From Australia’s Jewish past…and sometimes New Zealand’s

Samuel Edward Shrimski – one of the most colourful and effective figures of the early township of Oamaru, New Zealand.

Occasionally, stories are written about those who established themselves in New Zealand. This week’s story is one.

Samuel was born in 1828 in Poznań, Poland, to Hannchen and Elias, a tailor. They had five children. Samuel received his initial education in his hometown.

In 1846, at the age of eighteen, he travelled to London, having left his family, and spent the next twelve years there.

Once in the UK, he slightly anglicised his name from Schrimski to Shrimski. In 1858, he emigrated to Melbourne and then moved to New Zealand in 1861, becoming a naturalised citizen in 1863.

Arriving at the time of the Otago gold rush, he travelled by ship to Port Chalmers, where he established a successful business with Joseph Moss in Oamaru as a storekeeper and auctioneer. He also acted as a government land auctioneer. Samuel and Joseph built the first stone building in Oamaru, which became their business location. He married Deborah Neumegen at the Dunedin Synagogue on 28 June 1865.

Samuel soon involved himself in public affairs. In 1863, he was a member of the school committee, and the following year was elected to the Town Board. From 1868 to 1874, he became the Oamaru borough counsellor and the mayor from 1870 to 1874. His next move was to become a Member of Parliament for Waitaki, a position he held from 1876 to 1881. From there, he represented Oamaru as a member of parliament from 1881 to 1885. On 15 May 1885, he was appointed to the Legislative Council, a position he held until he died in 1902. His parliamentary position entitled him to use the title ‘The Honourable Samuel Edward Shrimski’ (or ‘Honourable Sam’).

He also spoke up for those marginalised in society, including the Chinese community, which was being persecuted at the time. This was demonstrated in a letter to the Nelson Evening Mail, published on 7 August 1896.

The Chinese Question

A letter from Mr Cheok Hong Chong, Wellington, This Day

Mr Shrimski, M.L.C., has received a letter from Mr Cheok Hong Chong, of the Chinese Church Mission, Victoria, thanking him heartily for his “chivalrous stand” in having again “espoused the cause of the weak and downtrodden and upheld the policy of national righteousness”. This, no doubt, has reference to Mr Shrimski’s outspoken attitude upon the Chinese restriction question.

As well as political service, Samuel was Chair of the Oamaru Harbour Board, Chair of the hospital trustees to establish Oamaru’s first hospital in 1872; a founder of the Oamaru Library, and it is said that he may have been the first Freemason initiated in Oamaru. Time did not stand still for Samuel, who was also a leading figure in education at this time. In 1878, as Chair of the North Otago Education Board, he became aware that Oamaru land was producing revenue for Otago High School. This moved him to sponsor the Waitaki High School Act. Due to his efforts in establishing the school, he earned the title ‘Founder of Waitaki’ and was asked to lay the foundation stone on 12 October 1881. The school has a Hebrew crest, which translates as ‘Jehovah the Foundation of Wisdom’. Understandably, Samuel was described as ‘irrepressible’ and ‘indefatigable’.

In 1900, Samuel decided to retire from public life and moved to Auckland. When he and his wife left Oamaru, several public bodies in the city decided to hold a testimonial meeting to present him with an Illuminated Address from the citizens of Oamaru in appreciation of his valuable services during his time in public life.

After Samuel passed away, the Illuminated Address disappeared until around 1990, when the family was informed that it had been spotted in a pawn shop and had been purchased by an older couple. The family managed to locate this couple and tried to negotiate the purchase, but they were not interested in selling. However, some years later, to everyone’s satisfaction, they agreed to donate the Illuminated Address to the North Otago Museum in Oamaru, and members of the family were in attendance at the museum in Oamaru when the return was officially carried out.

Samuel and his wife moved to Auckland to be closer to other family members. He died at his home in Auckland on 25 June 1902 and is buried at Waikumete Cemetery. He was survived by his wife, Deborah. The couple had no children, and thanks to Samuel’s brother Jacob, the family name lives on in Australia and New Zealand.

The current Shrimsky generation of brothers funds an annual award to be presented each year at the Waitaki Boys’ High School prizegiving in honour of Samuel. It is known as the Shrimsky Citizenship Award. Many of the family members also attended the school over the years.

The AJHS acknowledges the following references in the preparation of this story:

Wikipedia; Jewish Lives New Zealand; The Shrimski family story – John Shrimski (Sydney); the last 200 years of the Shrimski family from Posen (Poznan) in Poland to the Antipodes; National Library of New Zealand – Val Graham; information supplied from John Shrimsky, ‘Southern People’: A dictionary of Otago Southland Biography, Dunedin 1988 – edited by Jan Thompson.

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