Joseph Veel Colborne-Veel (1831 – 29 July 1895) was a journalist and educator in

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 River / ...

, New Zealand.

Early life

Colborne-Veel was born in 1831 in

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

, England and received his early education at

Kidderminster Kidderminster is a large market and historic minster town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, south-west of Birmingham and north of Worcester. Located north of the River Stour and east of the River Severn, in the 2011 census, it had ...

. Sources differ whether he graduated in 1856 with honours from

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the s ...

, or from the adjacent but unrelated

Magdalen Hall, Oxford Hertford College ( ), previously known as Magdalen Hall, is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on Catte Street in the centre of Oxford, directly opposite the main gate to the Bodleian Library. The colleg ...

. He once won an essay competition, beating

Stopford Brooke Stopford Brooke may refer to; * Stopford Brooke (chaplain) (1832–1916), Irish writer, critic, clergyman, and royal chaplain * Stopford Brooke (politician) (1859–1938), British Member of Parliament, 1906–1910 {{hndis, Brooke, Stopford ...

to second place. Brooke later made a career as a writer, but in the essay competition, his style was marked "too flowery", whilst Veel was judged having used "good, straight-forward, sensible English." In his younger days, he was a successful athlete and once won the lightweight sculls in Oxford. Once in Christchurch, he frequently appeared in the media as a cricketer. In his later life, he was a keen chess player. He married Anne Maria Anstey (1840–1910) in 1857, who was also from Gloucestershire.

Life in New Zealand

Immediately after the wedding, they emigrated to New Zealand on the '' Glentanner'', arriving in Lyttelton on 3 October 1857. With strong ties to the Anglican church, he had a letter of introduction with him to James FitzGerald, who had just gone to England as Canterbury's immigration agent (1857–1860), though. Colborne-Veel initially went farming in

Linwood Linwood may refer to: Places Many of the place names for Linwood come from the presence of linden trees. Australia *Linwood, South Australia *Linnwood, Guildford, 11-35 Byron Road, Guildford, New South Wales Canada * Linwood, Ontario *Linwood, N ...

and marked exam papers for Christ's College. He was editor of the Christchurch newspaper ''

The Press ''The Press'' is a daily newspaper published in Christchurch, New Zealand owned by media business Stuff Ltd. First published in 1861, the newspaper is the largest circulating daily in the South Island and publishes Monday to Saturday. One comm ...

'' from December 1861 to 1878 with a break of several months during 1868. In March 1868, he left during a time a deep economic depression to be sub-editor of the ''Westland Observer'', a newspaper run by

George Sale George Sale (1697–1736) was a British Orientalist scholar and practising solicitor, best known for his 1734 translation of the Quran into English. In 1748, after having read Sale's translation, Voltaire wrote his own essay "De l'Alcoran ...

. At ''The Press'', he was replaced by

Charles Purnell Charles William Purnell (1843 – 7 December 1926) was a New Zealand soldier, journalist, lawyer, and publisher of political and scientific texts. Early life and career Purnell was born in Lambeth, London, England, where he received his educa ...

. Towards the end of that year, the ownership of ''The Press'' changed, its publication reverted from three times a week to daily, and Purnell moved on. Colborne-Veel was attracted back as the newspaper's editor by December 1868. Following his career as a journalist, education in

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

was the area that he was most eager to enhance. He resigned from ''The Press'' in 1878 to become secretary for the education board was principal of the

Christchurch Normal School Cranmer Court, the former Christchurch Normal School, was one of the most significant heritage buildings in Christchurch, New Zealand. Its demolition, due to some damage in the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, was controversial. History The Canter ...

(1893–1895), and was a member of the Board of Governors of

Canterbury College Canterbury College may refer to: * Canterbury College (Indiana), U.S. * Canterbury College (Waterford), Queensland, Australia * Canterbury College (Windsor, Ontario), Canada * Canterbury College, Kent, England * Canterbury College, Oxford, England ...

(1875–1895). He died suddenly during a meeting of the Board of Governors on 29 July 1895. He was buried at

Barbadoes Street Cemetery The Barbadoes Street Cemetery is the oldest cemetery in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was set up with three discrete areas for different denominations. Description The cemetery was included in the original survey of Christchurch that was carrie ...

. He was survived by his wife, one son, and three daughters; his last residence had been in Montreal Street. His wife died in November 1910.

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Colborne-Veel, Joseph Veel 1831 births 1895 deaths New Zealand journalists People from Christchurch Burials at Barbadoes Street Cemetery 19th-century journalists Male journalists 19th-century male writers