Frederic Alonzo Carrington (Oct 1807
– 15 July 1901) was a 19th-century New Zealand politician and surveyor. He is regarded as the Father of
New Plymouth.
Carrington was born in
Chelmsford
Chelmsford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It ...
, Essex, England, in 1807, the son of Captain William Carrington.
He was 15 years in the Ordnance Survey Department. Then he was appointed by the
New Zealand Company
The New Zealand Company, chartered in the United Kingdom, was a company that existed in the first half of the 19th century on a business model focused on the systematic colonisation of New Zealand. The company was formed to carry out the principl ...
as Chief Surveyor to the Plymouth Company and surveyed the new settlement of
New Plymouth. He arrived 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 metr ...
with his family in the ship ''
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...
'' in December 1840 as a cabin passenger.
In 1844, he returned to England, and undertook surveying for parliamentary committees in England and Scotland. In 1851, he displayed iron made from Taranaki iron sand at
The Great Exhibition
The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, also known as the Great Exhibition or the Crystal Palace Exhibition (in reference to the temporary structure in which it was held), was an international exhibition which took p ...
, London.
From 1851 to 1856 he investigated business proposals in California and other parts of America, Paris and Belgium.
He left for New Zealand with his family in January 1857 and in 1862 was made Government Engineering Surveyor for Taranaki.
He finally obtained a grant of land in 1877.
He was
Superintendent
Superintendent may refer to:
*Superintendent (police), Superintendent of Police (SP), or Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), a police rank
*Prison warden or Superintendent, a prison administrator
*Superintendent (ecclesiastical), a church exec ...
of
Taranaki Province ''For the current top-level subdivision of Taranaki in New Zealand, see Taranaki region''
The Taranaki Province was a province of New Zealand from 1853 until the abolition of provincial government in 1876. Initially known as New Plymouth Province, ...
from 1869 to 1876 (when the
Provinces
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...
were abolished), and was the member of Parliament for
Omata in 1870 and then
Grey and Bell
Grey and Bell was a Taranaki electorate in the New Zealand Parliament from 1853 to 1881.
Population centres
The electorate covered the northern, rural part of the Taranaki Province. The localities of Inglewood and Waitara fell within Grey and B ...
from 1871 to 1879 when he retired. He had stood unsuccessfully in the for
He was a member of the Harbour Board (now
Port Taranaki), and an advocate of an adequate harbour for New Plymouth. In 1881, Carrington laid the first stone for the main breakwater at the port, using a trowel made from Taranaki ironsand.
Carrington died in New Plymouth
and is buried in the family grave in
Te Henui Cemetery.
Carrington Street, a New Plymouth arterial route, and its extension Carrington Road, which winds between the
Pouakai and Kaitake ranges, are named for him. He is regarded as the father of New Plymouth.
Notes
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Carrington, Frederic Alonzo
1807 births
1901 deaths
Superintendents of New Zealand provincial councils
Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives
New Zealand surveyors
English surveyors
People from Chelmsford
People from New Plymouth
Burials at Te Henui Cemetery
New Zealand MPs for North Island electorates
English emigrants to New Zealand
19th-century New Zealand politicians