James Fletcher (industrialist)

He then sailed on SS Ulimaroa to Port Chalmers, the harbour town serving Dunedin, arriving late in October 1908.

Here he got a job as a joiner with local builders Crawford & Watson, moving to the larger firm of Thompson Bridger in 1909.

[6] In New Zealand in 1909 Fletcher established a building business with his brother William John, and an Englishman and fellow joiner, Albert Morris.

Within the 12 months to mid-1918, they put up the largest reinforced concrete building south of the equator, the Dominion Farmers' Institute in Wellington.

The company grew despite the difficult economic conditions, completing a number of major construction projects, such as the Chateau Tongariro and Dominion Museum in 1929.

[2] Throughout the Second World War he held several positions, first as Commissioner of Defence Construction, then Superintendent of Military Works, and later Controller of Shipping.

Fletcher Senior was appointed a Knight Bachelor, for public services, in the 1946 New Year Honours,[10][11] and was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal in 1953.