James Gunson
Sir James Henry Gunson was a New Zealand businessman and Mayor of Auckland City from 1915 to 1925. He was knighted in 1924.
W Gunson & Co
Born and educated in Auckland, in his mid-twenties he took over W Gunson & Co, the seed-grain and produce business his father founded in 1881. William Gunson died in 1902. In October 1916, now mayor of Auckland, James sold his father's stock and station agency to Wright Stephenson.Public life
James Gunson stood for Parliament several times without success;.Auckland
Mayor from 1915 to 1925 he undertook the building of the war memorials Auckland Museum and Cenotaph, the Wintergardens in Auckland Domain and the construction of Tamaki Drive. In later public life, he was responsible for the monument on One Tree Hill and the treeplanting of Cornwall Park fulfilling Sir John Logan Campbell's vision. Gunson was Chairman of the Auckland Harbour Board 1911–15, and was a member of the Government Railways Board 1931–35.The Auckland War Memorial Museum's architects commissioned Kohn's Jewellers of Queen Street to create a finely detailed silver model of the museum. This was presented to Gunson upon completion of the museum, in recognition of his extensive work in leading the project. After the death of Sir James, the model was presented to the museum by his son Wallace Gunson, where it remains on display to this day.
Several parts of the city bear his name or were his gift. His farming property to the South of Auckland in Manukau, called Totara Park, was later given to the city of Auckland. His main town residence, in St Andrew's Road, Epsom, became the Tongan royal residence, which it remains. A further Auckland property was by the same architect, Draffin, that Gunson had chosen to design Auckland Museum. Gunson Street, in Freemans Bay, Auckland, is named after him.