Other formats

    TEI XML file   ePub eBook file  

Connect

    mail icontwitter iconBlogspot iconrss icon

The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Auckland Provincial District]

Mr. William John Conelly

Mr. William John Conelly, Old Colonist, of “Summerhill,” Three Kings, Auckland, and brother to Mr. Stewart Conelly, the well-known wholesale and snipping merchant of Manchester, was born at Bally-donnelly, County Antrim, Ireland, in 1844. In his early youth he was engaged in farming, and came to Auckland by the ship “Romulus” in 1862. For some time after his arrival he was contracting and bushfelling about the Waitakerei district, but afterwards entered the employment of Mr. Sinclair, chief surveyor, at Remuera. Seeing the great future in store for farming around Auckland, Mr. Conelly leased a large tract of land in Remuera, and he successfully farmed it for over four years and a half. After the opening of the Thames goldfields Mr. Conelly went there, and established a general store, which he carried on for over nine years with the greatest success. After buying his fine estate at Three Kings, with its valuable gravel pits, he carried on dairying, and considerably improved his property, which is now one of the most charming homes around Auckland. Mr. Conelly also owns two other valuable estates, one of 2500 acres at Cambridge, and another at Maungaturoto. He is very energetic in looking after the welfare of his district, and has been for twenty-four years a member of the Mount Roskill Road Board, and has several times been asked to take the position of chairman. Mr. Conelly has been a member of the Three Kings school committee since its creation, and in conjunction with the late Mr. Greenwood, obtained the grant required for the establishment of the school. He is also an elder of the Onehunga Presbyterian Church, and has been one of the committee of management for a number of years. During the native troubles Mr. Conelly was a member of the Remuera Volunteers, under Captain David Graham. Mr. Conelly married Miss Jackson, of County Kildare, and they have a family of five sons and five daughters. The sons are engaged in responsible positions, and the daughters are all married.