James Craigie

James Craigie (1851 – 17 August 1935) was Member of Parliament for the electorate in the South Island of New Zealand and a member of the New Zealand Legislative Council. He was also Chairman of the South Canterbury Health Board, Chairman of the Timaru Harbour Board, a Timaru Borough Councillor and Mayor of Timaru.

Early life
Craigie was born in Perthshire, Scotland in 1852.

He came to New Zealand with his parents, James and Agnes Craigie, in 1867, aged 15 years.

Craigie and his family landed in Dunedin, where he remained for several years after completing an apprenticeship as a painter and decorator.

Move to Timaru

Craigie moved to Timaru in 1873 where he started an own glass and house decoration business. He also opened a large home decoration shop in Cains Terrace, Timaru. He subsequently merged his business with a Dunedin firm and it became known as Smith & Craigie. The merged business would ultimately become Smith & Smith, a company which continues to operate throughout New Zealand.

As his business success grew, Craigie purchased a large farm in Kingsdown, about 5 km south of Timaru, where he built a substantial house, Craigielea. Craigielea was subsequently destroyed by fire.

Craigie served on the South Canterbury Health Board for nine years, serving the last several years as Chairman.

He also served as Chairman of the Timaru Harbour Board for four years during which time significant progress was made in the development of the Port of Timaru.

Election to the Timaru Borough Council

Craigie served on the Timaru Borough Council

Mayor of Timaru

Craigie was Mayor of Timaru for ten years from 1902 to 1912.sfn|Scholefield|1940|p=

Source @ Wikipedia