imported>Smasongarrison: Undid revision 1166273962 by Johnpacklambert (talk)

2025-03-29T13:37:24Z

Undid revision 1166273962 by Johnpacklambert (talk)

New page

{{Short description|New Zealand merchant and politician (1835–1905)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox person
|name = Bendix Hallenstein
|image = File:Bendix Hallenstein.jpg
|caption =
|birth_date = c. 24 January 1835
|birth_place = [[Coppenbrügge|Bisperode]], Duchy of Brunswick, Germany
|death_date = {{death date and age |1905|01|06|1835|01|df=yes}}
|death_place = [[Dunedin]], New Zealand
|known_for = Founding [[Hallenstein Brothers]]<br> Founding [[D.I.C. (department store)|D.I.C.]]
|spouse = {{marriage |Mary Mountain|1861}}
|relatives = [[Willi Fels]] (nephew and son-in-law)<br> [[Charles Brasch]] (great-grandson)
}}
'''Bendix Hallenstein''' ({{circa}} 24 January 1835 – 6 January 1905) was a German-born [[Jew]]ish [[merchant]], statesman, and [[Manufacturing|manufacturer]] from [[Dunedin]], New Zealand. He is best known for founding the retail clothing store [[Hallenstein Brothers|Hallensteins]], which still bears his name, and is now part of the [[Hallensteins Glassons]] group. He also founded the [[D.I.C. (department store)|D.I.C.]] department store in Dunedin in 1884.

==Biography==
{{NZ parlbox header|nolist=true|align=left}}
{{NZ parlbox
|start = {{By-election link year|Wakatipu|1872}}
|end = 1873
|term = 5th
|electorate = {{NZ electorate link|Wakatipu}}
|party = Independent politician
}}
{{NZ parlbox footer}}
Hallenstein was born in [[Coppenbrügge|Bisperode]], [[Duchy of Brunswick]], part of the [[German Confederation]], on about 24 January 1835 to Reuben Hallenstein and Helena Michaelis; he was their third and youngest son. His parents owned a wool mill in [[Lügde]]. In 1852, at the age of 17, he moved to [[Manchester]], England, where his maternal uncle operated a shipping office.

In 1857 he followed his brothers, Isaac and Michaelis, to [[Daylesford, Victoria|Daylesford]] in the Victorian goldfields, Australia. Each of the three brothers wished to marry their housekeeper, Mary Mountain (1826-1907), but it was ultimately Bendix she chose to marry. They were wed in the Anglican parish church in [[Alford, Lincolnshire]], on 14 February 1861.<ref name="DNZB Hallenstein">{{DNZB |Parry |Gordon |2h6|Hallenstein, Bendix |16 March 2012}}</ref> They had four daughters; Sara (married Willi Fels), Emily (married Isidore de Beer), Henrietta (married James Francis (Frank) Hyams; died 1895 soon after childbirth), and Agnes (married Siegfried Barden). Emily's children, included [[Esmond de Beer|Esmond]] and [[Dora de Beer]].

In 1873 he founded the New Zealand Clothing Factory in Dunedin to provide men's clothing for his stores. He opened a store in [[The Octagon, Dunedin|The Octagon]] selling clothing at wholesale price; the retail clothing chain [[Hallenstein Brothers|Hallensteins]] still bears his name. He also founded the [[D.I.C. (department store)|Drapery and General Importing Company of New Zealand Ltd]], later known as the D.I.C., in 1884.<ref name="DNZB Hallenstein"/>

Hallenstein was the [[mayor of Queenstown Borough]] from 1869 to 1872.<ref>{{cite web|title=Past Mayors of the QLDC|url=http://www.qldc.govt.nz/past_mayors_of_the_qldc|publisher=[[Queenstown Lakes District Council]]|accessdate=22 October 2012|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102032400/http://www.qldc.govt.nz/past_mayors_of_the_qldc|archivedate=2 November 2012|df=dmy-all}}</ref> He represented the electorate of [[Wakatipu (New Zealand electorate)|Wakatipu]] in Parliament from {{By-election link year|Wakatipu|1872}} to 1873, when he resigned.<ref name="Scholefield 1950">{{cite book |last= Scholefield |first= Guy |title= New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1949 |author-link=Guy Scholefield |edition=3rd |origyear= First ed. published 1913 |year= 1950 |publisher=Govt. Printer |location= Wellington |page=111}}</ref> He was appointed German consul for Dunedin in 1892.<ref name="Star German Consul">{{cite news |title=German Consul |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TS18921102.2.21 |accessdate=17 June 2020 |agency=Star |issue=7409 |date=2 November 1892}}</ref>

Hallenstein's son-in-law (and nephew) [[Willi Fels]] was a prominent philanthropist and arts collector in early Dunedin. Hallenstein's great-grandson [[Charles Brasch]] was a noted poet, literary editor and arts patron.

In 2010, Hallenstein was posthumously inducted into the [[New Zealand Business Hall of Fame]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.businesshalloffame.co.nz/past-laureates/ |title=Past laureates |website=Business Hall of Fame |access-date=19 February 2023}}</ref>

==References==
{{Commons category|Bendix Hallenstein}}
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*Gordon Parry: [http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/2h6/hallenstein-bendix ''Hallenstein, Bendix'']. In: ''Dictionary of New Zealand Biography''. New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage

{{s-start}}
{{s-par | nz}}
{{s-bef | before = [[Charles Edward Haughton]]}}
{{s-ttl | title = [[Wakatipu (New Zealand electorate)|Member of Parliament for Wakatipu]] | years=1872–1873}}
{{s-aft | after = [[Vincent Pyke]]}}
{{end}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hallenstein, Bendix}}
[[Category:German emigrants to New Zealand]]
[[Category:Jewish mayors]]
[[Category:Jewish New Zealand politicians]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Dunedin]]
[[Category:Politicians from Dunedin]]
[[Category:People from the Duchy of Brunswick]]
[[Category:Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives]]
[[Category:New Zealand MPs for South Island electorates]]
[[Category:Mayors of Queenstown-Lakes]]
[[Category:New Zealand people of German-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:1835 births]]
[[Category:1905 deaths]]
[[Category:Burials at Dunedin Southern Cemetery]]
[[Category:19th-century New Zealand politicians]]
[[Category:19th-century New Zealand Jews]]
[[Category:19th-century New Zealand businesspeople]]
[[Category:20th-century New Zealand Jews]]
[[Category:Hallenstein family]]
[[Category:People associated with Otago Museum]]

Bendix Hallenstein - Revision history

imported>Smasongarrison: Undid revision 1166273962 by Johnpacklambert (talk)