Birth

Enlistment Information

Military Service

Embarkation Information

Military Awards

Death

Biographical Notes

John Preston, known as Jack, was born on 10 December 1890 at Longlands Station, near Kyeburn, Central Otago, the elder son of James Henry and Margaret (née Pringle) Preston. In 1883 James Preston took charge of Longlands station at Kyeburn, which had been established and managed by his father, then in 1889 he purchased Haldon Station in the Mackenzie Country. He married Margaret Pringle, who was born at Timaru of Scottish parents, at Timaru in March 1890. They had two sons and two daughters. John started at Palmerston School in April 1903 and transferred to Kyeburn School September 1903. His brother Joseph was admitted at Palmerston School in February 1906. Their father had acquired land at nearby Goodwood. James Henry Preston was to own or have interests in at least five stations. He was at Haldon Station, Burke’s Pass, in 1908. By 1914 John, a runholder, had joined his parents at Haldon, having taken over the ownership at a young age.

John Preston married Florence Olive Young (Flo) at St Mary’s Church, Timaru on 1 June 1916. At the Canterbury Military Service Appeal Board sitting in Timaru on 6 February 1917, John Preston, sheep fanner, at Burke’s Pass, said his brother had enlisted. “Appellant owned a run of 20,000 acres and also managed his father’s two runs of 20,000 and 23,000 acres each. No one could take his place. He employed five men, four of them as rabbiters. He had 16,000 sheep on the place. James H. Preston, father of appellant, said his other son was on a farm in Southland. He (witness) could not manage the farms. He had found it impossible to secure managers. Hugh Lowry, auctioneer, said he knew the runs in question, and he had tried in vain to secure a manager for the Prestons.” The appeal was dismissed but appellant was allowed till the end of March. He had been medically examined at Fairlie on 30 October 1916, when varicocele rendered him unfit for active service. He was examined by the Travelling Medical Board at Christchurch on 20 November 1916. John Preston enlisted on 11 April 1917 at Timaru. A self-employed sheep farmer at Burke’s Pass, married and of Church of England affiliation, he named his wife as next-of-kin – Mrs F. O. Preston, Goodwood, Otago.

J. Preston was listed with the men belonging to the South Canterbury Military District who left for camp on 11 April 1917. It was not until 17 August 1918 that Gunner John Preston embarked, departing from Wellington per the “Matatua” with the New Zealand Field Artillery of the 43rd Reinforcements and disembarking at London on 30 October. He embarked at Tilbury on 12 March 1919, returning to New Zealand per the “Corinthic”, and disembarked at Lyttelton on 22 April 1919. He was discharged on 21 May 1919, on the termination of his period of engagement, and awarded the British War Medal.

In 1919 John was at Haldon with his mother – although he had sold Haldon in 1917 - before settling at Flag Swamp with Florence. Their son John was born on 16 January 1920 and a daughter, Patricia Maud, was born at Dunedin on 9 April 1921. Florence Olive Preston died suddenly at Dunedin on 9 December 1925. She was buried at Goodwood Cemetery near Waikouaiti, the burial ground of several of the Preston family. John Preston married Frances Isabella McAllister on 11 August 1926 at Stratford, Frances settling at his Flag Swamp property, “Hazlehurst”. There John and Frances raised three daughters and one son, the youngest still living [February 2025]. John Preston was very active in his local community, filling many positions of responsibility in local bodies. Jack and Frances moved into Dunedin in the mid-1960s.

John Preston died at Dunedin Public Hospital on 12 March 1971, aged 80 years. He was cremated at Andersons Bay, his ashes interred at Goodwood Cemetery with his first wife Florence. Frances Isabella Preston died at her Dunedin residence on 18 October 1983. There is a plaque in her memory on the Goodwood plot. Frances was a qualified medical practitioner and a founding member of the Otago WDFF. In 1978 she published a history of the Preston farming family – “A Family of Woolgatherers”. In 2014, Patricia Heckler (Pat), the eldest daughter of John Preston, was given her late father’s World War I paybook which had been found under a staircase in a Dunedin building. “It’s terrific, I’m a great hoarder and this is just astonishing,” she said. Mrs Heckler died in 2021, just a few weeks shy of her 100th birthday. Two (Pringle) cousins of John Preston served in World War One – John Joseph Page served with the Royal Marines and Thomas Sinclair Gillies with the New Zealand Forces.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [24 February 2025]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [02 March 2025]; School Admission record (Dunedin Branch NZSG) [02 March 2025]; Timaru Herald, 7 February 1917, 10 April 1917, Otago Daily Times, 11 April 1921, 4 September 1926, 30 April 1935, 31 January 1937, Waikato Times, 10 December 1925 (Papers Past) [07 January 2015; 03 March 2025]; Andersons Bay Crematorium records (Dunedin City Council) [02 March 2025]; Otago Daily Times article, 4 February 2014 [03 March 2025]

External Links

• Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph record
• Military personnel file

Related Documents

No documents available. 

Researched and Written by

Teresa Scott, SC Genealogy Society

Currently Assigned to

Not assigned.