Born in London, Nathan migrated first to Australia in December 1839 and then for New Zealand on the
Achilles, leaving Sydney for the
Bay of Islands in February 1840. He set up a store, first in
Kororāreka (present day
Russell), then in
Auckland when it became the capital in place of
Okiato (Old Russell) in the Bay of Islands. On 31 October 1841 he married Rosetta Aarons, the widow of Captain Michael Aarons. In 1843, with fellow early settler
John Israel Montefiore, he secured a grant of land on the corner of
Karangahape Road and Symonds Street for a Jewish section of the
Symonds Street Cemetery, Auckland. As his business prospered, he traded in
kauri gum and tea and operated a
bond store. He was a founder member of the
Auckland Chamber of Commerce, established in 1856, and president in 1868. He was a trustee of the
Auckland Savings Bank from 1864 to 1885 and vice president from 1878 to 1882, was an early commissioner for the
port of Auckland, and served on the
city council in 1854–55. He set up L.D. Nathan and Company for his sons, Laurence David Nathan and Nathan Alfred Nathan, just before he retired from business in 1868. Nathan died at his home, which he had built in 1863 in Waterloo Quadrant, Auckland City, on 23 August 1886. ==See also==