Richmond Hursthouse

Richmond Hursthouse
Richmond Hursthouse in c. 1876
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Motueka
In office 6 January 1876 – 15 July 1887
Preceded by	Charles Parker
Succeeded by	John Kerr
Personal details
Born	5 May 1845 New Plymouth, New Zealand
Died	11 November 1902 (aged 57) New Plymouth, New Zealand
Relations	Charles Wilson Hursthouse (brother) Torchy Atkinson (grandson) Rosalind Hursthouse (great-granddaughter) Rangimarie Hetet (niece) Percy Smith (cousin) Henry Robert Richmond (cousin) James Crowe Richmond (cousin) William Richmond (cousin) Jane Maria Atkinson (cousin)

Richmond Hursthouse (5 May 1845 – 11 November 1902) was a 19th-century Member of Parliament in Nelson, New Zealand, and a cabinet minister.^[1]

Family life

Hursthouse was born in New Plymouth in 1845, soon after his family's emigration from England.^[2] His parents were John Hursthouse (1811–1860) and Helen, née Wilson (1803–1895). His parents and other family members (his father's brother, Charles Hursthouse, and a cousin, Thomas Newsham, and their families) came to New Zealand on the Thomas Sparks; they arrived in Wellington in early 1843.^[3][4] John Hursthouse and family proceeded to New Plymouth, but the outbreak of the First Taranaki War saw the family move to Nelson. Richmond Hursthouse's education was restricted to one year at Nelson's Bishop's School.^[2]

In 1873, he married Mary Fearon, the daughter of Edward Fearon. She died in September 1901.^[2]

Activities

Aged 19, he helped with the survey of Westport. Afterwards, he returned to New Plymouth and was in the militia. He participated in various gold rushes, including Thames, Gulgong in New South Wales, and Coromandel.^[2]

Political career

Parliament of New Zealand
Years	Term	Electorate		Party
1876–1879	6th	Motueka		Independent
1879–1881	7th	Motueka		Independent
1881–1884	8th	Motueka		Independent
1884–1887	9th	Motueka		Independent

Hursthouse represented the Motueka electorate from 1876 to 1887.^[5] In 1884, he held the portfolio of Minister for Lands and Immigration during the brief fourth Atkinson Ministry.^[6][1]

For many years, he was a member of the Nelson Land Board and of the Nelson Education Board.^[1]

He stood for Waimea-Picton in 1890,^[7] Motueka in 1896, and for the City of Nelson electorate in 1893^[8] and 1899,^[9] and came second each time.

When Motueka became a borough council in 1899, he was the town's first mayor.^[10]

Hursthouse died in New Plymouth on 11 November 1902, after falling ill with pneumonia while campaigning for the Egmont electorate.^[1] He was buried at Te Henui Cemetery.^[11]

Notes

1. "Obituary. Death of Mr Richmond Hursthouse". Taranaki Herald. 12 November 1902. p. 4.
2. Scholefield, Guy, ed. (1940). A Dictionary of New Zealand Biography : A–L (PDF) I. Wellington: Department of Internal Affairs. pp. 422f. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
3. "Thomas Sparks". Nelson Provincial Museum. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
4. "New Zealand Gazette". New Zealand Gazette and Wellington Spectator III (216). 1 February 1843. p. 2. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
5. Wilson 1985, p. 207.
6. Wilson 1985, p. 70.
7. "Waimea-Picton". Colonist. XXXIV (5980). 8 December 1890. p. 3. Retrieved 25 July 2011.
8. "Nelson City". Nelson Evening Mail. XXVII (281). 29 November 1893. p. 2. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
9. "The General Election, 1899". Wellington: Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives. 19 June 1900. p. 2. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
10. Cyclopedia Company Limited (1906). "Motueka". The Cyclopedia of New Zealand : Nelson, Marlborough & Westland Provincial Districts. Christchurch: The Cyclopedia of New Zealand. p. 229. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
11. "Cemetery search". New Plymouth District Council. Retrieved 20 February 2016.

References

• Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.