Biography

John Carroll (1836-1903) was the first Catholic Mayor of Dunedin. He lived after 1892 as a ‘gentleman’ on a property in Walker Street, one of Dunedin’s most colourful streets which later became Carroll Street, renamed after him.

He was born in County Tipperary on 11 June 1886 to Thomas Carroll, a contractor and Bridget (ne’e Cummings) and was trained as a stonemason. After heading to the Victorian goldrush in Australia, he moved to Otago when gold was discovered at Gabriel’s Gully. After working as a stonemason in Dunedin for about a year he moved to the gold diggings and had some success on the Shotover River.. In 1863 he married Lily Isabel (ne’e Nelson} and returned to Dunedin to build the Hiberian Hotel in 1864 and run this until 1876 when he took over the European Hotel.

In 1869 he was elected to the Dunedin City Council and worked mainly for the Council for the rest of his life. He served as a member of the Works and Reserves Committee and was chairman of the Gas Committee before being elected Mayor in 1890. The satirical columnist ‘Civic’ wrote, ‘What with his inspiring presence, a stately walk, and that inherent taste for dignity which marks every Irishman in office… somehow Mr Carroll looked a mayor. And as he seldom lapsed into a public speech, a capital mayor he made.’

A grandson, Redmond Moreau Carroll(1915-1995) opened Carroll’s Furnishings in Princess Street, running it for almost thirty years before it was sold. In later years he contributed memories to a study of Carroll Street, where he had grown up.

From Southern People: T J Carroll (abridged)