Biography

William Harrop (c.1830-1904)

William Harrop was born in England in about 1830. As a young man he emigrated to Beechworth, Victoria, Australia.

Although he worked as a butcher, William found that carting the rich wash from mining claims to where water was available for washing up was more profitable, sometimes returning as much as £1 per load.

Despite the lack of roads or even tracks, William travelled from Beechworth to Sydney, where he was married. Afterwards he drove, using his own team of horses, with his wife back to Victoria.

When gold was discovered in Otago, William Harrop decided to try for his fortune here. Upon his arrival he made his way to the Wetherstons and Waitahuna districts. On the discovery of gold in the Lakes district he travelled to Invercargill to become a carrier. Prices for cartage from Invercargill to Kingston ranged from £60 up to £120 per ton at the time, and with his energetic and determined work ethic William was very successful, making some very astutely judged trips despite the swampy land and lack of roads.

William returned to Dunedin and met John Hyde Harris, who encouraged him to become a commission agent and manage Harris’s extensive property. William was an active member of the Manchester Unity Order of Oddfellows and also of the Dunedin Bowling Club. Although he insisted that all monetary transactions be completed along strict business lines, he would assist readily in any case of real necessity made known to him.

William Harrop died suddenly at his Albany Street residence on 22nd April 1904. At the time of William’s death, Bishop Nevill, the head of Dunedin’s Anglican community, was hoping to build a new cathedral, and Harrop left the greater part of his estate for this purpose, on condition that nothing was to be paid until the cathedral trustees had raised £20,000 and building work was under way. A memorial to the benefactor was also required; William’s will stated that from the £30,000 bequest, money should be kept aside to pay for a window to be associated with him. The cathedral board purchased a stained glass window depicting the four Evangelists, Saints Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, which had come from a demolished City of London church. It was placed over the altar of the cathedral in a temporary chancel, since demolished, and unveiled in 1921. As part of the preparations for the building of the cathedral, land adjoining the cathedral property and what is now Harrop Street, was also acquired. William Harrop is buried here in the cemetery with his wife.

(Details from the Otago Witness of 27th April 1904 and Gordon Parry’s book, Cathedral in the Octagon.)