Biography

William Sherriff (c.1802 – 1882)

William was born c.1802 in Haddington, Scotland, the son of George Sherriff and Margaret Burnett. Before coming to Otago William held a responsible position in the Sudberry Distillery in his native county Haddington Scotland. He married Isabella Middlemiss in Edinburgh in 1831.

They came to New Zealand from Scotland in 1850 on the ship Mariner with their five children. He plied his trade as a cooper on a vacant piece of ground on the foreshore,
where he continued to work until the gold rush caused this site to be taken possession of, and used for other purposes. The site would later be occupied by the Colonial Bank.

He chose a section in Halfway Bush for his residence. William was known amongst the earliest settlers as “our cooper”. Up until a few weeks before his death the old man continued to reside on his section, and made many a weary tramp morning and night up and down the hill to Halfway Bush.

William Sherriff died on 15th November 1882, some four years after his wife, and is interred with her and other family members here in the Northern Cemetery.

Source: Otago Witness 25th November 1882