamstown (Thames).

Life in Auckland

They moved to Auckland, where he continued as a hotel proprietor; first of the Railway Terminus Hotel from December 1877, and from February 1887 of the Waitemata Hotel. The Waitemata was located on the south-west corner of the intersection of Customs and Queen Street. One of his sons, John Albert "Jack" Endean (born 11 February 1874), took over the licence from him. Today, the site is occupied by the

Tower A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

Centre (45 Queen Street). In 1894, his wife was one of two women who stood for election to

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 ...

, only one year after women received the vote in New Zealand. The other woman was elected in the Parnell Ward, but Ellen Endean came fourth and last in the Grafton Ward. Endean built the Endeans Building on the corner of

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

and

Quay Street Quay Street is a street in the city centre of Manchester, England. The street, designated the A34, continues Peter Street westwards towards the River Irwell and Salford. It is the northern boundary of Spinningfields, the city's business dist ...

s in Auckland in 1905, which was replaced after a fire in 1914–15; it is listed as a Category II heritage building. The family lived in a large house in

, which is listed as a Category I heritage building.

Family and death

His wife died on 2 January 1910 at their home in Jermyn Street (now

Anzac Avenue Anzac Avenue is a heritage-listed major arterial road lined with trees in the Moreton Bay Region, Queensland, Australia. It runs from Petrie to Redcliffe, with most of the route signed as state route 71. The route was formerly the main ro ...

). One of his sons, Arthur Stanley Endean, was killed in the First World War in June 1915. Endean died on 3 January 1925. His son John Albert Endean died in August 1927, less than three years after him. He had had a heavy involvement in

Auckland Rugby League The Auckland Rugby League (ARL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in the Auckland Region of New Zealand. It is responsible for rugby league in the region, including both club and school rugby league. It began in 1910 when the fi ...

from its beginnings in 1909 until his death in 1927. His son William Phillips "Bill" Endean became a member of parliament in 1930.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Endean, John 1844 births 1925 deaths People from Auckland New Zealand hoteliers People from Tywardreath and Par English emigrants to New Zealand Australian miners Gold prospectors