George Ballantyne
George Ballantyne (1836–1924) was a Scottish-born woollen manufacturer and textile industry executive who played a role in the development of the wool trade in both the Scottish Borders and colonial New Zealand. The third son of Henry Ballantyne (1802–1865), founder of the village of Walkerburn, he was a member of the Ballantyne family, which led one of Scotland's most prominent textile manufacturing houses for nearly two centuries. After working in the family mills at Walkerburn and Innerleithen and serving as a civic figure in the Scottish Borders, Ballantyne emigrated to New Zealand in 1880, where he became a founding manager of the Oamaru Woollen Factory Company in 1881 and later held a senior role at the North New Zealand Woollen Manufacturing Company in Onehunga. He is an early example of the transfer of Scottish woollen-manufacturing expertise to the Australasian textile industry during the late nineteenth century.
George's documented contributions to the Ballantyne business in the Scottish Borders are few. There is evidence that he collaborated with his brothers, James and Henry, to build and equip the Waverley Mill near the station in Innerleithen, but beyond this his role is unclear.[1] George had a more prominent role in the Walkerburn and Innerleithen communities. He was a captain in the Volunteer Corps in Innerleithen in 1868, and he is known to have held the position of chairman for the Gas Light Company in Innerleithen in 1874 and 1879.[2][3][4]
Between 1867 and 1880 George owned and lived at The Kirna in Walkerburn.
George and his family emigrated to New Zealand in 1880, notionally to source wool for Henry Ballantyne's mills. Despite his original mandate, George accepted a position as manager of the newly formed Oamaru Woollen Factory Company in 1881 and there is no record of him engaging with Henry Ballantyne's mills from that time onwards .[5] He went to Britain and selected the plant for the new factory, had the plans for the mill drawn up, and engaged key staff. He was dismissed in May 1884[note 1] for performance reasons and put up for auction 1000 of his shares in the factory in the same month.[6][7][8] George is also known to have held a management role at the North New Zealand Woollen Manufacturing Company in Onehunga, Auckland between 1886 and 1888.[9][10][11]
For some period immediately prior to his death in 1924 George is known to have lived in Malvern, Australia with his second daughter, Mary Kyle (1869-1923) who predeceased him by one year.[12][13] George died at the home of his third daughter Amy Philip (1870–1966) in Epsom, New Zealand.[14] His estate was valued at £120 (£7,500 in 2020).[15]
Notes
- ↑ Source article cites 1883, but this is not corroborated by published board minutes. Also, his replacement took over in May 1884
References
- ↑ Buchan, James Walter (1925). A History of Peeblesshire. Glasgow: Jackson, Wylie and co. p. 219. Search this book on
- ↑ "Journal of Gas Lighting, Water Supply & Sanitary Improvement". 33 (836). Benn Publications Ltd. 20 May 1879. Retrieved 7 June 2025.
- ↑ "Innerleithen (Pg 3, Col 7)". The Southern Reporter. 14 May 1874. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
- ↑ "General Notices" (24335). Edinburgh Evening Courant. 13 May 1868.
- ↑ Roberts, W.H.S. (1890). The History of Oamaru and North Otago, New Zealand, from 1853 to the end of 1889. Oamaru: Andrew Fraser. p. 370. Archived from the original on 25 November 2023. Retrieved 24 September 2019. Unknown parameter
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- ↑ "OAMARU WOOLLEN FACTORY" (7122, p. 2). Otago Daily Times. 11 December 1884. Archived from the original on 25 November 2023. Retrieved 5 March 2021. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Oamaru Woollen Factory (Former)". Heritage New Zealand. New Zealand Government. Archived from the original on 4 November 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2019. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Advertisements, Column 3" (1322). Oamaru Mail. 2 May 1884.
- ↑ "North New Zealand Woollen Manufacturing Company (Limited)" (78). The Auckland Evening Star. 27 March 1886. Archived from the original on 10 August 2019. Retrieved 10 August 2019. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Carlyon, Ric. "Onehunga Woolen Mills". Dispatches. Archived from the original on 3 February 2021. Retrieved 18 December 2020. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "North New Zealand Woollen Company's Factory". XVIII (243). Auckland Star. 17 October 1887. Archived from the original on 25 November 2023. Retrieved 18 December 2020. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Last Will and Testament of Mary Kyle Murphy". Public Record Office Victoria, North Melbourne, Victoria. Wills and Probate Records, 1841-2009 (Wills and Probate Records. VPRS 28 (Probates) and VPRS 7591 (Wills)): Range: 188/447 - 189/243.
- ↑ "Last will and testament, George Ballantyne" (PDF). Wikimedia. Govt.nz (Archives New Zealand). 20 April 1923. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 November 2022. Retrieved 6 March 2021. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Deaths". 55 (160, Page 1). Auckland Star. 8 July 1924. Archived from the original on 25 November 2023. Retrieved 18 December 2020. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "National Records of Scotland". National Probate Index (Calendar of Confirmations and Inventories). 1876-1936: B8.
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