Introduction
John Orr (7 January 1858 – 30 June 1932) was an Irish South African businessman who founded the department store John Orr's, eventually sold to Mr. Price.
Early life and education
John Orr was born on 7 January 1858 in Benburb, County Tyrone, Ireland, to Dickson and Letitia Orr and educated in Ireland.
Career
Orr emigrated to South Africa in 1883, at age 25. He worked for Garlicks department store in Cape Town and then opened his own store in that city. In 1885, he moved to Kimberley and opened a drapery (in South African parlance, clothing and fabrics) store on Jones Street (now Phakamile Mabija Street) for many decades. John Orr's opened branches across South Africa as well as Lourenço Marques (now Maputo, Mozambique). In 1951, it became a public company with 2,500 employees.
Other work and honours
Other activities include:
- Mayor of Kimberley (1909–1910 and 1916–1918)
- Board member of the Alexander McGregor Memorial Museum
- Founder, Kimberley Horticultural Society
He was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1918.
Personal life
In 1892, he married Mary Ellen Harper, with whom he had three sons and two daughters.
Death and legacy
Orr died on 30 June 1932 in Dublin.
Orr's house on Lodge Road, Dunluce, or Lillienville as it was first known, was designed by D. W. Greatbatch for Gustav Bonas, a diamond buyer, in 1897. In 1902, Orr bought the house for the sum of £6 400, and gave it the name Dunluce. In 1974, Barlow Duce bought the house, restored it and donated it to the McGregor Museum.
Patrick Lambie, the Springbok rugby player, is a Orr's great-great-grandson; Orr's granddaughter is Lambie's grandmother, Alizanne Labuschagne, whose husband was Nic Labuschagne of KwaZulu-Natal rugby and an England rugby International.