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<!-- EDIT BELOW THIS LINE --Wikipedia article on Hugh McDermid

Hugh McDermid was born 9.5.1818 in Milton, Scotland and died 6th January 1877 aged 57.

Hugh McDermid was amongst the first European settlers to arrive in Port Chalmers in the Otago region of New Zealand, and went on to become the 7th Major of Sawyers Bay.

Hugh was born in Milton, Scotland on the 9.5.1819. He emigrated out from Scotland to arrive in Port Chalmers, near Dunedin, New Zealand, with the very first settlers on the ship the ‘Phillip Laing,’ arriving, after a five-month journey, into the harbor of Port Chalmers on Monday April 15th 1848.

Hugh travelled out with his wife of a few months Margaret Younger (nee) McQueen. Hugh’s older brother John McDermid was a prominent member in the Free Church of Scotland. In 1847 The church had been approached by the ’New Zealand Company’ to encourage some of its members to emigrate out to New Zealand on the companies’ two ships, the ‘Phillip Laing’ and the ‘John Wickliffe’.

It was intended that the new settlement be made up almost entirely of Scottish people who were religious persons of good standing, selected by the Free Church. The intended settlement was for land within the ‘Otago Block,’ as it was then known. John owned the land, but Hugh was sent out to settle it.

Hugh was given two lots of land in Sawyers Bay, one to build a house and the other to farm. He soon sold these and bought a piece of land near the corner of Stevenson Ave and Station Road. Although he farmed he soon joined other sawmillers in the area and began producing timber for shipbuilding and for housing for the growing settlement.

‘Mill Street‘ is named after the place where the Mill used to be located. There was also a nearby street named ‘George Street’, named after Hugh’s youngest son George, but this was eventually changed to Blackman s Avenue to avoid confusion with ‘George Street’, in Port Chalmers. The nearby ‘Hugh Street’ was named after Hugh McDermid.

Hugh soon damned a stream that ran by the mill, (later to be known as McDermid’s Creek). And used the water to power the timber mill, a big step up from the previous pit sawing.

As well as the millwork, Hugh was a prominent member of the Presbyterian Church in Sawyers Bay. He was also on the fist school committee in Port Chalmers.(1856). He also served on the Provincial Council from 1872 until Provincial Councils were abolished in 1875, and he was a member of the Otago Harbour Board in 1874, and he was also elected to the Port Chalmers Town Council.

However his highest achievement was that he was elected as Major of Port Chalmers in 1870- 1871 and again in 1873-1874.

At the end of his term as Major in 1874 the name of the Sawyers Bay was changed from ‘Sawyers Bay’ to ‘Glendermid’. Many local people weren’t happy with this at all, and they fought for eight years to have it changed back to Sawyers Bay, which eventually happened.

However during this time a Tannery was started up to process the sheep skins that were being produced in the area. The tannery took the name Glendermid, becoming the 'Glendermid Tannery'. Over the following 100 years that this tannery was in operation it employed generations of local people.

In 1875, the Waterworks branch of the Port Chalmers Borough Council damned one of the streams above the Mill for the town water supply. This unfortunately reduced the waterflow to Hugh’s sawmill and forced him to abandon it. He took the Council to court claiming compensation, and although he died before the case was finished in 1878, his family was awarded £1500.OO in compensation

Hugh and Margaret had eight children,

Elizabeth Graham – 1848 -1877 John Archibald – 1850 - 1926 Hugh - 1852 - 1864 Agnes Ross – 1854 - 1864 Margaret – 1856 - ? Archibald – 1859 - 1921 George Scott Murray – 1861 - 1932 Robina Graham – 1864 - 1912

Hugh is buried in the private cemetery in Sawyers Bay situated at 3 Hugh Street, Port Chalmers. This is a private cemetery where only McDermid’s can be buried. Two of his children who died as infants are buried there, and further descendants have been buried there over the years.

A recent new subdivision (2014) built near where the McDermid families farm once was, has taken on the name Glendermid Estate.

Reference backing up GlenDermid name change. http://mp.natlib.govt.nz/detail/?id=19467&l=mi

history of Port Chalmers in including Phillip Laing.

http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/the-em-john-wickliffe-em-anchors-at-port-chalmers

Wikipedia link for Sawyers Bay http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sawyers_Bay

Photo of Major at reclamatiaon http://natlib.govt.nz/records/23134619?search%5Bi%5D%5Bcentury%5D=1800&search%5Bi%5D%5Bdecade%5D=1870&search%5Bi%5D%5Bsubject%5D=Port+Chalmers&search%5Bi%5D%5Byear%5D=1873&search%5Bil%5D%5Bcategory%5D=Images&search%5Bpath%5D=items

http://www.colonialcdbooks.com/Wises-1912-S.html

Passenger arrivals at Port Chalmers 1848 http://www.ngaiopress.com/lainglst.htm

Name link http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Cyc04Cycl-t1-body1-d2-d49-d10.

Sawyers Bay and Glendermid as an area name (mentioning Mcdermid) ://www.colonialcdbooks.com/Wises-1912-S.htmlhtml

Papers Past – standing for election ://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=ODT18670614.2.21

Glendermid estate ://www.glendermidestate.co.nz/

Glendermid name for the town ://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Cyc04Cycl-t1-body1-d2-d49-d10.html

Creek name