Mr. John Otley, Secretary and Treasurer of the Starr-Bowkett Building Society of Canterbury and of the Excelsior Building Society of Canterbury, and others, was born in 1840 in London, where he was educated and brought up as a plasterer. Arriving in Lyttelton in 1862 by the ship “Queen of the Mersey,” he worked at his trade till 1878, when he commenced business on his own account. Mr. Otley has long been interested in money clubs and building societies, having for many years acted as secretary and treasurer of such institutions and was a founder of the Friends of Labour Loan and Investment Society. He has been connected with the Foresters' Order as a member of Court Star of Canterbury. Mr. Otley was married in 1862 to a daughter of Mr. Joseph Peacock, of Cambridge, England. This lady died in 1893, leaving three sons and one daughter. Mr. Otley was again married in 1894 to a daughter of Mr. Joseph Palmer, of Kingston-on-Thames.