John William Buckle

John William Buckle

John William Buckle (1775-20 February 1846),[1] was a businessman, merchant and solicitor of Mark Lane, London.[2] He was a partner in the ship-owning merchant firm of Buckle, Buckle,[3] (sometimes abbreviated to Buckles) Bagster and Buchanan, whose partners were his brother, Thomas Henry Buckle, Henry Bagster and Walter Buchanan. John William Buckle was chairman of the Shipowners’ Society from 1814 to 1824[4] and of the Committee for the Relief of Distressed Seamen from 1818.[5] He was a member of the short-lived London chamber of commerce in 1823 and 1824, as a wine and brandy merchant, insurance broker and ship manager.[6]

Buckles, Bagster and Buchanan's ships included the Admiral Gambier, Baring, Barossa, Batavia,[7] General Graham and Mangles. They carried convicts, wool and general cargoes and their Australian contacts included, the Colonial Surgeon James Bowman, and the Sydney merchant, Thomas Iceley.[4]

The brothers were the sons of William Buckle, then at Elbow Lane, Ratcliffe, London, but already a wine merchant. The 1784 London Directories showed William Buckle had moved to 64 Queens Street, Cheapside. Henry & Wm Bagster were then sugar refiners in Princes Street, Ratcliffe. They came together as Buckles & Bagster, wine and spirit traders, about 1811. In 1807 John William Buckle gained the Freedom of the City of London as a member of the Company of Skinners.[4] By 1825 he was a director of the Australian Agricultural Company[8] and remained so until his death. He was a director of Indemnity Mutual Marine Insurance[4] (now part of Aviva)[9] and of the Union Bank of Australia from 1837,[4] until his death.[10] In 1825 he became solicitor for the New Zealand Company[3] and remained on its board until 1844.[11]

In 1798 Buckle married Sarah Boyd. They lived at Hither Green.[4]

Many places in Wellington[12] and elsewhere were given names associated with the New Zealand Company.[13] One of them is Buckle St, in Mount Cook, Wellington, named after John William Buckle. It now forms part of State Highway 1, between Taranaki Street and Basin Reserve.[14]

  1. ^ "Died". Morning Herald. 21 February 1846.
  2. ^ "New Zealand Company Records" (PDF). Pandora Research. 6 July 2022.
  3. ^ a b Hilda McDonnell. "The Rosanna Settlers". Wellington City Libraries. Retrieved 2022-12-16.
  4. ^ a b c d e f PEMBERTON, Penelope Anne (July 1991). "THE LONDON CONNECTION: THE FORMATION AND EARLY YEARS OF THE AUSTRALIAN AGRICULTURAL COMPANY" (PDF).
  5. ^ Cook, G C (2007). "Committee for the Relief of Distressed Seamen". Postgraduate Medical Journal. 83 (975): 54–58. doi:10.1136/pgmj.2006.054296. ISSN 0032-5473. PMC 2599958. PMID 17267679.
  6. ^ "London chamber of commerce, Members 1823-4" (PDF).
  7. ^ "John William Buckle". threedecks.org. Retrieved 2022-12-17.
  8. ^ "AUSTRALIAN AGRICULTURAL COMPANY". Australian. 1825-05-12. Retrieved 2022-12-17.
  9. ^ "Legacy companies". www.aviva.com. 2021-07-15. Retrieved 2022-12-17.
  10. ^ "UNION BANK OF AUSTRALIA". Launceston Examiner. 1846-11-25. Retrieved 2022-12-17.
  11. ^ "Thirteenth Report of the Directors of the New Zealand Company. New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 14 December 1844. Retrieved 2022-12-17.
  12. ^ "WELLINGTON CITY STREET NAMES. NEW ZEALAND MAIL". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 5 Jul 1905. Retrieved 2022-12-17.
  13. ^ "THE BULLER RIVER. EVENING POST". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 10 Jul 1923. Retrieved 2022-12-17.
  14. ^ CANN, GED (2014-03-21). "Jail, riots and a war memorial". Stuff. Retrieved 2022-12-17.