Wikipedia

Andrew Richmond

For the Scottish footballer, see Andrew Richmond (footballer).

Andrew James Richmond (1832 – 15 November 1880) was a 19th-century Member of Parliament in Golden Bay / Mohua and Nelson, New Zealand.

Andrew Richmond
Richmond between 1878 and 1880
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Collingwood
In office
4 February 1861 – 7 February 1868
Preceded byNew constituency
Succeeded byArthur Collins
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Suburbs of Nelson
In office
14 May 1873 – 15 November 1880
Preceded byRalph Richardson
Succeeded byArthur Collins
Personal details
Born
Andrew James Richmond

1832
Wales, United Kingdom
Died15 November 1880 (aged 48)
Richmond Brook, Awatere, Marlborough, New Zealand
SpouseAnna Richmond
RelationsHenry Tancred (brother-in-law)
Parent

Private life edit

Richmond was born in Wales in 1832.[1] He was the son of Major Mathew Richmond. His father was administrator of the Ionian Islands in Greece from 1829 to 1838 and went to the Canadian province New Brunswick in 1839 as Deputy Judge Advocate-General. Later that year, he transferred to New South Wales. In June 1840, his father was appointed a land claims commissioner in New Zealand.[2] Andrew Richmond received much of his schooling at Parramatta in New South Wales. In New Zealand, he first lived in Auckland before moving to Nelson.[1]

Richmond's only sister married Henry Tancred.[3] In 1856, he married Anna Selina (née Blundell) at St Michael's Church in Waimea West, the oldest daughter of Captain Francis Blundell. The Blundells were neighbours of the church.[4] They were to have one son and three daughters.[5] His son, Francis Richmond, married Mary Louisa Seymour in 1882. She was a daughter of Arthur Seymour.[6]

Career edit

New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate Party
1861–1866 3rd Collingwood Independent
1866–1868 4th Collingwood Independent
1873–1875 5th Suburbs of Nelson Independent
1875–1879 6th Suburbs of Nelson Independent
1879–1880 7th Suburbs of Nelson Independent

As a public servant he was the second Clerk of the Executive Council.[7]

Richmond contested the 1861 general election in the Collingwood electorate. He beat William Travers, with the mineral surveyor William Wrey coming a distant third.[8][9] At the 1866 election, Travers was nominated to stand against the incumbent but nobody seconded the nomination, and Richmond was thus declared elected unopposed.[10]

By late 1867, it was widely known that Richmond intended to resign. In a letter to the Nelson newspaper The Colonist written on 19 December 1867, a writer using a pseudonym claimed that Richmond had resigned long ago had it not been for William Gibbs, who intended to succeed him, asking to wait with the resignation until Gibbs has had the chance to canvass the electorate.[11] Gibbs gave a speech at Motupipi School on 28 February 1868 where he addressed the issue. Upon putting the question to him, Richmond had told Gibbs that he would delay his resignation for some months so that the miners working at the Aorere Goldfields had held their miners' licenses for more than six months, which apparently enabled them to cast a vote.[12] Richmond's resignation happened on 7 February 1868 and it caused the 1868 Collingwood by-election.[13] Arthur Collins defeated Gibbs by three votes.[14]

Richmond then represented the Suburbs of Nelson electorate from 1873 to 1880, when he died.[15]

The Cliffs edit

 
The Cliffs painted in 1878

His father had a large house built in Nelson in the early 1840s that he named The Cliffs. Located above the road formed later and still known as Rocks Road, it had a unobstructed view over Tāhunanui. Anna and Andrew Richmond lived for some time at Richmond Brook, his father's sheep run in Marlborough, but for most of the time, they lived at The Cliffs. After Anna Richmond's death in 1912, their son Francis Richmond lived there. In 1921, the house was sold to Captain Malcolm Moncrieff and his wife Pérrine Moncrieff.[16][17][18] The Cliffs was demolished about 1970.[19]

Death and commemoration edit

His death on 15 November 1880 at age 48 was sudden and was attributed to heart disease.[20] He died while at home on his farm Richmond Brook at Awatere, Marlborough.[21] He had managed Richmond Brook for his father.[5] Richmond was buried at Wakapuaka Cemetery.[22] His wife died in 1912.[17]

