Thomas Dick (politician)
Colonial Secretary of New Zealand | |
---|---|
In office 5 March 1880 – 16 August 1884 | |
Governor | The Lord Rosmead James Prendergast The Baron Stanmore William Jervois |
Preceded by | John Hall |
Succeeded by | William Montgomery |
7th Minister of Justice | |
In office 23 April 1881 – 11 October 1882 | |
Preceded by | William Rolleston |
Succeeded by | Edward Connolly |
3rd Minister of Education | |
In office 15 December 1880 – 16 August 1884 | |
Preceded by | William Rolleston |
Succeeded by | William Montgomery |
Personal details | |
Born | Edinburgh, Scotland | 13 August 1823
Died | 5 February 1900 Dunedin, New Zealand | (aged 76)
Thomas Dick (13 August 1823 – 5 February 1900) was a 19th-century New Zealand politician. Originally a merchant, he worked in London and then represented his firm on
Early life
Dick was born in Edinburgh, the son of Thomas Dick and Marjorie Dick (née Sherriff). The family moved to London, but he was sent back to Edinburgh for his education. He was employed by London merchandise firms and his second employer sent him to Saint Helena as their company representative in 1850 for seven years. There he married his second wife, Elizabeth Clarissa Darling in 1850. He was transferred to Dunedin, New Zealand, in 1857, arriving there with his wife, four children, his wife's mother (Elizabeth Darling) and his wife's siblings on the ship Bosworth on 26 November.[1][2] He became an auctioneer in Dunedin.[1]
Political career
Years | Term | Electorate | Party | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1860–1862 | 3rd | City of Dunedin | Independent | ||
1862 –1863
|
3rd | City of Dunedin | Independent | ||
1866 | 4th | Port Chalmers
|
Independent | ||
1866–1867 | 4th | Port Chalmers | Independent | ||
1879–1881 | 7th | City of Dunedin | Independent | ||
1881–1884 | 8th | Dunedin West | Independent |
Dick was active in politics in the Otago District of New Zealand. He was elected to the
The 1865 election for the Superintendency was caused by the resignation on 23 June 1865[4] of John Hyde Harris, who claimed significant differences in opinion with his executive, as well as a need to devote more time to his private financial affairs, as reasons for his resignation.[5] At the nomination meeting, Dick, Henry Clapcott and Edward McGlashan were proposed.[6][7] Clapcott had been on the Executive of the Provincial Council from May 1864 (when he was first elected onto the council) until April 1865.[8] McGlashan had been on the first Council (1853–1855)[9] and had represented the City of Dunedin electorate in Parliament from 1860 until his resignation in 1862.[10] Clapcott withdrew his candidacy (apparently, he was not well received by the voters) and resigned from the council a month later.[11][12] The election was held on 4 August 1865[13] and with 990 votes to 565, Dick achieved a clear majority.[14]
He represented four Dunedin electorates, first the
In Port Chalmers, Dick was elected on 17 March 1866 and resigned on 15 October 1866. He successfully contested the 15 December 1866 by-election, but resigned again on 26 April 1867.[18] David Forsyth Main succeeded him through the 1867 by-election.[19]
Dick served in three Ministries:
The author of The History of Otago says about Dick that "he distinguished himself more by an assiduous devotion to duty than by any display of brilliance."[23]
Religion
Dick was deeply involved in church matters. He became a
Family and death
In London, he married Mary Barber in 1846.[1] A daughter, Eliza Mary, was born the following year. His daughter married Henry Purdie in 1872[25] and died on 31 July 1892 in Christchurch[26] and is buried at Linwood Cemetery.[27]
His first wife died in 1849, and he remarried in 1850 at Saint Helena to Elizabeth Clarrissa Darling, and there were two sons and one daughter by this marriage.
His son James Bertram Dick (1859-1930) married Edith Ellen Boot (1865-1945) in 1893. He became a bank manager, and she became a national officer in the Women's Christian Temperance Union New Zealand in 1896.[30] His last address was George Street, Dunedin. He is also buried at Dunedin Southern Cemetery, but not in the family grave.[31]
His mother-in-law, Elizabeth Darling, who had been born on Saint Helena, died on 9 April 1883.[32] His sister-in-law, Agnes Darling, married Andrew Fleming. From 1865, 'Dick & Fleming' traded as land agents.[33] Agnes Fleming died at her residence in Molesworth Street, Wellington on 16 June 1899 and was also interred at Dunedin Southern Cemetery.[34][35] Another sister-in-law, Charlotte Darling, married Henry Wirgman Robinson. She died at Naseby on 26 October 1873 in childbirth, aged 35, and was also buried in the family grave.[36][37]
Thomas Dick's second wife died on 29 April 1869 at their residence 'Viewmount' in Queen Street, Dunedin.[38] She is also buried at South Dunedin Cemetery.[39]
He remarried in 1871 to Elizabeth "Eliza" Reid Walker (née Stewart) at Invercargill. She was the widow of Frederick Walker (d. 1866[40]),[1][41] who was Provincial Treasurer of Otago[42] and whom Dick knew from the voyage on the Bosworth.[2][43] Eliza Reid Dick was a founding secretary in May 1885 of the Dunedin chapter of the Women's Christian Temperance Union New Zealand (WCTU NZ).[44] She continued supporting the WCTU NZ campaigns, including signing the petition for women to win the right to vote in 1893.[45] She served as the president of the Dunedin Union from 1895 to 1899, hosting the national convention for the WCTU NZ in Dunedin in April 1896. She assisted with the work and fundraising for the Leavitt House and the Sailor's Rest, both religiously inspired social reform efforts in Dunedin.[46]
Dick died at his residence 'Viewmount' on 5 February 1900. He was survived by his third wife, one daughter and his two sons.[43] He is buried at the Dunedin Southern Cemetery.[47]
Dick Street in Kihikihi is named for him.[48] Elizabeth Reid Dick died in 1906 and is buried in the family grave.[49]
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g h McLintock, A. H., ed. (23 April 2009) [1966]. "DICK, Thomas". An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand. Ministry for Culture and Heritage / Te Manatū Taonga. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
- ^ a b "Shipping News". Otago Witness. No. 313. 28 November 1857. p. 4. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
- ^ Cyclopedia Company Limited (1905). "The Hon. Thomas Dick". The Cyclopedia of New Zealand : Otago & Southland Provincial Districts. Christchurch: The Cyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
- ^ "Provinces 1848–77". Rulers.org. Retrieved 24 May 2012.
