John Beanland
| John Beanland | |
|---|---|
John Beanland wearing mayoral chains
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| 36th Mayor of Christchurch | |
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In office 16 March 1936 – 18 May 1938 |
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| Preceded by | Dan Sullivan |
| Succeeded by | Robert Macfarlane |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
3 November 1866 Ballarat, Victoria, Australia |
| Died | 7 December 1943 (aged 77) St Albans, Christchurch, New Zealand |
| Resting place | Bromley Cemetery |
| Nationality | New Zealand |
John Walton Beanland (3 November 1866 – 7 December 1943) was a building contractor and Mayor of Christchurch from 1936 to 1938.
Beanland was born in Durham Lead near Ballarat, Victoria in 1866. His parents were John Griffith Beanland (1844–1875) and Elizabeth Pickering (1845–1923). The Beanlands were a prominent family in Williamstown near Melbourne, where John Walton lived for about 20 years. He was the eldest of six children. On 18 October 1889, he married Mary Ann Hick and they had two sons: Arnold White Beanland (born 1889) and Walton Howard Beanland (born 1890). His three brothers all married sisters of his wife.
Beanland was a master builder, and the family came to Christchurch during a time of depression in Victoria in the early 1890s. His name first appeared in the Christchurch newspaper The Star in 1899, when he was elected onto the committee of the model yacht club. His brother, William Henry Beanland (1874–1960), was also a building contractor in Christchurch. Beanland won the contract to build the first stage of the Nurses' Hostel for £54,990. This allowed for the first three storeys of the building on Riccarton Avenue next to Christchurch Hospital, and construction started in 1931. Beanland was a trustee on the Board of Trustees of the Riccarton Bush from 1919 to 1921.
In April 1909, Beanland was elected onto the St Albans School Committee and in 1913, he was elected chairman. He became the president of the St Albans Library Committee. In 1911, Beanland travelled to England to attend the coronation of George V, followed by several months of travel for pleasure.
Beanland was narrowly defeated in January 1912 when he stood for the St Albans seat of the Drainage Board.
He was first elected to Christchurch City Council in 1914 in the St Albans ward for the conservative-leaning Citizens' Association. For several years, he chaired the works committee of Christchurch City Council. He first became deputy mayor after the 1919 mayoral election, and was the second person to hold that post. At the same election, Henry Thacker was first elected as mayor. The next mayoral election was held on Wednesday, 27 April 1921, and the two candidates were Thacker and Beanland. Thacker received 7,580 votes, a majority of 292 votes over the 7,288 votes for Beanland. Beanland had stood for the mayoralty only, and this ended his first period on Christchurch City Council.
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