Henry Joseph Kelliher
| Sir Henry Joseph Kelliher Kt. KstJ | |
|---|---|
| Born |
2 March 1896 New Zealand |
| Died | 29 September 1991 (aged 95) Auckland |
| Nationality | New Zealand |
| Other names | Henry Joseph Keliher |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Known for | Founder of Dominion Breweries, Governor of Bank of New Zealand, Philanthropist |
Sir Henry Joseph Kelliher (2 March 1896 – 29 September 1991) was a New Zealand businessman, brewer, publisher, managing director, art patron and credit reformer.
Henry Joseph Kelliher (né Keliher) was born in Waikerikeri, near Clyde in Central Otago, New Zealand on 2 March 1896; the son of an Irish immigrant Michael Keliher who came to New Zealand during the Goldrush in Central Otago. Information about his early years is not plentiful but moved to the Wairarapa at the age of 17 to work as a Drover in Carterton prior to the outbreak of World War One.
When war broke out in Europe in 1914 Kelliher enlisted with the Otago Mounted Rifles as served as a Trooper until he was transferred during service at Gallipoli in 1915. Kelliher survived the Gallipoli campaign and served in France at the Somme in a specialised Trench Warfare mortar team until he was gassed and invalided to Britain in 1917.
While in Britain recovering from injuries sustained during the War, Kelliher met his to-be wife Evelyn. They were married in Belfast, Northern Ireland on 17 July 1917 in the Roman Catholic faith. She had been previously married but widowed at an early age. The family would go on to have 4 daughters and a son, Henry Kelliher Jr, a Painter who pre-deceased his father. The Kelliher family was survived by several branches including the Rosser and White families of two of his daughters who are currently involved with his charitable Trusts; and the Stephens family, through his son. Kelliher has several dozen grandchildren and great grandchildren around New Zealand, Australia and the rest of the world.
By the time the war ended in 1918, Kelliher and his new wife had returned to New Zealand and began farming in the Wairarapa. He pulled out of farming to invest in the Marquis of Normanby Hotel in Carterton, one of the few licensed drinking venues in the Wairarapa area due to the dry-state that the town of Masterton had been placed in several years earlier. Through this investment Kelliher began to grow his fortunes and soon began investing in other local drinking establishments and hotels. From 1922 Kelliher chose to base himself in Auckland where he saw the potential for investment opportunities and soon began acquiring agent licenses for key brands of spirit such as Dewar's White Label Whisky in 1926. He also invested in the New Zealand magazine Ladies Mirror in which he promoted the rights of progressive women and extolled the rights of women, particularly those widowed young after the war, to engage in education and trade. He also used this magazine to begin his campaign on monetary reform after he took editorial control of the magazine in 1930.
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