McCaw, John Harris, 1835-1915 (Person)

John Harris McCaw was born in Virginia in 1835. In the 1850s he took consignments of goods from America to sell on the goldfields of Ballarat in Victoria. He joined the First Waikato Regiment in Australia in 1864 and took part in the battle of Te Ranga.

He settled in Tauranga as a clerk to the North Township Highway Board. After the abolition of the Highway Board he was appointed county clerk, becoming town clerk when the Borough of Tauranga was constituted in 1882, serving until 1911.

November 1913 he was residing at Allotment 337, Section 2, Town of Tauranga, containing 1 rood, fronting Seventh Avenue, plan 8572 (Hall, 1913).

John died at his residence on Cameron Road, 18 January 1915 , aged 80, and is buried at Tauranga Anglican Cemetery.

Jinty Rorke drafted an entry for him in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography 1990-2000 (see Ams 284).