John Kerr was born on 24 October 1829 in Newbattle, Midlothian, SCT.
1,2 He and
Elizabeth Lindsay Reay were married on 14 February 1855 in Nelson, NZ.
2 He died on 3 May 1898, at age 68, in Lake Rotoiti, Nelson, NZ, aged 68 yrs, drowned in lake Rotoiti.
1 Class: steerage
PPA Press, Volume LV, Issue 10032, 10 May 1898, Page 5
THE LATE MR JOHN KERR.
The late Mr John Kerr, ex M.H.R., who was drowned in Lake Rotoiti last week, was an early arrival in the colony. According to the " Kelson Colonist," Mr Kerr played many parts in the very early days. He is said to have held the first plough that was
used in the Nelson settlement, and to have turned up the soil near the junction of Trafalgar and Hardy streets. After that he left his home and served on the Government brig. Still later he engaged in whaling at Port Underwood and the mouth of Tory Channel, (and he then became acquainted with Maori life, and met with experiences the recording of which could not but prove of intereet. Subsequently he settled down to a more staid life, opened a store, and made money, married. He became a partner in the proprietorship of the Tarradale Run, and withstood the hardships of arctic winters amongst the mountains, Dut he also secured the Lake Run, in the vicinity of Lake Rotoiti, whick he gradually improved till it brought him a considerable profit. He was a man of natural abilities, and a mechanical genius, able to manage a steam sawmill or a steaml launch with equal facility. John Kerr had person sources.
3 He immigrated to ENG to NZ on the Fifeshire arriving NZ 1/2/1842 on 26 September 1841.
4 He was a storekeeper, Nelson in 1860.
2 He was a farmer and politician, Waimea West, Nelson, NZ in 1862.
2