page_title: Henry Le Cren
section_title: Return to Timaru
hierarchical_section_title: Henry Le Cren / Return to Timaru
caption_attribution_description: English: school picnic at Craighead School in 1922
context_page_description: Henry John Le Cren was a New Zealand merchant. Born in London, he was an early settler in Lyttelton and traded both in the port town and central Christchurch. He moved to Timaru in 1858 and is regarded as one of the town's pioneers. Companies owned by him or his eldest son are predecessors to the New Zealand agricultural supply business PGG Wrightson.
context_section_description: Le Cren returned to Timaru by late 1882, having bought in January 1881 a substantial house on the outskirts of town built in 1875 by surveyor Henry Sealy (1838–1925). He called the house Craighead after his brother-in-law's castle in Forfarshire, Scotland.
  He was in poor health for some time before he died a widower at Craighead on 20 May 1895 survived by three sons and four daughters. His eldest son, Henry Arthur Le Cren, was part-owner of Guinness and Le Cren, which was also a predecessor company for PGG Wrightson. He was buried at Timaru Cemetery. The Timaru Herald's obituary described him:
  Craighead was put on the market in 1910 and purchased by four sisters to establish a girls school, Craighead Diocesan School, which caters for year 7 to 13 girls. 
  The main building is registered by Heritage New Zealand as a Category II heritage structure.
caption: Picnic at Craighead School in 1922
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