CAMPBELL, JAMES PALMER (1855-1926) was born in Helensburgh, Scotland, and educated by his father and at the Academy there, afterwards qualifying as an accountant. He arrived in Nelson in 1868 and was in business in Auckland (1869) and farming in Waikato and Thames (1870). At Cambridge he was a contractor for supplies to Armed Constabulary parties making roads and the railway from Mercer. In 1875, with his brother Hugh, he took up land at Waihou. He was secretary to the Patetere Land and Settlement Co. and later joined Whitaker and Russell in Cambridge. He was articled to F. A. Whitaker, admitted to the bar (1883) and became a partner. In 1885 he joined Russell in Auckland, and in 1893 he opened a branch of the firm at Wellington, where he became president of the Law Society. About 1902 he returned to Auckland, retiring from practice in 1920.

Campbell contested the Waikato seat against J. B. Whyte (1879). He was called to the Legislative Council in 1921 and died on 27 Feb 1926. Campbell served in the militia on patrol duty in his early days, and was a sergeant in the Cambridge Volunteer Cavalry (1873). He was chairman of the Cambridge town board and Piako county council, and later president of the Auckland Reform League and Club. He married a daughter of R. C. Barstow (q.v.).

N.Z.P.D., 18 Jun 1926; Who's Who N.Z., 1924; N.Z. Herald, 1 Mar 1926

Portrait: Parliament House.

Reference: Volume 1, page 84

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