Isaac Earl Featherston (21 March 1813 – 19 June 1876) was a New Zealand politician, and was known for his advocacy for the establishment of New Zealand self-government, and the importance of the provincial governments.

Early life and family

He was born in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

, England, on 21 March 1813 as son of Thomas Featherston and Jane Earl. Although he spent a significant amount of time playing sports, specifically football, as a youngster he was also quite academic and qualified in medicine at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

in 1836, later at 10 December 1839 marrying Bethia Campbell Scott. He decide to leave England due to problems with

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

in hope of a cure in New Zealand, leaving in December 1840. 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 me ...

in May 1841 on 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 ...

ship ''Olympus'' as

surgeon-superintendent A surgeon-superintendent was a position, held by a surgeon officer of the Royal Navy, on board convict transport ship and ships transporting indentured labour, with overall authority in all non-nautical matters. Before 1792, authority over convi ...

. On 1 September 1869, his third daughter, Kate, married fellow member of parliament John Cargill.

Political career

Featherston served in the

first First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

second The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ...

third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (d ...

, and fourth Parliaments. He represented the

Wanganui and Rangitikei Wanganui and Rangitikei is a former parliamentary electorate that existed from 1853 to 1860. It was represented by two Members of Parliament. Population centres The New Zealand Constitution Act 1852, passed by the British government, allowed Ne ...

electorate in the first parliament until he resigned on 9 August 1855, and then represented the

City of Wellington Wellington City Council is a Territorial authorities of New Zealand, 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, ...

electorate in the second, third and fourth parliaments. In 1858, he resigned his seat in Parliament and his Wellington superintendency, apparently wanting to return to England. Instead, he successfully stood for re-election in both positions within months. Featherston was Colonial Secretary (forerunner to the modern

Minister of Internal Affairs Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...

) in 1861, and a Minister without Portfolio from 1869 to 1871, having been appointed in both instances by William Fox. Featherston was also heavily involved in the politics of

Wellington Province Wellington Province, governed by the Wellington Provincial Council, was one of the provinces of New Zealand from 1853 until the abolition of provincial government in 1876. It covered much of the southern half of the North Island until November 18 ...

. He was elected unopposed as the first

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 ...

from 1853. He resigned from this post on 23 April 1858. He was re-elected on 28 June 1858 and held the post until 1870. His superintendence oversaw some slow growth in Wellington before in 1865 it became the capital of the colony. From 1871 he was the first Agent-General for the colony in London, the precursor to the High Commissioner.

Wakefield–Featherston duel

A duel on 24 March 1847 was fought in

between Colonel

William Wakefield William Hayward Wakefield (1801 – 19 September 1848) was an English colonel, the leader of the first colonising expedition to New Zealand and one of the founders of Wellington. As a leader, he attracted much controversy. Early life William W ...

and Featherston (who was Wakefield's doctor) over a newspaper editorial of Featherston on the New Zealand Company land policy which questioned Wakefield's honesty. Featherston fired and missed. Then Wakefield fired into the air, saying he would not shoot a man with seven daughters.

Commemoration

The town of

Featherston Featherston is a surname of English origin, at least as old as the 12th century. The link with "Featherstone" is probably not traceable, but people researching both spellings (and others such as "de Fetherestanhalgh") contribute to the collection o ...

in the

Wairarapa The Wairarapa (; ), a geographical region of New Zealand, lies in the south-eastern corner of the North Island, east of metropolitan Wellington and south-west of the Hawke's Bay Region. It is lightly populated, having several rural service ...

is named after him, as is Featherston Street in Wellington.

References

Citations

* , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Featherston, Isaac 1813 births 1876 deaths Burials at Bolton Street Cemetery Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand Members of the Wellington Provincial Council Superintendents of New Zealand provincial councils 19th-century New Zealand medical doctors People of the New Zealand Wars English emigrants to New Zealand Politicians from Newcastle upon Tyne Alumni of the University of Edinburgh New Zealand duellists Recipients of the New Zealand Cross (1869) New Zealand MPs for Wellington electorates New Zealand MPs for North Island electorates 19th-century New Zealand politicians Colonial Secretaries of New Zealand High Commissioners of New Zealand to the United Kingdom Johnston family