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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Auckland Provincial District]

Mr. John Gordon

Mr. John Gordon, J.P., is one of the earliest pioneers of Auckland. He is a son of Mr. William Gordon, and a direct descendant of the historical Highland Gordons, and was born in Edinburgh in 1829. Mr. Gordon came with his parents to Sydney in 1838, and accompanied them in 1840 to the Bay of Islands, where his father received a Government appointment. He was educated at the Bay of Islands Government school, where he was presented with an English prayer book, awarded for merit and good conduct by Mrs Hobson, wife of the first Governor of New Zealand; this book bears the date of 1840, and is a memento which is highly prized by Mr. Gor-don. The family left the Bay of Islands for the embryo city of Auckland at the end of that year, and at the first Government land sale Mr. Gordon, senior, purchased the section on whom Mr. Gordon now resides in Waterloo Quadrant. Shortly afterwards his father purchased land at West Tamaki, where he started farming, and to which he removed his family. Later on he disposed of the property at Tamaki, and he acquired a valuable farm at Otahuhu, where Mr. Gordon, senior, died in 1853. Mr. John Gordon then took charge of the farm, which he afterwards let, and, removing to the village of Otahuhu, he there started a commission business. In 1859 he was returned as a member of the first Diocesan Synod of Auckland to represent the district of Papakura, which he represented for sixteen years. In 1860 he joined the troop of Royal Cavalry Volunteers under Colonel Nixon, and served with it during the Maori troubles of 1863–4. Mr. Gordon remained in the troop till 1871, when he was offered and accepted the command of the Otahuhu Rifle Volunteers; a command which he held till 1882, when the company was disbanded. He was elected a member of the Auckland Provincial Council for Raglan in 1868, and represented the district till 1873; and he was elected in 1878 a member of the Otahuhu Road Board, of which he was for some time chairman. Mr. Gordon was also a member of the Otahuhu school and licensing committees, and acted on both bodies until his departure from the district, towards the end of 1887, when he removed to Auckland to his present residence. He was appointed secretary to the New Zealand Agricultural Association in 1865, and held the position for a number of years.

Hanna, photo.Mr. J. Gordon.

Hanna, photo.Mr. J. Gordon.