Arthur Alfred Richmond Atkinson (5 August 1863 – 26 March 1935) was a New Zealand barrister and solicitor,

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

and

Wellington City Council Wellington City Council is a territorial authority in New Zealand, governing the country's capital city Wellington, and ''de facto'' second-largest city (if the commonly considered parts of Wellington, the Upper Hutt, Porirua, Lower Hutt and ...

lor.

Early life and family

Atkinson was born in

New Plymouth New Plymouth ( mi, Ngāmotu) is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, Devon from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. ...

, New Zealand in 1872, the son of Arthur Atkinson and Jane Maria Richmond. On his father's side he was the nephew of

Harry Atkinson Sir Harry Albert Atkinson (1 November 1831 – 28 June 1892) served as the tenth premier of New Zealand on four separate occasions in the late 19th century, and was Colonial Treasurer for a total of ten years. He was responsible for guiding ...

. On his mother's side he was the nephew of (Christopher) William Richmond,

James Crowe Richmond James Crowe Richmond (22 September 1822 – 19 January 1898) was a New Zealand politician, engineer, and an early painter in watercolours of the New Zealand landscape. Early life Richmond was born in London, England, the son of Christopher Ric ...

and Henry Richmond. In 1900, he married temperance and women's suffrage campaigner Lily May Kirk in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

. After the death of his wife in 1921, Atkinson remarried Emma Maud Banfield, a nursing educator awarded the

Royal Red Cross The Royal Red Cross (RRC) is a military decoration awarded in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth for exceptional services in military nursing. Foundation The award was established on 27 April 1883 by Victoria of the Un ...

in 1917, in London in 1923. He was educated at

Nelson College Nelson College is the oldest state secondary school in New Zealand. It is an all-boys school in the City of Nelson that teaches from years 9 to 13. In addition, it runs a private preparatory school for year 7 and 8 boys. The school also has ...

in New Zealand and

Clifton College ''The spirit nourishes within'' , established = 160 years ago , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent boarding and day school , religion = Christian , president = , head_label = Head of College , head ...

in England. After studying at

Corpus Christi College, Oxford Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517, it is the 12th ...

, Atkinson was called to the Bar by

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...

in 1887, before returning to New Zealand the same year.

Legal career

After a period working in law offices in Nelson and

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

, Atkinson served as secretary to his uncle, William (Mr Justice) Richmond, between 1889 and 1890. In 1892 he began legal practice in Wellington, joining

Charles Morison Charles Bruce Morison (1861 – 6 January 1920), known by his first name and referred to as C. B. Morison in contemporary sources, was a New Zealand barrister. He stood in two elections around the turn of the century in the Otaki electorate an ...

to form the firm of barristers and solicitors Morison and Atkinson. He later became a partner in Atkinson, Dale and Mather.

Political career

Atkinson represented the City of Wellington electorate from 1899 to 1902 when he was defeated; of nine candidates, he came fifth in the three-member electorate. He had become unpopular for speaking out publicly against sending New Zealand troops to support the British in the Boer War of South Africa. He stood unsuccessfully for Wellington East in , being defeated in the second ballot. He was first elected to the

at the 1909 local-body election. He continued as a city councillor until 1921, when he did not seek re-election.

Other activities

Both Atkinson and his wife Lily were part of the founding of the Forward Movement in Wellington, a non-sectarian Christian movement with origins in

London, England London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...

which connected adult education through cottage meetings and public lectures with Bible study and charitable work. Led by two Congregational ministers, W.A. Evans (husband of

Kate Edger Kate Milligan Evans (née Edger, 6 January 1857 – 6 May 1935) was the first woman in New Zealand to gain a university degree, and possibly the second in the British Empire to do so. Early life Edger was born in 1857 at Abingdon, Berkshire, En ...

and G.H. Bradbury, the first meeting was held in the Rechabite Hall on Sunday, 27 August 1893, and the Atkinsons were appointed to a committee of management that organized the event venues and community partnerships. Atkinson was active in the prohibition movement, and was president of the New Zealand Alliance from 1920 to 1922. From 1907 to 1911 he was the New Zealand correspondent for ''

The Morning Post ''The Morning Post'' was a conservative daily newspaper published in London from 1772 to 1937, when it was acquired by ''The Daily Telegraph''. History The paper was founded by John Bell. According to historian Robert Darnton, ''The Morning Po ...

'' newspaper in London, and subsequently held the same role with ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

''. He also contributed a biography of

William Massey William Ferguson Massey (26 March 1856 – 10 May 1925), commonly known as Bill Massey, was a politician who served as the 19th prime minister of New Zealand from May 1912 to May 1925. He was the founding leader of the Reform Party, New Zea ...

and the article on New Zealand to the 1922 edition of ''Encyclopædia Britannica''.

Death

Atkinson died at his residence in the Wellington suburb of Wadestown on 26 March 1935. He was buried at

Karori Cemetery Karori Cemetery is New Zealand's second largest cemetery, located in the Wellington suburb of Karori. History Karori Cemetery opened in 1891 to address overcrowding at Bolton Street Cemetery. In 1909, it received New Zealand's first crema ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Atkinson, Arthur Richmond 1863 births 1935 deaths People from New Plymouth People educated at Nelson College People educated at Clifton College Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Oxford 19th-century New Zealand lawyers Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand MPs for Wellington electorates Independent MPs of New Zealand Wellington City Councillors Burials at Karori Cemetery Unsuccessful candidates in the 1908 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1902 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1896 New Zealand general election Atkinson–Hursthouse–Richmond family 19th-century New Zealand politicians New Zealand temperance activists 20th-century New Zealand lawyers