Charles Elliott (22 September 1811 – 5 July 1876) was a New Zealand politician and newspaper proprietor.

Commercial career

Elliott was born in

Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town in North Devon, England, at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool and won great wealth. Later it imported Irish wool, bu ...

North Devon North Devon is a local government district in Devon, England. North Devon Council is based in Barnstaple. Other towns and villages in the North Devon District include Braunton, Fremington, Ilfracombe, Instow, South Molton, Lynton and Lynmouth ...

in 1811. He and his brother James came to New Zealand on the ''Mary Jane''; the ship left the

West India Docks The West India Docks are a series of three docks, quaysides and warehouses built to import goods from and export goods and occasionally passengers to the British West Indies on the Isle of Dogs in London the first of which opened in 1802. Follow ...

in London in September 1841 and arrived in

Nelson Harbour Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

on 10 February 1842. Having brought a printing press with him, Elliott established '' The Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle'' in 1842; this was the first newspaper in the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

. In August 1842, he opened a bookshop in Nelson, one of the first in New Zealand. He held a sheep station in the

Awatere Valley The Awatere River is a large river flowing through Marlborough, New Zealand. Flowing along the trace of the active Awatere Fault, it runs northeast through a straight valley to the west of the Inland Kaikoura mountains. This valley is parallel ...

. He was particularly interested in horse racing and wrote for other publications under the pen name "Cheval". He published texts written by the suffragist

Mary Müller Mary Ann Müller ( Wilson and then Griffiths; 22 September 1820 – 18 July 1901) was a New Zealand campaigner for women's suffrage and, more generally, women's rights. She is described by the ''Dictionary of New Zealand Biography'' as "New Zeal ...

, to whom he was related through marriage, in his newspaper.

Political career

Elliott was elected to the first

Nelson Provincial Council Nelson Province was constituted in 1853 under the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852, and originally covered the entire upper South Island, including all of present-day Buller, Kaikoura, Marlborough, and Tasman districts, along with Nelson Ci ...

for the Wairau electorate and held the post from 10 August 1853 to 1 August 1857, and represented the electorate in the second council from 9 October 1857 to 18 October 1859. He then represented the Amuri electorate from 7 April 1860 to 29 November 1861. He lastly represented the Nelson electorate from 23 February 1863 to 27 March 1865. In parallel, he represented the Awatere electorate in the

Marlborough Provincial Council :''(For the current top-level subdivision of Nelson in New Zealand, see Marlborough region)'' The Marlborough Province operated as a province of New Zealand from 1 November 1859, when it split away from Nelson Province, until the abolition of p ...

from 16 April 1860 to 16 October 1861. On 5 November 1855, Elliott—alongside William Travers—was elected unopposed to represent the Waimea electorate in the

2nd New Zealand Parliament The 2nd New Zealand Parliament was a term of the New Zealand Parliament, Parliament of New Zealand. It opened on 15 April 1856, following New Zealand's 1855 New Zealand general election, 1855 election. It was dissolved on 5 November 1860 in prep ...

. Elliott resigned before the end of his term on 20 March 1858. He did not serve in any subsequent Parliaments, although he stood unsuccessfully in the for the .

Later life

Elliott's newspaper had to be shut down in 1874. He subsequently took on the role of immigration officer for

Nelson Province Nelson Province was constituted in 1853 under the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852, and originally covered the entire upper South Island, including all of present-day Buller, Kaikoura, Marlborough, and Tasman districts, along with Nelson Ci ...

. He died on 5 July 1876 in Nelson from a

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

. Elliott Street, and the Elliott Street heritage precinct (which also comprises parts of Trafalgar and Collingwood streets) was named after him.

Notes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Elliott, Charles 1811 births 1876 deaths Businesspeople from Barnstaple People from Nelson, New Zealand New Zealand MPs for South Island electorates Members of the Nelson Provincial Council Members of the Marlborough Provincial Council Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand editors New Zealand magazine editors