James Kerr (1834 – 25 August 1901) was an editor and politician. He was a member of the

New Zealand Legislative Council The New Zealand Legislative Council was the upper house of the General Assembly of New Zealand between 1853 and 1951. An earlier arrangement of legislative councils for the colony and provinces existed from 1841 when New Zealand became a co ...

from 1892 until his death. Kerr was born in

Dumfriesshire Dumfriesshire or the County of Dumfries or Shire of Dumfries (''Siorrachd Dhùn Phris'' in Gaelic) is a historic county and registration county in southern Scotland. The Dumfries lieutenancy area covers a similar area to the historic county. I ...

, Scotland in 1834. He was an editor and worked for the ''

Dumfriesshire and Galloway Herald The Dumfries Courier is a weekly newspaper published in Annan, Scotland. It was founded in 1809 by Rev. Dr Henry Duncan (1774-1846) as ''The Dumfries and Galloway Courier'' and is currently published by the DNG Media Group as the ''Dumfries Cou ...

'', and then the ''

Dumfries Courier The Dumfries Courier is a weekly newspaper published in Annan, Scotland. It was founded in 1809 by Rev. Dr Henry Duncan (1774-1846) as ''The Dumfries and Galloway Courier'' and is currently published by the DNG Media Group as the ''Dumfries Cou ...

''. He emigrated to

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

in 1858 and after some time on gold fields, he worked for ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'' alongside George Fisher. In 1861, he emigrated to

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 ...

and joined the ''

Otago Daily Times The ''Otago Daily Times'' (ODT) is a newspaper published by Allied Press Ltd in Dunedin, New Zealand. The ''ODT'' is one of the country's four main daily newspapers, serving the southern South Island with a circulation of around 26,000 and a c ...

''. In 1865, he moved to

Greymouth Greymouth () (Māori: ''Māwhera'') is the largest town in the West Coast region in the South Island of New Zealand, and the seat of the Grey District Council. The population of the whole Grey District is , which accounts for % of the West Coas ...

and set up the ''

Grey River Argus Grey (more common in British English) or gray (more common in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning literally that it is "without color", because it can be composed o ...

''. The newspaper was a rarity in that it openly declared its political affiliation; it was a supporter of the labour movement. Kerr was involved with many organisations, and sat on the borough council, was a member of the harbour board, and the education board. He was a director of the gas company, a trustee of the racecourse, and was active as a

freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

. Kerr was a close friend of

Richard Seddon Richard John Seddon (22 June 1845 – 10 June 1906) was a New Zealand politician who served as the List of prime ministers of New Zealand, 15th Prime Minister of New Zealand, premier (prime minister) of New Zealand from 1893 until his death. ...

. He was appointed to the Legislative Council on 15 October 1892 by

John Ballance John Ballance (27 March 1839 – 27 April 1893) was an Irish-born New Zealand politician who was the 14th premier of New Zealand, from January 1891 to April 1893, the founder of the Liberal Party (the country's first organised political part ...

during the

Liberal Government Liberal government may refer to: Australia In Australian politics, a Liberal government may refer to the following governments administered by the Liberal Party of Australia: * Menzies Government (1949–66), several Australian ministries under S ...

. His term expired on 14 October 1899, and he was reappointed the following day. He served until his death on 25 August 1901. Kerr was on a journey home from

New Zealand Parliament The New Zealand Parliament ( mi, Pāremata Aotearoa) is the unicameral legislature of New Zealand, consisting of the King of New Zealand ( King-in-Parliament) and the New Zealand House of Representatives. The King is usually represented by h ...

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 ...

when he became severely ill with

asthma Asthma is a long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wheezing, cou ...

. The ship called at Westport to get medical support for Kerr. His wife and eldest son reached him at Westport before he died. Kerr was replaced by James Marshall on the Legislative Council. His eldest son, also James Kerr (1875–1938), became proprietor of the Grey River Argus. Kerr Jr. became proprietor of the ''Hutt and Petone Chronicle'' in 1912, and the Kerrs moved to

Petone Petone (Māori: ''Pito-one''), a large suburb of Lower Hutt, Wellington, stands at the southern end of the Hutt Valley, on the northern shore of Wellington Harbour. The Māori name means "end of the sand beach". Europeans first settled in Pe ...

. Kerr Jr. was an unsuccessful candidate for the United Party when he stood in the electorate in the and . Kerr Avenue in Greymouth is named for the Hon. James Kerr.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kerr, James 1834 births 1901 deaths Members of the New Zealand Legislative Council New Zealand Liberal Party MLCs People from Dumfries and Galloway New Zealand editors New Zealand magazine editors People from Greymouth 19th-century New Zealand politicians British emigrants to New Zealand