The Jamesons had five children, who were born before they all came to New Zealand on the Sebastopol,[3] leaving Gravesend on 17 January 1863 and arriving in Lyttelton on 21 May 1863.

He sold this to William Radcliffe (who was later elected a member of the Christchurch City Council in 1877, and took over Warner's Hotel in Cathedral Square).

[3] In 1881, he initially refused to stand again for election as chairperson,[10] following some controversy within the organisation over a privately proposed industrial exhibition in Dunedin.

He was a director of the Mutual Benefit Building Society for many years, and chaired several public bodies.

[3] He was the chairman of the Christchurch Public Cemetery Board until his death and was succeeded in this role by Charles Louisson.

The following councillors attended the meeting: William Wilson, James Purvis Jameson, T. Tombs, George Ruddenklau, Henry Thomson, W. A. Sheppard, William Calvert and John Anderson, who chaired the meeting.

Thomson moved that Wilson be elected as the first mayor of Christchurch, and Tombs seconded the motion.

[20] In April 1871, Christchurch hosted the Governor, George Bowen, and Jameson received him on behalf of the City Council.

[21] Later in the same month, the council caused considerable controversy through the illegal process of setting rates.

[23] On 3 October 1890, he unsuccessfully contested the Heathcote riding of the Selwyn County Council against Walter Kitson.

[24] They had five children:[3][5] His wife Jane Dyer Jameson died on 29 July 1894 at their Cashel Street residence in Linwood.