Arthur John Burns

Arthur John Burns (22 October, 1830 - 15 September, 1901) was a promentant early settler of Otago, New Zealand, a member of the Otago Provincial Council, a member of the New Zealand House of Representatives and founder of the Mosgiel Woollen Company, Dunedin.

Burns was the only son and eldest child of Thomas Burns and Clementina Grant and the great-nephew of the poet Robert Burns. He came to Otago with his father in the "Philip Laing" arriving in Port Chalmers on 15 April 1848.

He played a prominent part in provincial affairs and was a member of the Provincial Council from 1855 to 1859 and again from 1863 to 1870. He was also member of the House of Representatives on three occasions and vigorously opposed the abolition of the provinces.

On 6 April 1861 he married Sarah Scott Dickson, with whom he had 11 children.

He founded the Mosgiel Woollen Company in 1871 in an area on the western outskirts of Dunedin. Burns named the town Mosgiel after his great-uncle Robert Burns's Mossgiel farm in Ayrshire, Scotland. [ [http://www.rampantscotland.com/placenames/placename_dunedin.htm Scottish Place Names - Dunedin, New Zealand] ] . He imported skilled labour and specialised equipment from Great Britain to begin large scale clothmaking in 1873. [ [http://www.buykiwimade.govt.nz/wehavegotitmade/Timeline.aspx Manufacturing in New Zealand Timeline] ] This mill formed the backbone of the Mosgiel economy for decades.

Burns died on 15 September 1901 and is memorialised in the names of two schools - Arthur Burns School in Mosgiel and the Arthur Burns Early Learning Centre.

References

* [http://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/exhibitions/thescots/objectDetails.aspx?irn=326036 Ram's Head snuff mull from the Otago Settlers Museum]

External Links

* [http://www.dunedinlibraries.co.nz/home/?page=exhibit&item=artjohntoomer "Arthur Burns' Mosgiel Woollen Mills - a view from Rentons Road circa 1875" by John Toomer, 2005]