James Gunson


Sir James Henry Gunson 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 stock and station agency to Wright Stephenson.

Public life

James Gunson stood for Parliament several times without success;.

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 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 was by the same architect, Draffin, that Gunson had chosen to design Auckland Museum. Gunson Street, in Freemans Bay, Auckland, is named after him.
In 1935, he was awarded the King George V Silver Jubilee Medal.

Family

He married Jessie Helen Wiseman in 1905. They had three children; William, Geoffrey and Margaret. His brother Edward Burton Gunson 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. During World War Two Gunson worked for the Ministry of Supply in London publishing studies of women war workers' health.