Sir John Logan Campbell


1817 - 1912

New Zealand businessman and politician, known as "the father of Auckland". Born in Edinburgh, the son of a medical practitioner, Campbell studied medicine at University of Edinburgh, graduating in 1839. He sailed for Australia as the ship's surgeon on the Palmyra. Campbell arrived in New Zealand in 1840 with fellow Scot William Brown (1809-98), becoming the first Europeans to settle at Auckland on the North Island. The pair opened a shop and were soon involved in other business ventures which were to make them wealthy. Campbell was Superintendent of Auckland Province (1855-56) and served in the New Zealand Parliament (1855-56, and 1860). He was also a Director of the Bank of New Zealand, the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company, and the New Zealand Insurance Company. He founded the first art school in Auckland in 1878 and donated Cornwall Park to the city in 1901. He was knighted the following year. Campbell lies buried on the summit of One Tree Hill in Cornwall Park. He directed that a trust, the Sir John Logan Campbell's Residuary Estate, be established after his death to benefit the people of Auckland.


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