2019 Electra Kapiti Horowhenua Business Awards – Kapiti Hall of Fame

John Mowbray

Since 1965 John Mowbray has operated Mowbray Collectables in Otaki, rapidly reaching international status and bringing recognition to New Zealand for its performance and acumen by trading $100 million in stamps since 1974, including $40 million in exports.  The company has had a stand at every major stamp exhibition in the English-speaking world since 1980 and the company name is well known to collectors around the world, with a mailing list exceeding 5,000 collectors.

John is a founding member of the New Zealand Stamp Dealers Association and was twice elected President from 1985-87 and from 1990-92. He has been a Director of Sotheby’s Australia, Stanley Gibbons of London, and Webbs Fine Arts, and a Board member of the New Zealand Auctioneers Association.

His knowledge and professionalism were acknowledged in 2018 when he became the first New Zealand dealer to be admitted as a Fellow of the Royal Philatelic Society in London for services to philately.  John was elected a Regional Vice-President of the Royal Philatelic Society of New Zealand in the same year.  In 1990 he became the first person from outside of Europe to hold the post of World President of the International Federation of Stamp Dealers. In 1981 John was named the Wellington regional winner in the Air New Zealand Enterprise Awards.

John has been a major supporter for New Zealand and overseas philatelic exhibitions, a regular sponsor of significant prizes for New Zealand exhibitions, and a valued source of information for fellow collectors.  Meanwhile behind the scenes he has played a significant role in securing significant philatelic items from overseas for the National Museum of New Zealand. Not only has he significantly contributed to the development of New Zealand’s international reputation as a pioneering philatelist, but he has contributed to his community as a prominent supporter and administrator of rugby football, college education, and the arts.

His passion for rugby led him, as a member of the Waikanae Rugby Club, to becoming Schoolboy Convener, serving as a member of the management committee for the last 34 years. He was elected Patron in 1998, and is a Life Member of the Club. He went on to higher office with the New Zealand Rugby Football Union where he has been chairman of the Horowhenua Kapiti Rugby Union for the last 15 years - the longest serving chairman for that Union and the seventh longest in the history of the NZRFU.  As part of his role as HKRU chairman, he served as a Director of the Hurricanes from 2007-2011 and has served on various committees and panels of the NZRFU

Actively involved in secondary education he offered his skills in business management and strategic planning as a past Member of the Board of Governors at Scots College, Licensee and Trustee of Waikanae Montessori Trust Board, and Member of the Board of Trustees at Wanganui Collegiate.  John’s business skills were also useful in his home-town of Waikanae when the local Mahara District Art Gallery was seeking to build a larger gallery and he took on the role of chairman for eight years, with a further two years as a Trustee.

Probably best known by the locals in his home district for his voluntary commitment to the development of rugby in Kapiti-Horowhenua, the use of his business skills in supporting secondary education, and his support for the arts, he regularly provides his voluntary services as an auctioneer to organisations seeking to raise funds and makes unpublicised donations.

John is well-regarded for maintaining his base of operations, and 15 local staff, in the small provincial town of Otaki instead of being attracted to the bright lights of a main centre or overseas, but what makes him truly stand out is his unassuming professionalism and courtesy in all he has tackled, and the respect his community has for him.