James Jameson

James Jameson
Portrait of James Jameson
4th Mayor of Christchurch
In office 21 Dec 1870 – 20 Dec 1871
Preceded by	Andrew Duncan
Succeeded by	Henry Sawtell
Personal details
Born	5 April 1824 London
Died	6 September 1896(1896-09-06) (aged 72) Linwood
Resting place	Linwood cemetery
Spouse(s)	Jane Dyer Jameson (m. 1847–1894)
Occupation	linen draper

James Purvis Jameson JP (5 April 1824 – 6 September 1896) was Mayor of Christchurch in 1870–1871. A linen draper from the Manchester area, he emigrated with his family to Christchurch in 1863. He was involved with a large number of organisations in Christchurch and was active in the Congregational church. For a time, he was a farmer on the Canterbury Plains.

Jameson was born on 5 April 1824 in London as the fourth child to John Young Jameson and Jane Douglas Oliver. He was christened on 13 July 1824 at Saint Mary in Marylebone, London. His father was an officer HMS. Jameson had four siblings, who were also all born in London: Robert John (b. 1818), William Oliver (b. 1819), Eleanor (b. 1823) and Frederick Ogerton (b. 1828). James Jameson married Jane Dyer Waugh in 1847 at St James in Westminster. She was the daughter of James Dyer Waugh.

Jameson was a linen draper in Moston, Manchester. The 1851 and 1861 censuses show that he employed a number of people. In 1861, the Jamesons were employing seven men, six women and six apprentices. His mother was living with them at the time; she died on 15 November 1863 in Liverpool.

The Jamesons had five children, who were born before they all came to New Zealand on the Sebastopol, leaving Gravesend on 17 January 1863 and arriving in Lyttelton on 21 May 1863.

Jameson set up a grocery and merchandise store in Christchurch, stocked with merchandise he brought with him from England. The store, which was located on the east side of Colombo Street, between Armagh and Gloucester Streets, was damaged in a fire on 5 November 1866. He sold this to William Radcliffe (who was later elected a member of the Christchurch City Council in 1877, and took over Warner's Hotel in Cathedral Square).