Remembering John Rule Sewell

John Rule Sewell was a local man who made his mark on the town through the chemist store he operated for over fifty years. He was a prominent figure in the history of Oamaru; his final resting place is the Oamaru cemetery.

John Sewell was born in Portobello on the Otago Peninsular in 1858. He was the son of Captain William Sewell, remembered as the first harbourmaster in Oamaru. The Sewell’s moved from Portobello to Oamaru in 1860 and the children were schooled locally. John Sewell then went on to complete an apprenticeship with local chemist, Henry Coggins, who had a business in Itchen Street.

Upon completion of his apprenticeship, Sewell spent a number of years in Dunedin working as dispenser for Barnard Isaac, chemist, of George Street. Eventually he returned to Oamaru, where he worked for Coggins till he was able to set up his own business.

Sewell opened his chemist shop in Tees Street in 1882, and the following year moved to a new shop on Thames Street. As his business grew Sewell commissioned the construction of a store near the bridge on Thames Street. The new building was complete in 1889.

Sewell’s new store was a stylishly designed single story building constructed of local limestone. The ground level was a shop and consultation room with storage and manufacturing in the cellar space. The Cyclopaedia of New Zealand refers to Sewell’s window as ‘one of the best in New Zealand, as it is not only nicely dressed, but backed with bevelled mirrors and mirror stands’. When the new store first opened it was advertised as ‘the shop on the bridge’, the business was called the Oamaru Dispensary and Sewell’s signage named him Chemist and Druggist. The building still stands today, and over the years it has been the headquarters for the local Automobile Association and a place of worship for the Jehovah’s Witness church; currently it is the site of Steam café.

As well as importing and manufacturing commonly used medicines for human consumption Sewell stocked veterinary medicines such as drenching products and massage oil for horses and cattle, many of these mixtures he manufactured himself in his cellar. Sewell’s shelves were lined with square glass bottles, and each bottle was labelled in delicate gold writing.

Sewell was a keen horse man. He was a member of the North Otago Jockey Club and had a number of horses he liked to race; it is believed he kept up to four horses in training. Other clubs and societies he was a member of included the North Otago Cycling Club, Athletic Club, Poultry Pigeon and Canary Club, Waitaki Coursing Club and also the North Otago Agricultural and Pastoral Association.

John Rule Sewell passed away on 26 April 1941, three years after his retirement. He is buried in the Oamaru cemetery with his second wife Annie, who died in 1921. Sewell was married three times; it is not known if he had children.

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

Sources for this article:

Oamaru Mail (29 April 1941) Obituary, Mr J R Sewell.
Muirhead, Syd (1990) The Shop on the Bridge, in Historic North Otago. Pp 61-62
The Cyclopedia of New Zealand, Vol. 4, Otago and Southland (1905). ‘Chemists’, p. 528-529.

Written by Shannan Carr, Curator of Archives, December 2009