James Gunson

Sir James Gunson CMG CBE
24th Mayor of Auckland City
In office 1915–1925
Preceded by	James Parr
Succeeded by	George Baildon
Personal details
Born	26 October 1877 Auckland, New Zealand
Died	12 May 1963
Spouse(s)	Jessie Helen Wiseman
Children	3

Sir James Henry Gunson CMG CBE (26 October 1877 – 12 May 1963) was a New Zealand businessman and Mayor of Auckland City from 1915 to 1925. He was knighted in 1924.

W Gunson & Co

Born and educated in Auckland, in his mid-twenties he took over W Gunson & Co the seed-grain and produce business his father founded in 1881. William Gunson died in 1902. In October 1916, now mayor of Auckland, James sold his father's business to Wright Stephenson.^[1]

Public life

James Gunson stood for Parliament several times without success; (Mt Roskill in 1919, Eden in 1926 and then Auckland Suburbs in 1928).

Auckland

Mayor from 1915 to 1925 he undertook the building of the war memorials Auckland Museum and Cenotaph, the Wintergardens in Auckland Domain and the construction of Tamaki Drive. In later public life, he was responsible for the monument on One Tree Hill (Maungakiekie) and the treeplanting of Cornwall Park fulfilling Sir John Logan Campbell's vision. Gunson was Chairman of the Auckland Harbour Board 1911–15, and was a member of the Government Railways Board 1931–35.

Several parts of the city bear his name or were his gift. His farming property to the South of Auckland in Manukau, called Totara Park, was later given to the city of Auckland. His main town residence, in St Andrew's Road, Epsom, became the Tongan royal residence, which it remains. A further Auckland property (named Rydal Mount after the residence of the English poet William Wordsworth) was by the same architect, Draffin, that Gunson had chosen to design Auckland Museum. Gunson Street, in South Auckland, is named after him.

In 1935, he was awarded the King George V Silver Jubilee Medal.^[2]

Family

He married Jessie Helen Wiseman (later Lady Gunson OBE) in 1905. They had three children; William, Geoffrey and Margaret. His brother Edward Burton Gunson MD FRCP (1883–1950) practised as a cardiologist in Auckland 1919–37. During World War One while in the RAMC EB Gunson assisted Thomas Lewis, the noted clinical scientist, in achieving an improved understanding of the Effort Syndrome.^[3] During World War Two Gunson worked for the Ministry of Supply in London publishing studies of women war workers' health.^[4]

References

1. Business Changes Hands. Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 268, 9 November 1916, Page 8
2. "Official jubilee medals". Evening Post. 6 May 1935. p. 4. Retrieved 14 August 2013.
3. The Soldier’s Heart and the Effort Syndrome. Thomas Lewis. London 1918.
4. EB Gunson. British Medical Journal 1942 ii 753-5. Communal feeding.

• Who’s Who in New Zealand, 4th edition 1941
• Who's Who (UK/World edition), 1954
• Entry in Dictionary of New Zealand Biography