Remembering James McDiarmid

Remembering James McDiarmid

James McDiarmid was a business man who made his mark on Oamaru. His legacy still stands as the family owned and operated shoe store on Thames Street we know as McDiarmid’s. Like many notable businessmen from Oamaru’s past, James McDiarmid has the Oamaru Cemetery as his final resting place.

James McDiarmid was born in Burnfoothill in Argyleshire, Scotland on 25 May 1871. He immigrated to New Zealand with his parents, James and Ann, on the ship Invercargill in 1879. The family arrived at Port Chalmers but immediately moved to Oamaru to settle. McDiarmid’s father, James Senior, was employed by the New Zealand Railways Department to assist in the construction of a railway in the North Otago area.

James McDiarmid was schooled at Oamaru South School followed by a period at Oamaru North School. At the age of twelve he commenced work at the Oamaru Woollen factory; however this line of work was not his true calling and in 1884 he commenced an apprenticeship with local footwear manufacturer John Allen at Allan House, 42 Thames Street. This is where McDiarmid, and his colleague Samuel McDonald, trained for four years before becoming qualified shoemakers.

John Allen passed away in 1893. McDiarmid and McDonald then formed a partnership and purchased the business. The pair renamed the building MacAllan House and called the business McDonald and McDiarmid. During their partnership, branches were opened in Waimate, Timaru and Ashburton and an additional store was opened on Thames Street. The factory had over 40 staff at one stage and all footwear manufactured on the site was finished by hand.

In 1895 James McDiarmid married Agnes Lydia Bain and they had one son. The family lived in Towey Street in the large home formerly owned by John Bulleid, called Pen-y-bryn.

In 1899 James McDiarmid bought out Samuel McDonald and McDonald relocated to Invercargill to set up his own business. The three out-of-town branches of McDonald and McDiarmid were sold and McDiarmid maintained his own store and factory on Thames Street. The manufacturing side of the business ceased in 1916.

While he remained a managing director of the company for the remainder of his life, McDiarmid passed management of McDiarmid’s to his son Ewart in 1920. The current McDiarmid’s premises were erected in 1926. The site was once well known for its prominent sign in the shape of a boot; the boot was an Oamaru landmark for many years but was removed in 1976 due to corrosion and storm damage.

James McDiarmid was not only known for his business pursuits, he was also heavily involved in the Oamaru Borough Council. McDiarmid was first elected as a Borough Councillor in 1913. He became Mayor of Oamaru in 1919, his Mayoralty lasting eight years.

While he was Mayor, McDiarmid was involved in a number of developments for the town including the unveiling of the Great War Memorial by the then Governor General Viscount Jellicoe. Significant infrastructure developments such as the inauguration of the sewerage and drainage scheme in 1925 and improvements to the water supply and a number of recreation facilities in the town were also accomplished while he was Mayor. McDiarmid also hosted the Duke and Duchess of York on their visit to the town in 1926. At the end of his term as Mayor, McDiarmid remained a Borough Councillor from 1927 to 1930 and again from 1933 to 1934.

McDiarmid was also involved in the Waitaki Electric Power Board. He joined the board at its inception in 1923, and was Chairman of the Board from 1935 until his death. He was also a member of the Waitaki High School Board and a foundation shareholder in the Waitaki Farmers’ Co-operative Freezing Co which opened at Pukeuri in 1922.

James McDiarmid passed away on 20 April 1943. McDiarmid’s footwear retailers still operate today in the building that was erected in 1926, although the famous boot no longer stands atop the premises. McDiarmid’s is Oamaru’s longest operating family business and is currently in its fourth generation of family ownership.

All information in this article comes from the Waitaki Museum and Archive and local information sources.

Sources for this article:

• McDiarmid’s website (2009). ‘About Us’.
• Newspaper Article (date unknown) ‘Family Affairs - McDiarmid’s’, North Otago Museum Archive, n. 23041.
• Oamaru Mail (20 April 1943). ‘Obituary - Mr James McDiarmid’.
• Southern People, a Dictionary of Otago Southland Biography (1998). ‘McDiarmid, James’, p. 295.

Written by Shannan Carr, Curator of Archives, April 2009.