SMITH, JAMES CHAPMAN (1827-1903) was born at Carnoustie, Forfarshire. His father died when he was an infant; his mother remarried and young Smith received the sound education of the parish school. He seems to have served his time in the bakery trade, for when the family sailed for New Zealand in 1842 in the ship New Zealand he was entered as a baker. Reaching Nelson in Nov, Smith remained there for six years earning a living by his hands and getting experience.

In 1848 he decided to throw in his lot with James Allan (q.v.), who had come in the same ship and was settling in Otago. Taking his passage in the schooner Emily, 12 tons, Smith had in the hold £120 worth of goods-boots, flour, onions, bricks and lime. Bad weather forced the schooner to shelter for three weeks in Akaroa, and it did not reach Dunedin until the end of May. Allan and Smith entered into partnership, and by Oct had their bakehouse working. Three months later the store was opened on the same site (Bullen's corner). Most of the timber was sawn at Port Chalmers and Anderson's Bay, carried on the shoulders to the beach, and rafted to the town. Later they obtained a whaleboat and they constructed a sawpit on the beach, where they earned a good sum by cutting logs for other settlers. They were rafting logs when the Blundell arrived. The partners by Dec 1849 were doing well, and Smith went to Nelson to buy supplies. While in Port Nicholson, he found the schooner Perseverance from Hobart, with 70 tons of flour and other goods. He purchased the whole of this flour and 30 tons out of another ship to be landed at Port Chalmers. The settlement was almost out of flour, and the bakery prospered. Smith married (1850) Margaret, sister of Edward Martin (Tokomairiro) and of the Hon John Martin (q.v.). A little later he chartered the schooner Otago, 70 tons, to collect supplies of produce at the southern ports. In 1851 the partners bought from John Jones 500 lambs at 10s per head, and sent them to Hopehill, East Taieri, where Smith took charge, Allan keeping on the store. Smith broke in bullocks, cleared and ploughed and sowed wheat, but before the harvest the partnership was dissolved. Allan took over the farm and Smith moved to the new district of Tokomairiro, where he bought the Springfield property (near the old town of Fairfax). There he harvested the first crop of wheat grown on the plain, threshed it with the flail, and sold it at 18s per bushel delivered at the head of Waihola lake. There was no road through the plain and Smith co-operated with other settlers to form a track from Tokomairiro to the lake which could be traversed by bullock drays. He was henceforth constantly carting to and from Clutha, and about 1856 (in company with Allan) he went to Riverton and drove back 30 head of cattle purchased from Captain Howell. There were no settlers between Popotunoa and the Oreti river.

As Fairfax showed signs of being superseded by a town in the middle of the plain, Smith in 1854 bought 50 acres and later another 175 acres near the new site. In 1856 or 1857, in partnership again with Allan, he took up a run between Milton and Evans Flat which included what was afterwards known as Gabriel's Gully. In 1857 they bought 1,500 acres and erected a woolshed, to which they drove their supplies from Waihola lake. About 1859 Allan sold out to Smith's brother-in-law, John Martin, and Smith and Martin worked in partnership until the outbreak of the diggings in 1861 compelled them to move their stock to an adjoining run, their own property having been declared a hundred. Martin sold his sheep to Smith, who acquired a run of 33,000 acres near Greenfield, much of which he soon made freehold. Meanwhile, the roads being crowded with diggers, Smith returned to Milton and to storekeeping, incidentally acting as banker for the convenience of settlers. It was a profitable interlude.

As a public man he took part in the affairs of the district, and was for a year (1860-61) member of the Provincial Council for Tokomairiro. In 1867 he left Milton and devoted himself to improving the Greenfield estate, which became one of the finest in Otago. In clearing it of wild cattle, he had to go to a great expense felling timber to construct a long lead to round them up. For many years he was a member of the local road board and of the Clutha river trust, and he also served on the Bruce county council. As an employer of labour he was exemplary and considerate. About 1900 Smith retired from the active management of his estate to live in Dunedin. He died on 18 Nov 1903.

Cycl. N.Z., iv (p); Parltry Record; John Wilson; McIndoe; J. A. Thomson; Hocken; Otago Daily Times, 19 Nov 1903 (p); Evening Star, 23 Mar 1898.

Reference: Volume 2, page 158

🌳 Further sources