James Campbell (1830–1904) was a Scottish merchant of timber and other building products based in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia. He founded the hardware firm

James Campbell and Sons James Campbell and Sons was a family business which manufactured and sold building materials in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. As timbergetters and sawmillers, they pioneered new areas in Queensland. It was established by James Campbell and one ...

Early life

James Campbell was born on 6 March 1830 at

Auchterarder Auchterarder (; , meaning Upper Highland) is a town north of the Ochil Hills in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, and home to the Gleneagles Hotel. The High Street of Auchterarder gave the town its popular name of "The Lang Toun" or Long Town. The ...

Perthshire Perthshire (Scottish English, locally: ; ), officially the County of Perth, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore, Angus and Perth & Kinross, Strathmore ...

, Scotland. His parents had hoped he would become a

Church of Scotland minister A Church of Scotland congregation is led by its minister and elders. Both of these terms are also used in other Christian denominations: see Minister (Christianity) and Elder (Christianity). This article discusses the specific understanding of ...

, but he apprenticed himself at an early age to a

plasterer A plasterer is a tradesman who works with plaster, such as forming a layer of plaster on an interior wall or plaster decorative moldings on ceilings or walls. The process of creating plasterwork, called plastering, has been used in buildin ...

and worked at that trade for some years. Having decided to emigrate, he was influenced by

John Dunmore Lang John Dunmore Lang (25 August 1799 – 8 August 1878) was a Scottish-born Australian Presbyterian minister, writer, historian, politician and activist. He was the first prominent advocate of an independent Australian nation and of Australian rep ...

to travel to Queensland. He married Mary Isabella Mitchell at

Callander Callander (; ) is a small town in the council area of Stirling (district), Stirling in Scotland, situated on the River Teith. The town is located in the historic county of Perthshire and is a popular tourist stop to and from the Highlands. De ...

, Perthshire, in February 1853 and they arrived in

Moreton Bay Moreton Bay is a bay located on the eastern coast of Australia from central Brisbane, Queensland. It is one of Queensland's most important coastal resources. The waters of Moreton Bay are a popular destination for recreational anglers and are ...

on 23 June 1853 on the ''John Fielden''.

Business

In Brisbane, Campbell established a business in George Street initially selling building materials imported from Sydney. Although that first venture failed, he started a new business City Lime, Cement and Plaster Stores on the corner of

Creek A creek in North America and elsewhere, such as Australia, is a stream that is usually smaller than a river. In the British Isles it is a small tidal inlet. Creek may also refer to: * Creek people, a former name of Muscogee, Native Americans * C ...

and

Charlotte Charlotte most commonly refers to: *Charlotte (given name), a feminine form of the given name Charles ** Princess Charlotte (disambiguation) ** Queen Charlotte (disambiguation) *Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, a city * Charlotte (cake) ...

Streets. Eventually he was providing many of the materials needed for constructing buildings, including timber, bricks, cement and pottery which were made locally, along with imported items. From the early 1860s, Campbell was operating lime kilns at

Breakfast Creek The Breakfast Creek ( Aboriginal: ''Yawagara '') is a small urban stream that is a tributary of the Brisbane River, located in suburban Brisbane in the South East region of Queensland, Australia. Course and features Rising as the Enoggera Cre ...

and Lytton using shells and coral collected from Moreton Bay. Around 1880, he established the

Langshaw Marble Lime Works Langshaw Marble Lime Works is a heritage-listed remains of a former lime kiln at 12 Julius Street, New Farm, Queensland, New Farm, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was built from to . It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register ...

New Farm New Farm is an inner northern riverside suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , New Farm had a population of 12,197 people. Geography The suburb is located 2 kilometres east of the Brisbane CBD on a large bend of the ...

. James Campbell had a sawmill at Creek Street in Brisbane. Logs were cut in the

Blackall Range The Blackall Range is a mountain range in South East Queensland, Australia. The first European explorer in the area was Ludwig Leichhardt. It was named after Samuel Blackall, the second Governor of Queensland. The Blackall Range dominates the ...

and upper

Caboolture River The Caboolture River is a small river in South East Queensland, Australia. Location and features Formed by runoff from the D'Aguilar Range, the Caboolture River rises below near and flows generally east, joined by two minor tributaries and f ...

and hauled to Mellum Creek from where they were rafted down the

Pumicestone Passage Pumicestone Channel, also known as the Pumicestone Passage, is a narrow, mesotidal waterway around 45 kilometres in length, between Bribie Island and the mainland in Queensland, Australia. The northern extent of the passage is at Caloundra ...

