John Plimmer (28 June 1812 – 5 January 1905) was an English settler and entrepreneur in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

who was the self-styled "Father of

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

Early life in England

Plimmer was born at a village called in contemporary accounts "Upton-under-Amon" near Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England on 28 June 1812, youngest but one of 12 children of Isaac Plimmer, builder and timber merchant, and his wife Mary (''nee'' Roden). Identifiably the village is Upton Magna, which lies under Haughmond Hill, where he was baptised on 19 July that year. Educated at a local parish school, he was intended for teaching but preferred to train as a plasterer and master builder. He practised the trades at

Willenhall Willenhall is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, Walsall district, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England, with a population taken at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census of 49,587. It is ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

from after his father moved there until his own emigration and it was at

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

in that area he first married, to Mary Roden who was a probable cousin, in 1833.

Life in New Zealand

He arrived in Wellington from England on the ship ''Gertrude'' in 1841. As an entrepreneur in 1851 he purchased the stranded whaling ship '' Inconstant'' and converted the hull into a warehouse and one of the first piers in Wellington. It became known as "Plimmer's Ark", a centre of business in early Wellington, used as an auction house, customs office and lighthouse. He was a member of the Wellington Provincial Council from 1856 to 1857, the first Wellington Town Board (1863) and was on the Wellington City Council from 1870 to 1871. His first wife Eliza died in 1862, and he married Janet Anderson in 1864. In 1885 Janet Plimmer was the founding secretary for the Wellington branch of the Women's Christian Temperance Union New Zealand. His principal public service was the organisation of the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company between 1880 and 1886. The township (now a suburb) of

Plimmerton The suburb of Plimmerton lies in the northwest part of the city of Porirua in New Zealand, adjacent to some of the city's more congenial beaches. State Highway 59 and the North Island Main Trunk railway line pass just east of the main shoppi ...

, on the Wellington - Manawatu Line built by the company, was named after him.

Legacy

He is buried at

Bolton Street Memorial Park Bolton Street Memorial Park, formerly known as Bolton Street Cemetery, is the oldest cemetery in Wellington, New Zealand. Dating back to 1840, many notable people are buried here. Situated in the suburb of Thorndon, New Zealand, Thorndon, the We ...

, and his grave is part of the memorial trail. There is a statue of him at the bottom of Plimmer Steps off Lambton Quay, Wellington. The McKinnon brothers Don, Ian,

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

and Malcolm are great-great-grandsons of Plimmer. The Plimmer Towers office complex is named after him. In 2009, Plimmer was posthumously inducted into the

New Zealand Business Hall of Fame The New Zealand Business Hall of Fame is a figurative hall of fame dedicated to New Zealanders who have made a significant contribution to the economic and social development of New Zealand. The hall was established in 1994 by the Young Enterpri ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Plimmer, John People from Wellington City 1812 births 1905 deaths Burials at Bolton Street Cemetery