Remembering John Campbell Gilchrist

Remembering John Campbell Gilchrist

John Campbell Gilchrist was a quiet and kindly man remembered most for being the first Mayor of Oamaru. While he spent the majority of his life out of the public eye, he was pivotal to Oamaru’s successful beginnings, and like many of Oamaru’s founding fathers, his final resting place is the old Oamaru Cemetery. 

John Gilchrist was born in Argyleshire, Scotland in 1830. He was educated in Glasgow and became a teacher in Scotland; a profession he remained in until he turned to agricultural and pastoral pursuits. Mr Gilchrist immigrated to New Zealand where he settled in Oamaru in 1860. He quickly acquired land, 300 acres for his residence, Brookfield near Weston, and 5000 to 6000 acres for his sheep station Rosebery, North West of Oamaru; he also owned land in Tyne and Itchen Streets.

Gilchrist married Alison Taylor of Edinburgh in 1862 and had two sons and three daughters. He was chairman of the Kakanui Road Board until it was merged into the Waitaki County Council and also served as a member of the Oamaru Harbour Board and the Dock Trust. Gilchrist was also a member of a committee of Presbyterians who banded together to help establish a minister for the districts of Oamaru, Hampden and Otepopo. He was particularly active in the Presbyterian Church.

In 1866 Oamaru was bought under the Municipal Corporations Ordinance. John Gilchrist campaigned for Mayor and polled 100 votes, 20 more than his opponent Samuel Gibbs. During his term as Mayor, Gilchrist saw the provision of kerosene street lamps for Oamaru, a bridge over the creek in Severn Street, various street improvements, and the formation of Itchen Street which involved the diversion of Oamaru Creek. An attempt was also made to improve the reserves in the Oamaru area by planting trees, however few survived to maturity. The following year Gilchrist did not contest his Mayoralty and his previous opponent, Mr. Gibbs, was elected. Gibbs held his position as Mayor for 3 terms.

For his property near Weston, Gilchrist approached local architects Forrester and Lemon to design the family home. The property, Brookfield, is an elaborately designed stone villa set in a large garden surrounded by trees.  Sketches of the house, titled ‘J Gilchrist, residence’ are housed in the Forrester Gallery’s Steenson Collection, there is no date on the plans but it is thought the house was designed in 1879.

The house has gables and bay windows with cornices and decorated parapets, the first floor windows are finished with distinctive mouldings, all in stone. The quality of the design and overall proportion of the building makes Brookfield the most brilliant of all of Forrester and Lemon’s private home designs. The home is still standing today, in all its glory, and after spending some of its life as an accommodation premises, is now a private home again.

Aside from his brief period as Oamaru’s first Mayor, John Gilchrist was a private man who was known to be kind and incredibly supportive of his local community. He passed away at Brookfield on the 31 July 1906 at the age of 75. His wife, Alison Gilchrist passed away on 17 January 1920.

Written by Shanann Carr, Curator of Archives, February 2009