JAMESJANEJOHNTHOMASADAM
FAIRRIEFAIRRIEFAIRRIEFAIRRIEFAIRRIE
b. 22 Sep 1786b.6Jun,1789 b.1790b. 2 July,1795b.2 Mar,1798
d. 1864d.10 Sep,1858d.1879
m.8 Feb,1821,Edinburghm.26 Jun,1832 GreenockJOHN DENNISTON m. ELIZABETH McKIRDY
Helen McCormickJane Martinb.1741, d. 1816?b.1741, d.1804
d.1865d.1847Shipmaster
9 chnBrought up Thomas Denniston.
These entries from the
Old or West Parish Register, Greenock JEAN FAIRRIEm 29 June, 1807Greenock JOHN DENNISTON
b.2 May,1793b. 11 Sept1776,
d 27 Apr, 1833
He was Provost in 1834 and sugar merchant
and Greenock Councillor, being the 8th President
He was also a magistrate and one of the first directors
of the Chamber of Commerce 1813.
Greenock Chamber of Commerce
JOHNJANETJAMESARCHIBALD HUGHELIZABETHJEAN
DENNISTONDENNISTONDENNISTONDENNISTON DENNISTONDENNISTONDENNISTON
c.1 July,1808c. 20 August,1810c.30 May, 1812c.14 April 1814 b.5 December,1815c. 30 Nov 1817c.31 Oct, 1819
m.15 July,1834m.7 Sept 1842 d.24 Mar,1838 Married a FreeMarried a Free
William CunninghamJanet FullartonChurch MinisterChurch Minister
Principal of Free Church,9 children
Edinburgh.
Continued from page 27
HELEN FRENCH WALKERm 15 October, 1844THOMAS DENNISTON
d. 17th February,1855Glasgowb.28 March,1821 Greenock
c.29 April,1821
d. 14 Sep, 1897 Fendalton
Thomas lived at Greenock and Langbank
and was a sugar merchant.
He emigrated to New Zealand with his
three eldest sons on the “Nelson” in 1862.
He returned to Scotland in 1867 and
brought out the rest of the family, except Helen.
Old or WestChurch,Greenock
From the New Zealand Dictionary of Biography.
Denniston, Thomas 1821 - 1897Farmer, newspaper editor
Thomas Denniston was born at Greenock, Renfrewshire, Scotland, on 28 March 1821, the son of John Denniston, a merchant, and his wife, Jean Fairrie. Thomas's parents died when he was young, and he was brought up by an uncle, Thomas Fairrie. Educated at Greenock and the University of Glasgow, Denniston did not take a degree but travelled extensively in Europe before going into business as a sugar merchant. On 15 October 1844 he married Helen French Walker at Glasgow. Five sons and two daughters were born before Helen Denniston died 10 days after the birth of the youngest son in 1855.
Denniston gave up business on account of ill health in 1862, and accompanied by his three elder sons emigrated to Dunedin, New Zealand, on the Nelson ; the ship carried cargo largely supplied by Denniston. The Otago goldrush was then at its height, but Thomas Denniston was not tempted to join it. After a brief stay in Dunedin he moved to Southland where he bought about 500 acres of land at Oteramika, about 15 miles east of Invercargill. He also acquired in partnership with an Edinburgh professional man an interest in the Hillend run near Centre Bush. Circumstances suggest that Denniston may have been investing in land in order to restore flagging business fortunes.
He returned to Scotland at the end of 1864, but in 1867 was back in New Zealand with his two younger children. The interest in the Hillend run was sold and Denniston settled on his farm at Oteramika. Farming seems not to have completely satisfied him, however, and he turned to other pursuits. He was one of the founders of the Mataura paper mill in 1875, and sustained a considerable loss when the company failed. He also had a financial interest in the Southland Times. He was editor temporarily in the mid 1870s, and from October 1879 to May 1885. He then resigned, but continued to contribute to the paper. He upheld the rights of large runholders, and blamed Sir George Grey for creating class feeling in New Zealand. The employment of women horrified him: a working woman, he wrote, 'loses her divinity and becomes only an inferior man'.
Denniston took an active part in all public questions - political, ecclesiastical and social. He stood for the Mataura seat in the House of Representatives in 1871, but was heavily defeated, probably because of his opposition to Julius Vogel's borrowing policy. A prominent Presbyterian, he was deacon of FirstChurch, Invercargill, until his death. He was a member of the Southland Land Board, the Southland Education Board, a school commissioner for the Otago Provincial District and a justice of the peace.
Denniston's health began to fail in 1896 and he died on 14 September 1897 at Fendalton, Christchurch, at the home of his eldest son, John Denniston, a judge of the Supreme Court.
Thomas Denniston 'was a man of warm temperament, of unscrupulous honour, generous…and courteous'. His abilities and inclinations were obviously more suited to literary than commercial pursuits, and his intellectual and cultural interests, and his dedication to community affairs, made him well respected in pioneering Invercargill.
R. J. CUTHILL
JOHN EDWARD (Jack)THOMAS FAIRRIEGEORGE LYONARTHUR JAMES SUSAN HELEN WILLIAM JOHN
DENNISTONDENNISTONDENNISTONDENNISTON ELIZABETH AGNES DENNISTON
b. 20 June,1845, Erskineb.20 June, 1845, Erskineb.August 1846, Glasgow DENNISTON DENNISTON
m.Mary Helen Bathgatem. Eleanor Bissettm. Una Lawford m. Robert F. b. 1 Aug, 1852 b. 7 Feb, 1855
15 November,1877Reynolds 18781882 Cuthbertson Kilmalcolm Kilmalcolm
d.22 July,1919,Fendaltond.13 June 1918,Balclutha Remained in d.1885, New
Knighted 1917Managed Ida Valley StationAgent for Lloyd’sWorked for BNZ, Scotland with Plymouth
Judge of the Supreme Court1875 to1900.`Insurance Co.Auckland her aunt
5 children.6 children.1 child?
See”A New Zealand Judge”
By J.G.Denniston.
THOMAS FAERRIE DENNISTONm.1875MARGARET ISABELLA GIBSON
b.10 August 1858 at Waimea
d.22 Nov, 1919,Balclutha
Bessie, Gibson and Hellen
HELLENBESSIETHOMAS GIBSON (Gibby)
DENNISTONDENNISTONDENNISTON
b.1877b 11 September,1883, IdaValleyb.1892
m. Robert Stewartm JOHN DOUGLAS LANDELSm. Margaret Jane Edgar, daughter of James Edgar of ‘Riverside’,Tapanui
3 sons15 August, 1911d. 16 August, 1988, Blenheim.
d. 5 August, 1969, Dunedin.No issue
Joined the Otago Infantry 1916 and served in Egypt and France. He was
This line continued in the Landelsgassed and consequently did not want children.
Family tree