Isaac Featherston
Isaac Featherston | |
|---|---|
 Isaac Featherston | |
| 7th Colonial Secretary | |
| In office 12 July 1861 – 2 August 1861 | |
| Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Wanganui and Rangitikei | |
| In office 24 May 1854 – 9 August 1855 | |
| Member of the New Zealand Parliament for City of Wellington | |
| In office 1855–1858 | |
| In office 1858–1870 | |
| 1st Superintendent of Wellington Province | |
| In office 2 July 1853 – 23 April 1858 | |
| In office 28 June 1858 – 14 March 1870 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 21 March 1813 Newcastle upon Tyne England |
| Died | 19 June 1876 (aged 63) Hove England |
| Relations | John Cargill, Charles Johnston sons-in-law |
Isaac Earl Featherston NZC (21 March 1813 – 19 June 1876) was a New Zealand politician, and was known for his advocacy for the establishment of New Zealand self-government, and the importance of the provincial governments.
Early life and family[]
He was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, on 21 March 1813 as son of Thomas Featherston and Jane Earl. Although he spent a significant amount of time playing sports, specifically football, as a youngster he was also quite academic and qualified in medicine at the University of Edinburgh in 1836, later at 10 December 1839 marrying Bethia Campbell Scott. He decide to leave England due to problems with tuberculosis in hope of a cure in New Zealand, leaving in December 1840. He arrived in Wellington in May 1841 on the New Zealand Company ship Olympus as surgeon-superintendent.[1] On 1 September 1869, his third daughter, Kate, married fellow member of parliament John Cargill.[2][3]
Political career[]
| New Zealand Parliament | ||||
| Years | Term | Electorate | Party | |
| 1853–1855 | 1st | Wanganui and Rangitikei | Independent | |
| 1855–1858 | 2nd | Town of Wellington | Independent | |
| 1858–1860 | 2nd | Town of Wellington | Independent | |
| 1860–1866 | 3rd | City of Wellington | Independent | |
| 1866–1870 | 4th | City of Wellington | Independent | |
Featherston served in the first, second, third, and fourth Parliaments. He represented the Wanganui and Rangitikei electorate in the first parliament until he resigned on 9 August 1855, and then represented the City of Wellington electorate in the second, third and fourth parliaments. In 1858, he resigned his seat in Parliament[4] and his Wellington superintendency, apparently wanting to return to England. Instead, he successfully stood for re-election in both positions within months.[1]
Featherston was Colonial Secretary (forerunner to the modern Minister of Internal Affairs) in 1861, and a Minister without Portfolio from 1869 to 1871, having been appointed in both instances by William Fox.
Featherston was also heavily involved in the politics of Wellington Province. He was elected unopposed as the first Superintendent from 1853.[1] He resigned from this post on 23 April 1858.[5] He was re-elected on 28 June 1858[5] and held the post until 1870.[1] His superintendence oversaw some slow growth in Wellington before in 1865 it became the capital of the colony.[6]
From 1871 he was the first Agent-General for the colony in London, the precursor to the High Commissioner.[7]
Wakefield–Featherston duel[]
A duel on 24 March 1847 was fought in Wellington between Colonel William Wakefield and Featherston (who was Wakefield's doctor) over a newspaper editorial of Featherston on the New Zealand Company land policy which questioned Wakefield's honesty. Featherston fired and missed. Then Wakefield fired into the air, saying he would not shoot a man with seven daughters.[8]
Commemoration[]
The town of Featherston in the Wairarapa is named after him, as is Featherston Street in Wellington.
References[]
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Isaac Featherston. |
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d Hamer, David (22 June 2007). "Featherston, Isaac Earl 1813–1876". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Retrieved 3 July 2010.
- ^ "Marriages". Colonist. XII (1254). 1 October 1869. p. 5. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
- ^ "News of the Week". Otago Witness (928). 11 September 1869. p. 13. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
- ^ "HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES". Otago Witness (340). 5 June 1858. p. 5. Retrieved 30 April 2010.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Scholefield, Guy (1950) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1949 (3rd ed.). Wellington: Govt. Printer. p. 234.
- ^ Hamer, David (1990). "Wellington on the Urban Frontier". In Hamer, David; Nicholls, Roberta (eds.). The Making of Wellington 1800-1914. Wellington, New Zealand: Victoria University Press. pp. 247–248. ISBN 0-86473-200-7.
- ^ McLintock, A. H., ed. (11 August 2009) [originally published in 1966]. "Featherston, Dr Isaac Earl". An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 3 July 2010.
- ^ McLintock, A. H., ed. (23 April 2009) [originally published in 1966]. "Duell". An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 3 July 2010.
Citations[]
- Mennell, Philip (1892). . The Dictionary of Australasian Biography. London: Hutchinson & Co – via Wikisource.
| hide Authority control  | |
|---|---|
| General | |
| Art galleries and museums | |
| Other |
|
- 1813 births
- 1876 deaths
- Burials at Bolton Street Cemetery
- Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives
- Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand
- Members of the Wellington Provincial Council
- Superintendents of New Zealand provincial councils
- 19th-century New Zealand medical doctors
- People of the New Zealand Wars
- English emigrants to New Zealand
- People from Newcastle upon Tyne
- Alumni of the University of Edinburgh
- New Zealand duellists
- Recipients of the New Zealand Cross (1869)
- New Zealand MPs for Wellington electorates
- New Zealand MPs for North Island electorates
- 19th-century New Zealand politicians
- Colonial Secretaries of New Zealand
- High Commissioners of New Zealand to the United Kingdom