John Bollard

Who was John Bollard?

John Bollard was an independent conservative, then Reform Party, Member of Parliament in New Zealand. He was elected to the Eden electorate in the 1896 general election, and retired in 1914.

Bollard was born in County Wicklow, Ireland, on either 17 December 1839 or 1 January 1840. He spent a short time in the Australian goldfields around 1860–61. He then went from Sydney to Auckland, New Zealand, taking 200 horses on behalf of the military authorities, for the use of militia, war having broken out between Māori and the government a short time before. Soon after arriving in Auckland he met Jane Ganly, who had also immigrated from Ireland. They were married at St John's College on 9 May 1861. They lived at Rosebank Road in Avondale their entire married life.

Bollard farmed for several years, then became a land agent and valuer. He served as a sergeant in the militia during the New Zealand Wars of the 1860s, first at Otahuhu and then at the Avondale blockhouse. He was a member of the Avondale School Committee from 1861 to 1915, and was chairman for all but three of those years. He was chairman of the Avondale Road Board for 28 years, and at one time its engineer.