He went to London as a young man for business, before emigrating to Melbourne, Victoria, Australia in 1853, where he worked as a merchant and shipping agent for eight years.
Lahmann came to Otago in New Zealand when gold was discovered and had a tobacco store in Dunedin.
[1] The West Coast gold rush brought him to Greymouth in late 1865,[2] where he had business interests in shipping, timber, and as a general merchant.
[4] When the Westland Province was inaugurated, Lahmann successfully stood for election in January 1874 for one of the three seats in the Greymouth electorate.
[8] Lahmann died aged 74 on 1 June 1890 at his residence in Albert Street, Greymouth.