Sir David Monro (27 March 1813 – 15 February 1877) was a New Zealand politician. He served as

Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** In ...

from 1861 to 1870.

Early life

Monro was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

. His father was Alexander Monro, a lecturer at the

Edinburgh Medical College The University of Edinburgh Medical School (also known as Edinburgh Medical School) is the medical school of the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and the United Kingdom and part of the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine. It was esta ...

. Monro was from a long line of doctors, the

Monro of Fyrish The Monro of Fyrish family were a Scottish family and branch of the ancient highland Clan Munro. The family produced a notable dynasty of doctors to London in the 18th and 19th century where they were involved in early work on curing 'insanity'. ...

family that was a branch of

clan Munro Clan Munro (; gd, Clann an Rothaich ) is a Highland Scottish clan. Historically the clan was based in Easter Ross in the Scottish Highlands. Traditional origins of the clan give its founder as Donald Munro who came from the north of Ireland and ...

. He graduated as a

Doctor of Medicine Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin language, Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a profes ...

from his father's college in 1835. After first studying for a time in Paris, Berlin and

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, Monro established a medical practice in Edinburgh. In 1841, however, Monro bought land in the planned settlement at

Nelson 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 ...

, New Zealand. He arrived in Nelson the following year. Monro married Dinah Secker on 7 May 1845 and they had five sons and two daughters, including Charles Monro, who introduced

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

to New Zealand, and Maria Georgiana Monro, who married the Scottish geologist, naturalist, and surgeon

James Hector Sir James Hector (16 March 1834 – 6 November 1907) was a Scottish-New Zealand geologist, naturalist, and surgeon who accompanied the Palliser Expedition as a surgeon and geologist. He went on to have a lengthy career as a government employe ...

Political career

In 1843, following the

Wairau Affray The Wairau Affray of 17 June 1843, also called the Wairau Massacre in older histories, was the first serious clash of arms between British settlers and Māori in New Zealand after the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi and the only one to take ...

, Monro was chosen (along with

Alfred Domett Alfred Domett (20 May 18112 November 1887) was the fourth premier of New Zealand, a close friend of the poet Robert Browning and author of the epic poem ''Ranolf and Amohia, a South Sea Day Dream''. Born in England, he emigrated to New Zealan ...

, later to become

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

) to present the Nelson settlers' views to

Willoughby Shortland Commander Willoughby Shortland RN (30 September 1804 – 7 October 1869) was a British naval officer and colonial administrator. He was New Zealand's first Colonial Secretary from 1841, after having arrived in New Zealand with Lieutenant Gover ...

, the acting

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

. Partly as a result of this attention, Monro was appointed to the Legislative Council of the

New Munster Province New Munster was an early original European name for the South Island of New Zealand, given by the Governor of New Zealand, Captain William Hobson, in honour of Munster, the Irish province in which he was born. Province When New Zealand was sep ...

in 1849, but resigned after a dispute with Governor

George Grey Sir George Grey, KCB (14 April 1812 – 19 September 1898) was a British soldier, explorer, colonial administrator and writer. He served in a succession of governing positions: Governor of South Australia, twice Governor of New Zealand, Go ...

. In 1853, Monro was elected to the

1st New Zealand Parliament The 1st New Zealand Parliament was a term of the Parliament of New Zealand. It opened on 24 May 1854, following New Zealand's first general election (held the previous year). It was dissolved on 15 September 1855 in preparation for that year's ...

, representing the seat of Waimea. He was re-elected in the same seat for the 2nd Parliament in 1858. At the beginning of the 3rd Parliament, to which Monro had been elected as representative of Picton, he was selected as

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

. He is generally regarded as having conducted this duty "with dignity", although his use of the Speaker's

casting vote A casting vote is a vote that someone may exercise to resolve a tied vote in a deliberative body. A casting vote is typically by the presiding officer of a council, legislative body, committee, etc., and may only be exercised to break a deadlock ...

to unseat Premier William Fox in 1862 was controversial. At the 1866 general election, he successfully contested the Cheviot electorate and declared elected unopposed. Monro remained Speaker until 1870, when he announced that he would step down. William Fox, who was once again Premier, failed to move the traditional vote of thanks. Monro contested the

Motueka Motueka is a town in the South Island of New Zealand, close to the mouth of the Motueka River on the western shore of Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere. It is the second largest in the Tasman Region, with a population of as of The surrounding ...

seat in the 1871 elections, and was declared elected. A subsequent petition, however, overturned this result. The committee that made the ruling had a government majority, and some of its findings have been deemed "legally dubious" – many believe that the decision was taken for political reasons. Furthermore, a proposal to appoint Monro to the Legislative Council was blocked by Fox. Monro nevertheless succeeded in re-entering Parliament through a 1872 by-election in

Waikouaiti Waikouaiti is a small town in East Otago, New Zealand, within the city limits of Dunedin. The town is close to the coast and the mouth of the Waikouaiti River. Today, Waikouaiti is a retail trade and servicing centre for the surrounding district ...

. After the Fox government had been defeated, Monro resigned in 1873.

Life outside politics

For some time, Monro leased Warwick House, at the time known as ''Sunnyside''. The house was built for Arthur Fell (father of

Charles Fell Charles Yates Fell (5 August 1844 – 9 June 1918) was a New Zealand barrister, politician, watercolour artist, and photographer. Early life and family Fell was born in Nelson in 1844. He was the son of Alfred Fell, merchant and early settler ...

) in 1854 by builder David Goodall. When Fell returned to England, Monro leased the house. Later, the house was bought by Nathaniel Edwards. The building at 64 Brougham Street in Nelson is one of the finest and largest examples of early Victorian Gothic Revivalism still remaining in New Zealand. At one time, the house had about 50 rooms. The building was registered on 25 November 1982 as Category II with

Heritage New Zealand Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga (initially the National Historic Places Trust and then, from 1963 to 2014, the New Zealand Historic Places Trust) ( mi, Pouhere Taonga) is a Crown entity with a membership of around 20,000 people that advocate ...

, with registration number 1618. Monro was knighted in 1866. He died at his home, Newstead (now known as Renwick House), in

Nelson, New Zealand (Let him, who has earned it, bear the palm) , image_map = Nelson CC.PNG , mapsize = 200px , map_caption = , coordinates = , coor_pinpoint = , coordinates_footnotes = ...

, on 15 February 1877. The perennial herb endemic to New Zealand '' Myosotis monroi'' is named after him.

References

Sources

* *"The Monros of Auchinbowie and Cognate Families". By John Alexander Inglis. Edinburgh. Printed privately by T and A Constable. Printers to His Majesty. 1911. , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Monro, David 1813 births 1877 deaths Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Speakers of the New Zealand House of Representatives Members of the Nelson Provincial Council Politicians from Edinburgh New Zealand Knights Bachelor 19th-century New Zealand medical doctors New Zealand MPs for South Island electorates Alumni of the University of Edinburgh 19th-century Scottish medical doctors 19th-century Scottish people Scottish emigrants to New Zealand Unsuccessful candidates in the 1871 New Zealand general election

David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

New Zealand politicians awarded knighthoods

Early life

Political career

Life outside politics

See also

References

Sources