This portrait of an elderly man with a long grey braid in his hair draws plenty of attention in the Smith Gallery. Painted by Miss E. Hamilton in 1902, it is titled, Study of an Old Man Revolving Many Memories. The ‘old man’ featured in the painting is James Henry Popham Braid. The son of Robert Braid and Sophia Popham, James was born in Sussex, England in 1822. He worked as a mariner and married Elizabeth Morey in 1841. James and Elizabeth had two sons and one daughter before they left England for New Zealand.
Travelling on board the Palmyra, which departed London in October 1857, the family arrived in Port Chalmers in February 1858. Passenger lists of the Palmyra do not record that James and his children were passengers on board the ship, although a Mrs Popham is listed as travelling in the second-class cabin. This suggests that James, with his mariner skills, along with his sons may have served on the ship’s crew, while his wife Elizabeth travelled as a passenger. Nothing is known about what happened to James’ daughter but it is assumed she died before the family emigrated, particularly as there is no mention of her death in New Zealand records.
After first settling in the Rattray-Maclaggan Street area as well as working as a miner in the Tuapeka gold fields, James eventually lived in Andersons Bay. He lost his wife Elizabeth in 1861. At the time of her death, records indicate that James was working as a sawyer or timber worker. When living in Andersons Bay, he then acquired a liquor outlet, described as a ‘colonial wine manufactory.’ James outlived both his sons and died in 1911. He is buried in Dunedin’s Southern Cemetery with his wife Elizabeth.
Mr James Henry Popham Braid