James Benn Bradshaigh Bradshaw (22 September 1832 – 1 September 1886) was a 19th-century

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 ...

in the

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

region of New Zealand. He also played cricket.

Private life

He was born in

Barton Blount Barton Blount is a village and civil parish in the South Derbyshire district of Derbyshire, England, between Derby and Uttoxeter. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 74. The population remained at fewer than 100 for the 2011 Cen ...

South Derbyshire South Derbyshire is a local government district in Derbyshire, England. The population of the local authority at the 2011 Census was 94,611. It contains a third of the National Forest, and the council offices are in Swadlincote. The district a ...

, England, the son of a clergyman. He was a gold prospector and miner in Australia before becoming a bank assayer. In Otago he was also an assayer, before becoming the editor of the ''Lake Wakatip Mail'' newspaper in 1863. During his political career he worked for reform of the laws relating to gold mining and for labour law reform and small landholders. He lived in

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

in the late 1860s and in April 1870, he married Harriette Clementina Bolton at

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

. By the following year, they were back in Dunedin. He played cricket for

and competed in the 1864 game against the English team led by George Parr touring in New Zealand in 1863/64.

Political career

He first stood for the

Otago Provincial Council The Otago Province was a province of New Zealand until the abolition of provincial government in 1876. The capital of the province was Dunedin. Southland Province split from Otago in 1861, but became part of the province again in 1870. Area an ...

in 1864, but was unsuccessful. He was elected to the provincial government in the Mount Benger electorate on 23 March 1871 and served until the dissolution of the council's sixth session on 22 May 1873. He was a member of the Otago Executive Council from 2 June 1871 to 19 November 1872. Bradshaw stood in the 1865 Gold Fields by-election as one of three candidates, but was beaten by Charles Edward Haughton. He represented the Gold Field Towns electorate from to 1870; then from

1871 Events January–March * January 3 – Franco-Prussian War – Battle of Bapaume: Prussians win a strategic victory. * January 18 – Proclamation of the German Empire: The member states of the North German Confederation and the sout ...

the

Waikaia Waikaia, formerly known as Switzers, is a town in the Southland region of New Zealand's South Island. From 1909 until 1959, it was the terminus of the Waikaia Branch railway. The population in the 2013 census was 99, unchanged from the previo ...

electorate, until he retired in 1875. He then represented the

Dunedin Central Dunedin Central was a parliamentary electorate in the city of Dunedin in Otago, New Zealand from 1881 to 1890 and 1905 to 1984. Population centres The previous electoral redistribution was undertaken in 1875 for the 1875–1876 election. In the ...

electorate from

1884 Events January–March * January 4 – The Fabian Society is founded in London. * January 5 – Gilbert and Sullivan's ''Princess Ida'' premières at the Savoy Theatre, London. * January 18 – Dr. William Price atte ...

until he died in 1886.

Death

Bradshaw died of a stroke in

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 ...

on 1 September 1886. He was survived by his wife and five children, and they returned to live in England. Several people including a group of factory operatives decided to raise money for a memorial to him, and it was said that he had not left his family well provided for.

Sources

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bradshaw, James Benn 1831 births 1886 deaths Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Australian gold prospectors New Zealand journalists People from South Derbyshire District New Zealand MPs for Dunedin electorates Members of the Otago Provincial Council New Zealand cricketers Burials at Dunedin Northern Cemetery 19th-century New Zealand journalists Male journalists Members of Otago provincial executive councils 19th-century male writers 19th-century New Zealand politicians People of the Otago Gold Rush