Toitu Musuem

Inside the museum, while wandering past the timeless faces of Dunedin’s past, I discovered the fascinating story of one Mr John Hyde Harris. Born in Deddington, England, into an aristocratic family, John Harris seemed to have always had high ambitions—after all, he could trace his lineage back to the first Earl of Clarendon. So, it’s hardly surprising that he trained in law before emigrating to Otago, where he arrived in Port Chalmers in 1850.

Within a few years, he had married the daughter of one of Dunedin’s founding fathers, Captain William Cargill, and went on to hold numerous high-profile public roles. He served on the Dunedin Town Board, was elected Otago Superintendent, became captain of the Otago Light Horse Volunteers, presided over the 1865 Dunedin Exhibition, and was a University of Otago councillor. If that wasn’t enough to fulfill his illustrious pedigree, he was also considered one of Dunedin’s merchant elite and invested heavily in land.

However, it all fell apart for the distinguished Mr. Harris when he attempted to develop a township called Clarendon at the head of Lake Waihola. The sections didn’t sell, and he lost £28,000, ultimately declaring bankruptcy and being imprisoned for debt in 1885. He died a year later, his estate was worth just a mere £100.