to the Creek Street sawmill. In 1881, James Campbell decided to establish a sawmill on the Coochin Creek near the confluence with Mellum Creek, from where the sawn timber was transported to Brisbane, initially via sailing

cutter Cutter may refer to: Tools * Bolt cutter * Box cutter * Cigar cutter * Cookie cutter * Cutter (hydraulic rescue tool) * Glass cutter * Meat cutter * Milling cutter * Paper cutter * Pizza cutter * Side cutter People * Cutter (surname) * Cutt ...

and from 1883 by paddlesteamer. The township of Campbellville () of around 100 people developed around the sawmill. There was a wharf with cranes and a provisional school and cemetery. Campbellville lasted until 1890 when the mill closed down. By that time, the North Coast railway line had made it easier to transport logs and timber by rail than by ship. Eventually Campbell owned sawmills at a number of locations in South-East Queensland and had a number of ships to carry the timber to his wharf and warehouse at Creek Street. Campbell purchased a white sandstone quarry at

Albion Albion is an alternative name for Great Britain. The oldest attestation of the toponym comes from the Greek language. It is sometimes used poetically and generally to refer to the island, but is less common than "Britain" today. The name for Scot ...

, Brisbane from

John Petrie John Petrie (15 January 1822 – 8 December 1892) was a Scottish-born Australian politician, architect, stonemason and building contractor in Brisbane who became the city's first Mayor. Private life John Petrie was born 15 January 1822Too ...

and built a brick and pottery works immediately north of Crosby Park.

Politics

Campbell served as an alderman on the

Brisbane Town Council The Town of Brisbane was a local government area of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia from 1859 to 1903. It was later elevated to city status and was the City of Brisbane from 1903 until it was amalagamated into the City of Greater Brisbane ...

and also as a council member of the Ithaca Shire. Although he did not serve in the

Queensland Parliament The Parliament of Queensland is the unicameral legislative body of the Australian state of Queensland. As provided under the Constitution of Queensland, the Parliament consists of the King, represented by the Governor of Queensland, and the ...

, he took a strong interest in politics and was one of those who persuaded

Charles Lilley Sir Charles Lilley (27 August 1827 – 20 August 1897) was a Premier of Queensland, Premier and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Queensland. He had a significant influence on the form and spirit of state education in colonial Queensland whi ...

to contest the seat of Fortitude Valley. His son

John Dunmore Campbell John Dunmore Campbell (19 April 1854 – 19 June 1909) was a member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly. Biography Campbell was born in Brisbane, Queensland, the son of James Campbell, a timber merchant, and his wife Mary Isabella (née ...

served in the

Queensland Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembly h ...

as the member for

Moreton Moreton may refer to: People Given name * Moreton John Wheatley (1837–1916), British Army officer and Bailiff of the Royal Parks Surname * Alice Bertha Moreton (1901–1977), English sculptor, draughtsman and artist * Andrew Moreton, a ps ...

Family

All of his five sons (John Dunmore, James Mitchell, Henry Edwin, George Peter and Charles William) became members of the business which was renamed

in 1882. Campbell was also well-connected through his daughters' marriages: Isabella Annie to William Aplin (Member of the

Queensland Legislative Council Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, ...

), Jessie Banister to

Robert Philp Sir Robert Philp, (28 December 1851 – 17 June 1922) was a Queensland businessman and politician who was Premier of Queensland from December 1899 to September 1903 and again from November 1907 to February 1908. Early life Philp was born in G ...

(

Premier of Queensland The premier of Queensland is the head of government in the Australian state of Queensland. By convention the premier is the leader of the party with a parliamentary majority in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland. The premier is appointed ...

), and Helen Morrison to James Forsyth (Member of the

for

Carpentaria ''Carpentaria acuminata'' (carpentaria palm), the sole species in the genus ''Carpentaria'', is a palm native to tropical coastal regions in the north of Northern Territory, Australia. It is a slender palm, growing to tall in the garden situ ...

and Murrumba).

Later life

Campbell died on 11 April 1904 at his home ''Camona'' in Kelvin Grove, Brisbane aged 74 years. He died four or five months after failing to recover from an attack of influenza. He was buried at

Toowong Cemetery Toowong Cemetery is a heritage-listed cemetery on the corner of Frederick Street and Mt Coot-tha Road, Toowong, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was established in 1866 and formally opened in 1875. It is Queensland, Queensland's lar ...

on 12 April 1904. He had requested that there be no religious service. However, his employees decided to congregate at the Normanby Fiveways from where they joined with the funeral party to the cemetery, where his friend Samuel Wood Brooks, a journalist, delivered a eulogy at the graveside. His wife Isabella died on 24 February 1918 and was buried with him on 25 February 1918.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell, James (Australian timber merchant) Businesspeople from Queensland Colony of Queensland people 1830 births 1904 deaths Queensland local councillors 19th-century Australian politicians People from Perth and Kinross Scottish emigrants to colonial Australia Australian businesspeople in timber 19th-century Australian businesspeople