- ^ "Resignation of the Superintendent of Otago". Colonist. Vol. VIII, no. 801. 30 June 1865. p. 3. Retrieved 24 May 2012.
- ^ "The Superintendency". Otago Witness. No. 712. 21 July 1865. p. 5. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
- ^ "The Nomination for the Superintendency". Bruce Herald. Vol. III, no. 67. 20 July 1865. p. 4. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
- ^ Scholefield 1950, pp. 217, 220.
- ^ Scholefield 1950, p. 221.
- ^ Wilson 1985, p. 215.
- ^ "By Electric Telegraph". North Otago Times. Vol. IV, no. 75. 27 July 1865. p. 2. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
- ^ "Dunedin". North Otago Times. Vol. IV, no. 79. 24 August 1865. p. 3. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
- ^ "The Superintendency". Otago Witness. No. 714. 5 August 1865. p. 11. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
- ^ "The Superintendency". Otago Witness. No. 715. 12 August 1865. p. 11. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
- ^ a b Wilson 1985, p. 192.
- ^ "The General Election, 1884". National Library. 1884. p. 3. Retrieved 17 March 2012.
- ^ "The General Election, 1887". National Library. 1887. p. 3. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
- ^ Scholefield 1950, p. 103.
- ^ Wilson 1985, p. 218.
- ^ Wilson 1985, p. 102.
- ^ a b Wilson 1985, pp. 68–69.
- ^ a b Wilson 1985, p. 68.
- ^ McLintock 1949, p. 497.
- ^ "Hanover Street Baptist Church". New Zealand Heritage List/Rārangi Kōrero. Heritage New Zealand. Retrieved 7 July 2008.
- ^ "Births, Marriages, and Deaths". Otago Daily Times. No. 3300. 3 September 1872. p. 3. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
- ^ "Deaths". Otago Witness. No. 2006. 4 August 1892. p. 25. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
- ^ "Christchurch City Council Cemeteries Database". Christchurch City Libraries. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
- ^ a b "Cemeteries search". Dunedin City Council. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
- ^ "Cemeteries search". Dunedin City Council. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
- ^ "N. Z. Officers and Superintendents of Departments". The White Ribbon (NZ). 1 (10): 15. 1 April 1896. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
- ^ "Cemeteries search". Dunedin City Council. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
- ^ "Cemeteries search". Dunedin City Council. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
- ^ "Page 18 Advertisements Column 1". Otago Witness. No. 697. 8 April 1865. p. 18. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
- ^ "Deaths". Otago Daily Times. No. 11455. 21 June 1899. p. 4. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
- ^ "Cemeteries search". Dunedin City Council. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
- ^ "Death". Otago Daily Times. No. 3659. 27 October 1873. p. 2. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
- ^ "Cemeteries search". Dunedin City Council. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
- ^ "Deaths". Otago Daily Times. No. 2257. 30 April 1869. p. 2. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
- ^ "Cemeteries search". Dunedin City Council. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
- ^ "Cemeteries search". Dunedin City Council. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
- ^ "Marriage". Otago Witness. No. 440. 5 May 1860. p. 4. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
- ^ Scholefield 1950, p. 219.
- ^ a b "Obituary". Otago Witness. No. 2398. 15 February 1900. p. 9. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
- ^ "Recent Meetings". Otago Daily Times. No. 7245. Papers Past, National Library of New Zealand. 7 May 1885. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
- ^ "Women's Suffrage Petition, Sheet No. 59" (PDF). NZHistory. New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage, Manatū Taonga. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
- ^ "Mrs. Thomas Dick". The White Ribbon (NZ). 12 (133): 10. 15 June 1906. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
- ^ "Cemeteries search". Dunedin City Council. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
- ^ "Origins of Some Kihikihi Street Names". Te Awamutu Online. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
- ^ "Cemeteries search". Dunedin City Council. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
References
- McLintock, Alexander H. (1949). The history of Otago: the origins and growth of a Wakefield Class settlement. Whitcombe and Tombs.
- Scholefield, Guy (1950) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1949 (3rd ed.). Wellington: Govt. Printer.
- Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.