The Honourable James O'Neill (1819–1882) was born in

Manorhamilton Manorhamilton () is the second-largest town in County Leitrim, Ireland. It is located on the N16 from Sligo and from Enniskillen. History Before the Plantations of Ireland, the settlement was known, and continues to be known in the Iris ...

, County Leitrim, Ireland. In Ireland, he trained as an

apothecary ''Apothecary'' () is a mostly archaic term for a medical professional who formulates and dispenses '' materia medica'' (medicine) to physicians, surgeons, and patients. The modern chemist (British English) or pharmacist (British and North Ameri ...

but then emigrated to New Zealand, arriving in 1840. There, he became a significant 19th-century politician.

New Zealand

O'Neill was first elected to the

Auckland provincial council The Auckland Province was a province of New Zealand from 1853 until the abolition of provincial government in 1876. Area The province covered roughly half of the North Island of New Zealand. It was the largest of the six initial provinces, both ...

in July 1853, representing the

City of Auckland Auckland City was a territorial authority with city status covering the central isthmus of the urban area of Auckland, New Zealand. It was governed by the Auckland City Council from 1989 to 2010, and as a territory within the wider Auckland R ...

. That same year O'Neill was elected as a member of the New Zealand House of Representatives in the 1st Parliament, the 3rd Parliament and the 4th Parliament. He represented two different

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 ...

seats. First, he was the member of the City of Auckland from 1853 until he was defeated in 1855. He then represented the Northern Division (the area between Auckland and Whangarei) from 1861 to 1869. In 1862, O'Neill and his oldest child Mary O'Neill were passengers on the SS ''White Swan'' together with the prime minister and several other senior members of the New Zealand government. The ship was holed by a rock while steaming from Napier to Wellington and began sinking. Captain Allen Harper deliberately ran the ship aground and thereby saved the lives of all those on board. O'Neill resigned his House of Representatives seat in 1869 and was appointed 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 ...

, the Upper House of the

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 ...

. In addition to serving in both houses of the New Zealand Parliament, O'Neill was also a founding director of the

Bank of New Zealand Bank of New Zealand (BNZ) is one of New Zealand's Big Four (banking), big four banks and has been operating in the country since the first office was opened in Auckland in October 1861 followed shortly after by the first branch in Dunedin in D ...

,The Cyclopedia Company (1897) ‘The Cyclopedia of New Zealand ellington Provincial District�� Christchurch, New Zealand, The Cyclopedia Company Ltd p 507 at https://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Cyc01Cycl-t1-body-d4-d28-d12.html Retrieved 2010-08-02. and a justice of the peace.

Later life

He resigned his Legislative Council seat in 1872 and returned to the British Isles where he died at

Southsea Southsea is a seaside resort and a geographic area of Portsmouth, Portsea Island in England. Southsea is located 1.8 miles (2.8 km) to the south of Portsmouth's inner city-centre. Southsea is not a separate town as all of Portsea Island's s ...

, England, in 1882 aged 65

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oneill, James 1819 births 1882 deaths Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Members of the New Zealand Legislative Council Members of the Auckland Provincial Council People from Auckland Politicians from County Leitrim Irish emigrants to New Zealand Unsuccessful candidates in the 1855 New Zealand general election New Zealand MPs for Auckland electorates New Zealand MPs for North Island electorates 19th-century New Zealand politicians People from Manorhamilton