Richmond Brook, which flows into the Awatere River, is in the valley where the Richmonds were farming and it is named after them.[23] Mount Richmond, commonly referred to as the Devil's Armchair and located north of the Wairau River, was named after his father.[24] It is not certain whether the Richmond Range, which Mount Richmond is part of, was named after Mathew Richmond or Andrew Richmond.[25][26]

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Local and general news". Marlborough Express. Vol. XV, no. 268. 16 November 1880. p. 2. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
  2. ^ McLintock, A. H., ed. (23 April 2009) [1966]. "Richmond, Mathew, C.B.". An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand. Ministry for Culture and Heritage / Te Manatū Taonga.
  3. ^ "Married". Lyttelton Times. Vol. VIII, no. 501. 22 August 1857. p. 4. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  4. ^ "Married". Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle. Vol. XV, no. 70. 29 November 1856. p. 2. Retrieved 11 April 2012.
  5. ^ a b Cyclopedia Company Limited (1906). "Present And Past Members Of Parliament". The Cyclopedia of New Zealand : Nelson, Marlborough & Westland Provincial Districts. Christchurch: The Cyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 12 April 2012.
  6. ^ "Marriages". Nelson Evening Mail. Vol. XVIII, no. 211. 20 September 1882. p. 2. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  7. ^ Wilson, J. O. (1985). New Zealand Parliamentary Record 1840–1984. Wellington: V. R. Ward Government Printer. p. 99.
  8. ^ "The elections". The Colonist. Vol. IV, no. 345. 8 February 1861. p. 2. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
  9. ^ "Massacre Bay election". The Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle. Vol. XX, no. 14. 13 February 1861. p. 3. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
  10. ^ "Election at Collingwood". The Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle. Vol. XXV, no. 31. 13 March 186. p. 3. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
  11. ^ "To the Editor of The Colonist". Vol. XI, no. 1073. 7 January 1868. p. 3. Retrieved 10 April 2024.
  12. ^ "Motupipi". Nelson Evening Mail. Vol. III, no. 28. 4 February 1868. p. 2. Retrieved 10 April 2024.
  13. ^ Wilson 1985, p. 231.
  14. ^ "Collingwood Election". The Colonist. Vol. XI, no. 1096. 27 March 1868.
  15. ^ Scholefield, Guy (1950) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1949 (3rd ed.). Wellington: Govt. Printer. p. 136.
  16. ^ "Historic Homes No. 16: "The Cliffs"". Nelson Photo News. 1 June 1968. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
  17. ^ a b "Obituary". The Colonist. Vol. LIV, no. 13409. 6 May 1912. p. 4. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
  18. ^ "Rocks Road". Nelson Evening Mail. Vol. LXVI. 28 December 1934. p. 4. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
  19. ^ "The Cliffs (Nelson, N.Z.)". National Library of New Zealand. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
  20. ^ "Death of Mr A Richmond, MHR". The Evening Post. Vol. XX, no. 268. 16 November 1880. p. 3. Retrieved 11 April 2012.
  21. ^ "Nelson Evening Mail. Tuesday, November 16, 1880". Nelson Evening Mail. Vol. XV, no. 227. 16 November 1880. p. 2. Retrieved 11 April 2012.
  22. ^ "Nelson Evening Mail". Nelson Evening Mail. Vol. XV, no. XV. 19 November 1880. p. 2. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
  23. ^ "Place name detail: Richmond Brook". New Zealand Gazetteer. New Zealand Geographic Board. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  24. ^ "Place name detail: Mount Richmond". New Zealand Gazetteer. New Zealand Geographic Board. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  25. ^ "Place name detail: Richmond Range". New Zealand Gazetteer. New Zealand Geographic Board. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  26. ^ Reed, A. W. (2010). Peter Dowling (ed.). Place Names of New Zealand. Rosedale, North Shore: Raupo. p. 347. ISBN 9780143204107.
New Zealand Parliament
New constituency Member of Parliament for Collingwood
1861–1868 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Suburbs of Nelson
1873–1880
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