Title: The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Otago & Southland Provincial Districts]

Author: Cyclopedia Company Limited

Publication details: The Cyclopedia Company, Limited, 1905, Christchurch

Part of: The Cyclopedia of New Zealand

License: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 New Zealand Licence

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Mr. Archibald Gillies , who served as a Councillor of the Borough of Hampden for one term, resides on Townhead Farm, which is 113 acres in extent, including a reserve of twenty acres. The farm is said to be the first original homestead taken up in Hampden by Messrs Wright and Miller, and the first wooden house erected in the borough is still standing on the property, on which also the first accommodation house was built. Besides this farm Mr. Gillies owns 200 acres, known as Bellgrove. Mr. Gillies was born in 1842 at Lochgilphead, Argyleshire, and trained to country pursuits. He came to Port Chalmers in 1869, by the “E.P. Bouverie,” and settled in Hampden, where he purchased Townhead Farm in 1875. Mr. Gillies has for about a quarter of a century been a member of the Hampden school committee. He served on the Hampden Road Board, has taken a prominent part in connection with the local Athenæum, and still serves on the committee, and is one of the cemetery trustees. He has served over twenty years in the Hampden Rifles, most of the time as colour-sergeant. Mr. Gillies was married on the 26th of November, 1874, to a daughter of the late Mr. S. Cague, of County Down, Ireland, and has three sons and two daughters.