John Lewis Coster (1838 – 17 December 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 o ...

from

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

, New Zealand. He was mostly known for his business interests.

Biography

Coster was born in Exeter, and emigrated to Sydney at the age of 16. He quickly rose to leading positions and the management of the

Union Bank of Australia The Union Bank of Australia was an Australian bank in operation from 1837 to 1951. It was established in London in October 1837 with a subscribed capital of £500,000. The foundation of the bank had followed a visit to England by Van Diemen's Land ...

sent him to Christchurch in March 1859. There, he transferred to the Bank of New Zealand and became manager of the branch in Christchurch. On Coster's initiative, the

New Zealand Shipping Company The New Zealand Shipping Company (NZSC) was a shipping company whose ships ran passenger and cargo services between Great Britain and New Zealand between 1873 and 1973. A group of Christchurch businessmen founded the company in 1873, similar ...

was founded in 1873, and he was its managing executive for many years. He represented the

Heathcote Heathcote may refer to: Places in Australia *Heathcote, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney **Electoral district of Heathcote, a seat in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly **Heathcote National Park ** Parish of Heathcote a parish of Cumberla ...

electorate from 1884 to 1886, when he died. He was sick during the last two years of his life. Since he returned from a business trip to London in March 1886, he was unable to work, and he died on 17 December 1886 at his residence in

Opawa Opawa is an inner suburb of Christchurch, New Zealand, located 2.5 kilometres south-east of the city centre. The name is a contraction of "Ōpāwaho", which, in Māori, means a place of ('ō') an outer '' pā'' or outpost ('pāwaho'). "Ōpāw ...

at the age of 48. He is buried at the Heathcote Cemetery.

References

1838 births 1886 deaths Burials at Woolston Cemetery Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives People from Christchurch Independent MPs of New Zealand New Zealand MPs for Christchurch electorates 19th-century New Zealand politicians {{NewZealand-politician-stub