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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Canterbury Provincial District]

Old Colonist — Mr. John Johnston McClelland,

Old Colonist.

Mr. John Johnston McClelland, the pioneer settler of Weedons, is an Irishman by birth and ancestry. He was born in 1830, near the city of Armagh, where he inherited considerable property. As a young man Mr. McClelland joined the Irish militia, and he afterwards entered the service of the Imperial army, and was stationed at Malta for about two years. On returning to Ireland, he took up his residence in Dublin, where he remained until 1862, when he came to New Zealand, in the ship “Kinnaird,” and landed at Auckland. Mr. McClelland remained in Auckland a few months, and then visited, in turn, Wellington, Nelson, Picton and Canterbury. Being satisfied with the prospects of Canterbury, he took up between 500 and 600 acres of Government land at Weedons, and a sheep run of 1000 acres. Mr. McClelland built the two first dwellinghouses in the district. He resided on his property for three years, and then let it for ten years, and went to Kaiapoi, where he remained three years and then lived in Christchurch until the expiration of his tenant's lease. He then returned to Weedons, and worked his property for three or four years, but again let it, and since then he has lived in retirement in Christchurch. Mr. McClelland was a member of the first Courtenay Road Board, and, at Weedons, he served on the committee of the Presbyterian church. He presented the Education Board with the land on which the Weedons public school is built.

First Dwelling-house in the Weedons District. Built in 1863 by Mr. J. J. McClelland.

First Dwelling-house in the Weedons District. Built in 1863 by Mr. J. J. McClelland.