John Farrell

John Farrell (1868–1938) was a New Zealand architect, businessman, and politician who served as mayor of Grey Lynn from 1904 to 1907 and as the Auckland Education Board architect from 1907 to 1924.

Farrell partnered with his son, Raymond Leslie Farrell, before partnering with William Henry Glover as J. Farrell, Son & Glover.

Several of Farrell's buildings have heritage registrations.

Early life Farrell's plan for the Onehunga Manual Training School with future possible extensions shown. The extensions were never built John Farrell was born in Auckland in 1868. He and his family moved to Thames where he lived until later returning to Auckland for university.

Farrell married his wife in 1892.

Political career John Farrell became a member of the Grey Lynn Borough Council in 1899

Farrell unsuccessfully ran for parliament on two occasions. First as a Conservative in the Grey Lynn electorate in 1905, and in 1922, as a Reform Party candidate for the Auckland West electorate.

Auckland Education Board architect

Farrell wrote in his application for the Auckland Education Board's architect role that he had trained under Robert McKay Fripp, George Selwyn Goldsbro', and Robert Martin Watt.

One of the last buildings Farrell designed as Auckland Education Board architect was the Ponsonby School at Curran Street. This building was innovative for the time with reinforced concrete posts and beam frames used to create large openings. This later became the standard for non-residential buildings.

List of buildings